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Appwrite vs Neon
Short answer: Pick Appwrite if you want all-in-one open-source backend; pick Neon if you want serverless Postgres with full backend suite. Both have a free plan.
Which to pick
Pick Appwrite if you want…
- All-in-one open-source backend
- Open-source backend services
- Open-source code (appwrite/appwrite on GitHub, BSD-3-Clause license)
- Integrations with React (on Appwrite's list, not Neon's)
Pick Neon if you want…
- Serverless Postgres with full backend suite
- Serverless PostgreSQL
- Integrations with Better Auth, Databricks or pgBouncer (on Neon's list, not Appwrite's)
Appwrite provides a full backend stack but uses its own database rather than serverless Postgres with branching.
Side by side
- What it is
- Appwrite:Appwrite is an open-source backend platform offering auth, databases, storage, functions, messaging, realtime and hosting.
- Neon:Neon provides a serverless Postgres database with built-in auth, object storage, functions and an AI gateway.
- Best for
- Appwrite:All-in-one open-source backend
- Neon:Serverless Postgres with full backend suite
- Who it’s for
- Appwrite:Developers building web, mobile or AI-agent applications who need a unified backend.
- Neon:Developers building apps or agents that need instant, branchable backends.
- Pricing
- Appwrite:Freemium
- Neon:Freemium
- Free plan or trial
- Appwrite:Free plan (Free)
- Neon:Free plan (Free)
- Plans
- Appwrite:Free $0
- Neon:Free $0
- Open source
- Appwrite:Yes, 57,531 GitHub stars
- Neon:—
- Works with
- Appwrite:React
- Neon:Better Auth, Databricks, pgBouncer
Appwrite features
- Auth. User authentication via email, SMS, OAuth, magic links and anonymous sessions.
- Databases. Managed TablesDB, PostgreSQL, MySQL and vector stores with query and scaling tools.
- Storage. File storage with compression, encryption, image transformations and access control.
- Functions. Serverless functions with isolated runtimes, event-driven triggers and cron schedules.
- Messaging. Unified email, SMS and push notification service with templating.
- Realtime. Live event subscription for collaborative and real-time app experiences.
- Sites. Deploy static, SSR or CSR front-ends from Git with instant previews.
- Firewall. Edge security with traffic rules, rate limiting and abuse protection.
Neon features
- Serverless Postgres. Lakebase Postgres scales compute and storage independently and auto-scales in real time.
- Managed Auth. Fully-managed Better Auth integration provides free user authentication per database.
- Branchable Storage. S3-compatible object storage and database branches copy-on-write for isolated environments.
- Functions. Serverless functions run close to the database without timeouts.
- AI Gateway. Single API to access frontier and open-source models at cost-based rates.
- Autoscaling & Scale-to-Zero. Compute auto-adjusts to demand and scales to zero when idle, billed per CU-hour.
- High Availability & Read Replicas. Multi-AZ storage and read replicas are included on all plans.
- Extensions Library. Supports Postgres extensions such as pg_vector, PostGIS, TimescaleDB, etc.
Appwrite vs Neon FAQ
What is the difference between Appwrite and Neon?+
Neon offers serverless Postgres only, whereas Appwrite includes auth, storage, functions and more. Appwrite provides a full backend stack but uses its own database rather than serverless Postgres with branching.
Should I use Appwrite or Neon?+
Pick Appwrite if you want all-in-one open-source backend, open-source backend services or open-source code (appwrite/appwrite on GitHub, BSD-3-Clause license). Pick Neon if you want serverless Postgres with full backend suite, serverless PostgreSQL or integrations with Better Auth, Databricks or pgBouncer (on Neon's list, not Appwrite's).
Is Appwrite or Neon free?+
Appwrite has a free plan and paid plans. Neon has a free plan and paid plans.
Is Appwrite or Neon open source?+
Appwrite is open source (appwrite/appwrite on GitHub, BSD-3-Clause license). DevHunt has no public source repository on record for Neon.
Do Appwrite and Neon integrate with the same tools?+
Their integration lists don't overlap: Appwrite lists React; Neon lists Better Auth, Databricks and pgBouncer.
On DevHunt
Based on each tool's website and DevHunt data. Details may change; check the official sites.