Compare
Neon vs PocketBase
Short answer: Pick Neon if you want serverless Postgres with full backend suite; pick PocketBase if you want all-in-one single-file backend. Neon has a free plan; PocketBase is free and open source.
Which to pick
Pick Neon if you want…
- Serverless Postgres with full backend suite
- Serverless SQL database
- Integrations with Better Auth, Databricks or pgBouncer (on Neon's list, not PocketBase's)
Pick PocketBase if you want…
- All-in-one single-file backend
- A free, open-source tool
- Integrations with JavaScript or Dart (on PocketBase's list, not Neon's)
Side by side
- What it is
- Neon:Neon provides a serverless Postgres database with built-in auth, object storage, functions and an AI gateway.
- PocketBase:PocketBase is an open-source, single-file backend offering realtime database, authentication, file storage and an admin dashboard.
- Best for
- Neon:Serverless Postgres with full backend suite
- PocketBase:All-in-one single-file backend
- Who it’s for
- Neon:Developers building apps or agents that need instant, branchable backends.
- PocketBase:Developers needing a lightweight backend for web or mobile apps
- Pricing
- Neon:Freemium
- PocketBase:Open source
- Starting price
- Neon:—
- PocketBase:Free
- Free plan or trial
- Neon:Free plan (Free)
- PocketBase:Free to use
- Plans
- Neon:Free $0
- PocketBase:—
- Open source
- Neon:—
- PocketBase:Yes, 61,229 GitHub stars
- Works with
- Neon:Better Auth, Databricks, pgBouncer
- PocketBase:JavaScript, Dart
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.
PocketBase features
- Single-file deployment. Run the entire backend stack from one executable file.
- Realtime database. Subscribe to live changes on collections without extra setup.
- Built-in authentication. User sign-up, login and session management out of the box.
- File storage. Store and serve files directly through the backend.
- Admin dashboard. Web UI to manage collections, records and settings.
- JavaScript & Dart SDKs. Client libraries for easy integration with popular front-end stacks.
Neon vs PocketBase FAQ
What is the difference between Neon and PocketBase?+
Neon is a serverless Postgres offering; PocketBase is a lightweight all-in-one backend.
Should I use Neon or PocketBase?+
Pick Neon if you want serverless Postgres with full backend suite, serverless SQL database or integrations with Better Auth, Databricks or pgBouncer (on Neon's list, not PocketBase's). Pick PocketBase if you want all-in-one single-file backend, a free, open-source tool or integrations with JavaScript or Dart (on PocketBase's list, not Neon's).
Is Neon or PocketBase free?+
Neon has a free plan and paid plans. PocketBase is free and open source.
Is Neon or PocketBase open source?+
PocketBase is open source (pocketbase/pocketbase on GitHub, MIT license). DevHunt has no public source repository on record for Neon.
Do Neon and PocketBase integrate with the same tools?+
Their integration lists don't overlap: Neon lists Better Auth, Databricks and pgBouncer; PocketBase lists JavaScript and Dart.
On DevHunt
Based on each tool's website and DevHunt data. Details may change; check the official sites.