Neon vs Turso
Neon is a serverless Postgres platform, now owned by Databricks, that separates storage and compute so databases scale to zero and support instant, copy-on-write branching. Turso is a managed database platform built on libSQL, an open source SQLite fork, designed for creating many small databases replicated close to users at the edge. Choose Neon if you need Postgres and database branching for development workflows; choose Turso if you want lightweight SQLite-compatible databases distributed globally.
Facts checked on against the official sources listed at the end. Usage numbers update daily.
Best for
Postgres apps that want instant database branching for dev, test and preview environments
Free plan.
Best for
Edge apps that want many small SQLite-compatible databases replicated globally
Free plan. Paid from $4.99 a month for the Developer plan.
Neon vs Turso at a glance
| Compared on | Neon | Turso |
|---|---|---|
| Database engine | Postgres, with a separated storage and compute architecture | libSQL, an open source fork of SQLite |
| Branching | Instant, copy-on-write branching for full database copies | Not a named feature; Turso is built around many small databases instead of branching one |
| Typical database count | One database per project, with branches of that database | Many databases per account, replicated per user or per tenant |
| Scale to zero | Yes, compute scales to zero when idle and back up automatically | Not the primary model; Turso focuses on lightweight, globally replicated databases rather than pausing compute |
| Free plan limits | 0.5 GB storage and 100 compute hours a month per project | 100 databases, 5 GB storage, 500 million rows read and 10 million rows written a month |
| Corporate ownership | Databricks, since acquiring Neon in 2025 | Chiselstrike, Inc. |
| Open source | Yes, Apache-2.0 (core storage engine) | No, MIT (libSQL, the open source engine Turso is built on) |
| Free plan | Yes: 0.5 GB storage and 100 compute hours a month per project, no credit card required | Yes: 100 databases, 5 GB storage, 500 million rows read and 10 million rows written a month |
| Paid plans from | Not listed | $4.99 a month for the Developer plan |
| Made by | Neon, Inc. (a Databricks company) | Turso (Chiselstrike, Inc.) |
| Launched | 2021 | Not listed |
What's the difference between Neon and Turso?
Neon is Postgres, Turso is SQLite-compatible
Neon runs standard Postgres, so existing Postgres drivers, extensions and tooling work as usual. Turso runs libSQL, an open source fork of SQLite, which is compatible with SQLite but not with Postgres-specific features or extensions.
Neon branches one database, Turso multiplies many small ones
Neon's signature feature is instant, copy-on-write branching, creating a full copy of a database for development, testing or preview environments. Turso is built around creating many small, independent databases, often one per user or tenant, and replicating each close to where it's read.
Their free plans are shaped by different limits
Neon's free plan measures usage in storage (0.5 GB) and compute hours (100 a month) per project. Turso's free plan measures usage in database count (100), storage (5 GB) and row operations (500 million reads, 10 million writes a month), reflecting its many-small-databases model.
Both were recently acquired, by different kinds of buyers
Databricks acquired Neon in 2025 and continues to run it as its own product and brand. Turso remains under its founding company, Chiselstrike, Inc., with no comparable acquisition.
Neon vs Turso pricing
Neon bills hourly for compute and storage with no fixed monthly minimum on its paid plans. Turso charges a flat monthly fee per tier that raises storage and row-operation limits, with usage-based overage beyond that.
Neon
Free: 0.5 GB storage and 100 compute hours a month per project. Launch and Scale: usage-based, billed hourly for compute and storage, with autoscaling and longer point-in-time restore windows on higher tiers.
- Free
- $0 a month
- Launch
- Usage-based, billed hourly
- Scale
- Usage-based, billed hourly
Turso
Free: 100 databases, 5 GB storage, 500 million rows read and 10 million rows written a month. Developer: $4.99 a month for 9 GB storage and 2.5 billion rows read a month. Scaler: $24.92 a month for 24 GB storage and 100 billion rows read a month.
- Free
- $0 a month
- Developer
- $4.99 a month
- Scaler
- $24.92 a month
- Pro
- $416.58 a month
- Enterprise
- Custom pricing
Prices in USD from the official pricing pages on 29 September 2026. They change often, so confirm on neon.com and turso.tech before you commit.
Usage and activity
Neon has 34% more GitHub stars than Turso (23.2k against 17.3k). Weekly npm downloads: 5.2M for @neondatabase/serverless and 4.1M for @libsql/client.
| Measure | Neon | Turso |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | 23,210 | 17,276 |
| npm downloads a week | 5.2M (@neondatabase/serverless) | 4.1M (@libsql/client) |
| Latest release | release-proxy-88…, 1 year ago | libsql-server-v0…, 1 year ago |
From the public GitHub and npm APIs, updated daily. Stars and downloads show developer interest, not product quality.
Should you choose Neon or Turso?
Choose Neon if
- You need a standard Postgres database with existing drivers and extensions
- You want instant branching to spin up full database copies for testing or previews
- You want compute to scale to zero automatically when a database is idle
- You're already using or migrating from another Postgres platform
Choose Turso if
- You're building an app that needs many small, per-user or per-tenant databases
- You want databases replicated close to users for low-latency edge reads
- SQLite's simplicity fits your data model better than a full Postgres server
- You want a low-cost entry paid plan, starting under $5 a month
Switching between Neon and Turso
Moving from Neon to Turso means converting a Postgres schema to SQLite-compatible syntax and rethinking a single branched database as many smaller per-tenant databases. Moving from Turso to Neon means consolidating many small SQLite-compatible databases into Postgres tables, or a branching structure, and adjusting any SQLite-specific queries to Postgres syntax.
Neon vs Turso: common questions
Is Neon Postgres or something else?
Neon runs standard Postgres, with a storage and compute architecture that lets databases scale to zero and branch instantly. Turso runs libSQL, an open source fork of SQLite, not Postgres.
Is Turso free?
Yes, up to 100 databases, 5 GB storage, and 500 million reads plus 10 million writes a month. Neon's free plan covers 0.5 GB storage and 100 compute hours a month per project.
Does Neon support database branching?
Yes, Neon's signature feature is instant, copy-on-write branching for creating full database copies for development, testing or preview environments.
Who owns Neon now?
Databricks acquired Neon in 2025 and continues to run it as its own product and brand.
Is Turso good for edge computing?
Yes, Turso is designed for creating many small databases and replicating them close to users, a common pattern for edge and serverless applications.
Other options to consider
All databases tools
Supabase
Open source Postgres development platform with auth, instant APIs, realtime, storage and edge functions.
Redis
In-memory data store used as a cache, database and message broker, available self-hosted or as Redis Cloud.
MongoDB Atlas
MongoDB's fully managed cloud database service, with a free tier and usage-based paid tiers.
Firebase
Google's backend-as-a-service platform for mobile and web apps: database, auth, hosting and functions.
Sources
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