🗄️ Databases Comparison
Neon vs Turso
A detailed comparison to help you choose the right tool for your needs.
Last updated: 2026-02-06
Neon
Free tier, Pro from $19/mo
Strengths
- + Scales to zero on the free tier — no cost when your app has no traffic
- + Database branching for safe schema changes and testing
- + Generous free tier with 0.5 GB storage and autoscaling
Weaknesses
- − Cold starts on free tier add 1-2 seconds to the first query after inactivity
- − Newer service than established options like RDS or Supabase
- − Compute limits on free tier can bottleneck during traffic spikes
Turso
Free tier (9 GB storage, 500 databases), Scaler from $29/mo
Strengths
- + SQLite simplicity with multi-region replication — sub-10ms reads from the nearest edge
- + Free tier includes 9 GB storage and 500 databases — generous for per-tenant architectures
- + Built on LibSQL (open-source fork of SQLite) — no proprietary lock-in on the data format
Weaknesses
- − Write operations must go through a primary region, adding latency for writes
- − Ecosystem is young — fewer ORMs and tools have native Turso support compared to Postgres
- − Not suited for heavy relational workloads that need JOINs across large tables
The verdict
Which one is right for you?
Choose Neon if you want
- → Scales to zero on the free tier — no cost when your app has no traffic
- → Database branching for safe schema changes and testing
Choose Turso if you want
- → SQLite simplicity with multi-region replication — sub-10ms reads from the nearest edge
- → Free tier includes 9 GB storage and 500 databases — generous for per-tenant architectures
In depth
About each tool
Neon
Serverless Postgres that scales to zero — you only pay when your database is actually being used
Neon is Postgres that disappears when you are not using it. On the free tier, your database scales to zero during quiet periods and wakes up when a request comes in. This means a side project that gets occasional traffic costs nothing, not $39/month like PlanetScale.
The tradeoff is cold starts — that first query after a period of inactivity takes a second or two while the database wakes up. For APIs and web apps, this is usually fine. For real-time applications, it might matter. The branching feature is great for testing migrations safely. If you want Postgres without paying for idle time, Neon is the best option right now.
Turso
SQLite at the edge — embed databases close to your users with LibSQL
Turso takes SQLite and makes it work as a cloud database. Each database is a LibSQL file replicated across edge locations, so reads happen in single-digit milliseconds from wherever your users are. The per-database model is ideal for multi-tenant apps where each user or workspace gets their own isolated database.
The free tier gives you 9 GB of storage and 500 databases, which is enough to run a real SaaS with per-tenant data. The limitation is writes — all writes route through a single primary region, so write-heavy workloads will not benefit from the edge replication. If your app is read-heavy (dashboards, content sites, analytics), Turso is fast and cheap. If you need complex relational queries or heavy write throughput, Postgres on Neon or Supabase is a better foundation.
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