Neon vs Railway

Full side-by-side comparison of features, pricing, and use cases to help you pick the right tool.

Bottom line: Railway is both cheaper and higher-rated - a strong pick for most teams.

Neon

Serverless Postgres with branching, autoscaling, and generous free tier

4.6 / 5From $19/mo
Railway

Cloud hosting platform for backends, databases, and full-stack apps

4.6 / 5From $5/mo

Pricing Comparison

PlanNeonRailway
FreeYesYes
Starter$19/mo$5/mo
Pro-$20/mo
EnterpriseCustomCustom

Railway is cheaper at the Starter tier ($5/mo vs $19/mo).

Feature Matrix

FeatureNeonRailway
Serverless PostgresYes-
Database branchingYes-
Autoscaling to zeroYes-
Point-in-time restoreYes-
Read replicasYes-
Deploy any language or framework-Yes
Managed databases-Yes
Private networking-Yes
Usage-based pricing-Yes
GitHub Actions integration-Yes

When to Choose Each

Choose Neon if you need...

  • +Scales to zero cost
  • +Database branching is a game-changer
  • +Fast cold starts
DevelopersStartupsFounders

Choose Railway if you need...

  • +Simplest backend deployment
  • +Predictable pricing
  • +Good database options
DevelopersStartupsFounders

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Frequently Asked Questions

Which is better, Neon or Railway?

Both tools score 4.6/5 in our review. The best choice depends on your specific use case, budget, and team size.

Is Neon cheaper than Railway?

Yes, Railway is cheaper at the Starter tier ($5/mo).

What is the difference between Neon and Railway?

Neon focuses on serverless postgres and database branching, while Railway emphasizes deploy any language or framework and managed databases. Neon is best for Developerss, Startupss, Founderss, while Railway suits Developerss, Startupss, Founderss.

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