Neo4j vs Prisma Postgres
SEPT 2026 auditA comparison of Neo4j and Prisma Postgres built from values read directly from each provider's own documentation, with the source recorded against every figure.
The short answer
Choose Neo4j if…
Teams whose data is naturally relationships-first — recommendation engines, fraud detection, knowledge graphs — where the query itself is a graph traversal Cypher expresses directly and a relational join chain would not.
Editorial · Palash Bagchi · approved
Choose Prisma Postgres if…
Prisma ORM users who want the database and the client from one vendor, with a pooled connection limit stated per plan rather than left to be discovered.
Editorial · Palash Bagchi · approved
Consider something else if…
- Neo4j: The data model is tabular and the graph shape is incidental — most CRUD apps fit a relational or document database better, and Neo4j's per-GB memory pricing is a worse fit for large flat datasets than a row-store.
- Prisma Postgres: Four separate meters — requests, memory, vCPU and bandwidth — sit on top of the plan fee, so the monthly number is a floor rather than a bill.
5 sourced criteria separate them — see where, with sources, below.
Pick the criteria you care about. The chart counts how many of them lean toward each provider — the same read as scanning the bars below, just totalled for the ones you chose.
Neo4j 0
Prisma Postgres 0
At a glance.
| Criterion | Neo4j | Prisma Postgres |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | ||
| Free tier | Yes | Yes |
| Entry paid plan | $65/GB/month (minimum 1GB cluster) on AuraDB Professional, or $0.09/hour ($65.70/month for 1GB) metered hourly. 14-day free trial available. | $10/month for Starter. Pro is $49 and Business $129, each including a larger request allowance. |
| Pricing model | Usage-based, metered per GB-hour of memory on the Professional tier. A paused database cuts cost by roughly 80%. | A plan fee plus usage: requests, memory GB-hours, active vCPU-hours and outbound bandwidth are each metered — $1 per million requests beyond the allowance, $0.006 per GB-hour, $0.064 per vCPU-hour, $0.025 per GB out. |
| Startup credit program | Neo4j for Startups: up to $16K in Aura credits. Requires Series B or earlier funding, a single product sold to many customers (not custom per-customer work), a functioning website, and a company LinkedIn profile. | Prisma for Startups: database bill covered up to $10,000 for one year, plus 1:1 guidance. Venture-funded track requires pre-seed/seed/Series-A funding raised in the last 12 months and founded in the last 5 years; bootstrapped track requires ≥5k MRR for 6 months and 2 full-time team members. |
| Data | ||
| Engine | Neo4j, a native property graph database. | PostgreSQL. |
| Backup retention | Daily backups, 7-day retention on the entry-paid (Professional) tier. Business Critical adds 30-day retention with hourly point-in-time restore; Virtual Dedicated Cloud gets hourly backups with 60-day retention. | Daily backups with 7-day retention on Starter and Pro, 30 days on Business. The free plan has none. |
Where they differ.
Entry paid plan
- Neo4j
- $65/GB/month (minimum 1GB cluster) on AuraDB Professional, or $0.09/hour ($65.70/month for 1GB) metered hourly. 14-day free trial available.
- Prisma Postgres
- $10/month for Starter. Pro is $49 and Business $129, each including a larger request allowance.
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- Neo4j Pricing ↗
“$65/GB/month, minimum 1GB cluster. 14-day free trial available. 1GB costs $0.09/hour or $65.70/month.”
Read 2026-09-11 · official pricing
- Pricing — Prisma ↗
“Starter $10 / month Prisma Compute 5M requests / month, then $1 per million [...] Pro $49 / month [...] Business $129 / month”
Read 2026-09-06 · official pricing
Pricing model
- Neo4j
- Usage-based, metered per GB-hour of memory on the Professional tier. A paused database cuts cost by roughly 80%.
- Prisma Postgres
- A plan fee plus usage: requests, memory GB-hours, active vCPU-hours and outbound bandwidth are each metered — $1 per million requests beyond the allowance, $0.006 per GB-hour, $0.064 per vCPU-hour, $0.025 per GB out.
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- Neo4j Pricing ↗
“Pause database, save 80% costs.”
Read 2026-09-11 · official pricing
- Pricing — Prisma ↗
“5M requests / month, then $1 per million $0.006 per GB-hour memory $0.064 per active vCPU-hours $0.025 per GB outbound bandwidth”
Read 2026-09-06 · official pricing
Startup credit program
- Neo4j
- Neo4j for Startups: up to $16K in Aura credits. Requires Series B or earlier funding, a single product sold to many customers (not custom per-customer work), a functioning website, and a company LinkedIn profile.
- Prisma Postgres
- Prisma for Startups: database bill covered up to $10,000 for one year, plus 1:1 guidance. Venture-funded track requires pre-seed/seed/Series-A funding raised in the last 12 months and founded in the last 5 years; bootstrapped track requires ≥5k MRR for 6 months and 2 full-time team members.
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- Neo4j for Startups ↗
“up to $16K in Aura credits. Series B or earlier. Startups building a single product for many customers, not a custom product for individual customers.”
Read 2026-09-11 · official site
- Prisma for Startups ↗
“Get exclusive 1:1 guidance from Prisma’s database experts, and have your database bill covered for a year, up to $10,000. [...] Raised venture funding in the last 12 months. Founded in the last 5 years.”
Read 2026-09-11 · official site
Engine
- Neo4j
- Neo4j, a native property graph database.
- Prisma Postgres
- PostgreSQL.
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- Neo4j Aura documentation ↗
“Neo4j Aura is a fully automated graph platform offered as a cloud service.”
Read 2026-09-11 · official docs
- Pricing — Prisma ↗
“Prisma Postgres [...] Managed connection pool Connection limit (pooled)”
Read 2026-09-06 · official site
Backup retention
- Neo4j
- Daily backups, 7-day retention on the entry-paid (Professional) tier. Business Critical adds 30-day retention with hourly point-in-time restore; Virtual Dedicated Cloud gets hourly backups with 60-day retention.
- Prisma Postgres
- Daily backups with 7-day retention on Starter and Pro, 30 days on Business. The free plan has none.
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- Neo4j Pricing ↗
“Professional: Daily backups, 7-day retention. Business Critical: Daily backups with 30-day retention and hourly point-in-time restore. Virtual Dedicated Cloud: Hourly backups with 60-day retention.”
Read 2026-09-11 · official pricing
- Pricing — Prisma ↗
“Backups Free — Starter Daily, 7-day retention Pro Daily, 7-day retention Business Daily, 30-day retention”
Read 2026-09-06 · official pricing
When these numbers change, hear about it. Sources are re-checked monthly; a repricing goes out as a short note.
Documented by only one.
These criteria are published by one provider and not the other. An absence here means we have not found a source, not that the feature is missing.
Questions this comparison answers.
Entry paid plan: Neo4j or Prisma Postgres?
Neo4j: $65/GB/month (minimum 1GB cluster) on AuraDB Professional, or $0.09/hour ($65.70/month for 1GB) metered hourly. 14-day free trial available.
Prisma Postgres: $10/month for Starter. Pro is $49 and Business $129, each including a larger request allowance.
Should I choose Neo4j or Prisma Postgres?
Pick Neo4j if Teams whose data is naturally relationships-first — recommendation engines, fraud detection, knowledge graphs — where the query itself is a graph traversal Cypher expresses directly and a relational join chain would not.
Pick Prisma Postgres if Prisma ORM users who want the database and the client from one vendor, with a pooled connection limit stated per plan rather than left to be discovered.