Comparison
SelfHost vs
NeonTwo modern PostgreSQL platforms, very different pricing models. Here's how they compare for real workloads.
SelfHost: $0.08/GB vs Neon: $0.35/GB
Predictable bills vs Neon's usage-based billing that can spike unexpectedly
SelfHost databases are always on. Neon auto-suspends with 0.5-3s wake time.
Pricing
Real-world
cost comparison.
Small always-on DB
2 vCPU, 4 GB RAM, 20 GB storage
Production
4 vCPU, 16 GB RAM, 100 GB storage
Dev/test (scales to zero)
Ephemeral, intermittent usage
Neon wins for scale-to-zero use cases — if your database is idle 95% of the time, usage-based billing is cheaper.
Features
Side by side.
No spin.
| Feature | SelfHost | Neon |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Fixed monthly | Usage-based (per CU-hour + GB) |
| Storage cost | $0.08/GB/mo (gp3) | $0.35/GB/mo (4.4x more) |
| Cold starts | None (always on) | Yes (0.5-3s wake) |
| BYOC | Yes ($79/mo Pro) | No |
| AI management | 75 MCP tools | None |
| Branching | Database forking (Pro) | Instant branching (all plans) |
| PITR | Included on Pro | 6hr (Free) to 30-day (Scale) |
| Connection pooling | Coming soon | Built-in pooler |
| Autoscaling | Instance-level (Pro) | CU-level (all paid plans) |
| Regions | 38 AWS regions | 15+ regions (AWS/Azure) |
| Instance control | Full (choose type) | None (CU abstraction) |
| Multi-AZ / HA | Replicas on Pro | Read replicas on paid plans |
| Egress | $0.15/GB after tier | $0.10/GB after 100 GB |
Deep dives
The details
that matter.
The Storage Cost Problem
Neon charges $0.35/GB-month for storage. SelfHost charges $0.08/GB (gp3 raw) with a 1.35x markup = $0.108/GB. For a 100 GB database, that's $35/mo on Neon vs $10.80/mo on SelfHost — a $24.20/mo difference that compounds with growth.
Usage-Based Bill Anxiety
Neon's per-CU-hour billing means your bill changes every month based on traffic. A traffic spike can double your compute cost without warning. SelfHost charges a fixed monthly rate — you know exactly what you'll pay before you provision.
When Neon Makes Sense
Neon's scale-to-zero is genuinely useful for: CI/CD preview databases, ephemeral dev environments, and hobby projects that run intermittently. If your database is idle 95% of the time, Neon's usage-based model wins. But for always-on production workloads, SelfHost is significantly cheaper.
Branching vs Forking
Neon's instant branching is a standout feature — create a copy-on-write branch of your production database in seconds for testing. SelfHost offers database forking (Pro tier) which creates a full copy. Neon's branching is faster and cheaper for ephemeral use; SelfHost's forking creates a fully independent database.
Predictable pricing.
Always on.
Deploy production PostgreSQL with fixed monthly pricing, no cold starts, and 38 AWS regions.