Neon vs Turso — Pricing, Plans, and Verified Costs (2026)
Neon starts at Free. Turso starts at $4.99/mo. Neon is $4.99/mo cheaper on the entry tier than Turso.
How pricing works
These two tools don't price the same way, so the headline numbers below aren't directly comparable until you plug in your own volume.
- Neon (Per Usage) — Neon bills purely on usage — Free 100 CU-hr/mo + 0.5GB, then $0.106-$0.222/CU-hour + $0.35/GB-month. There is no fixed per-seat fee, so the monthly cost depends entirely on how much you consume.
- Turso (Unknown model) — Turso bills on a fixed plan from $4.99/mo, so the listed price is what you pay regardless of volume.
Per-minute, per-credit and per-token rates exclude any downstream model, speech or telephony costs unless the vendor states otherwise.
Serverless Postgres, valued $2B private. Positioned as the alternative to AWS RDS for developers who want true scale-to-zero + database branching (like git branches for your data). Launch tier from $19/mo, then usage-based on compute + storage + egress. Free tier includes real production Postgres. Popular with modern JavaScript stacks (Next.js, Vercel, Cloudflare) and Series A-B startups. Acquired by Databricks in 2025 for $1B.
SQLite-at-the-edge platform, positioned as the alternative to serverless Postgres for developers who want database replicas colocated with their edge compute (Cloudflare Workers, Vercel Edge). Distinctive for embedding libSQL directly in the app for zero-latency reads + sync to remote. Free tier includes 5GB + 500M row reads. Scaler $29/mo. Popular with Cloudflare Workers and AI agent workflows needing local-first data.
All plans compared
| Tier role | Plan | Neon monthly | Neon annual | Turso monthly | Turso annual |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free / starter | Free | Free | Free | Free | Free |
| Entry paid | — / Developer | — | — | $4.99 | $4.99 |
| Mid tier | — / Scaler | — | — | $24.92 | $24.92 |
| Pro / power | — / Pro | — | — | $416.58 | $416.58 |
| Enterprise | Enterprise | Custom | Custom | Custom | Custom |
Tier names differ across vendors. Rows are aligned by tier role, not name. Full tier structures on each tool's page.
What each is best for
Neon is worth it if… developers building serverless apps that want Postgres with scale-to-zero pricing — particularly if your workload is bursty and you don't want to pay for idle compute. 5GB storage; Launch is pure usage-based; Scale adds multi-AZ HA; Enterprise custom.
Turso is worth it if… developers building edge apps that want SQLite-compatible distributed database with millions of tiny per-tenant databases — particularly for multi-tenant SaaS or AI agents needing isolated data. Free covers development; Developer plan (launched Mar 2025) for individual devs; Scaler for small teams; Pro for compliance-heavy production.
Bottom line: Similar positioning, closer to a preference call than a strategic one.
Choose Neon over Turso if…
Choose Neon if…
- You want to pay only for actual usage (per usage, a free entry tier).
- You match the profile Neon is built for: developers building serverless apps that want Postgres with scale-to-zero pricing — particularly if your workload is bursty and you don't want to pay for idle compute.
- You need a general-purpose developer & infrastructure option rather than a vertical-specific one.
Choose Turso if…
- You're comfortable with Turso's from $4.99/mo entry point.
- You match the profile Turso is built for: developers building edge apps that want SQLite-compatible distributed database with millions of tiny per-tenant databases — particularly for multi-tenant SaaS or AI agents needing isolated data.
- You need a general-purpose developer & infrastructure option rather than a vertical-specific one.
At a glance
| Neon | Turso | |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Entry price | Free | $4.99/mo |
| Enterprise available | Yes | Yes |
| Pricing model | Per Usage | — |
| Last verified | September 15, 2026 | September 15, 2026 |
| Full pricing | View full pricing | View full pricing |
Pricing last verified September 15, 2026. Tracked daily.