Neon vs ScaleGrid
SEPT 2026 auditA comparison of Neon and ScaleGrid built from values read directly from each provider's own documentation, with the source recorded against every figure.
The short answer
Choose Neon if…
Workloads that are idle most of the time, and teams who want a real database per pull request. Compute suspends after five minutes and storage is billed separately, so a staging branch costs almost nothing while nobody is using it.
Editorial · Palash Bagchi · approved
Choose ScaleGrid if…
Teams that already have a favored database engine and cloud provider but want someone else operating it — the BYOC model bills infrastructure at cost and adds management on top, worth it if the operational burden is the actual problem.
Editorial · Palash Bagchi · approved
Consider something else if…
- Neon: You need predictable monthly billing. Usage pricing with no minimum fee cuts both ways, and a runaway query on an autoscaling compute is billed at the rate it ran.
- ScaleGrid: The workload fits a single-engine specialist with its own scale-to-zero or branching model — ScaleGrid's value is operating an engine you already chose, not offering a distinctive one.
6 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.
Neon 0
ScaleGrid 0
At a glance.
| Criterion | Neon | ScaleGrid |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | ||
| Free tier | Yes | No |
| Pricing model | Usage-based with no minimum monthly fee on paid plans: $0.106/CU-hour compute and $0.35/GB-month storage on Launch, $0.222/CU-hour on Scale | Two models: Dedicated Hosting, an all-inclusive plan covering machine, disk and network cost; or Bring Your Own Cloud (BYOC), management-only pricing where the cloud provider is billed separately. |
| Startup credit program | Via the Databricks Startup Program: up to $1,000 in Neon credits for self-funded startups (<$1M raised), or up to $200K in Neon and Databricks credits for VC-backed startups (≥$1M raised) or accelerator participants. Credits valid 12 months from acceptance. | Startup Saver: up to 50% discount on ScaleGrid hosting for 12 months. |
| Infrastructure | ||
| Regions | 8 AWS regions: N. Virginia, Ohio, Oregon, Frankfurt, London, Singapore, Sydney, São Paulo. A project's region is fixed at creation and cannot be changed. | Six cloud providers: AWS, Google Cloud, Microsoft Azure, DigitalOcean, Oracle Cloud (OCI) and Akamai. Specific regional availability is not published on the pricing or product pages. |
| Data | ||
| Engine | PostgreSQL | MySQL, PostgreSQL, MongoDB, Redis, RabbitMQ and SQL Server. |
| Backup retention | 1 day of history on paid plans by default and 6 hours on Free, configurable up to 7 days on Launch or 30 days on Scale. Neon notes that widening the window raises storage cost, so the ceiling is a paid choice rather than an included allowance. | Up to five backups per deployment on ScaleGrid's dedicated hosting plans. |
Where they differ.
Free tier
- Neon
- Yes
- ScaleGrid
- No
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- Neon plans — Neon Docs ↗
“On the Free plan, there is no monthly cost. You get usage allowances for projects, branches, compute, storage, and more, for $0/month.”
Read 2026-09-05 · official pricing
- ScaleGrid Pricing ↗
“Experience ScaleGrid for 7 days, no credit card required. [A time-limited trial, not an ongoing free plan.]”
Read 2026-09-11 · official pricing
Pricing model
- Neon
- Usage-based with no minimum monthly fee on paid plans: $0.106/CU-hour compute and $0.35/GB-month storage on Launch, $0.222/CU-hour on Scale
- ScaleGrid
- Two models: Dedicated Hosting, an all-inclusive plan covering machine, disk and network cost; or Bring Your Own Cloud (BYOC), management-only pricing where the cloud provider is billed separately.
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- Neon plans — Neon Docs ↗
“On Launch and Scale plans, you pay only for what you use; there's no minimum monthly fee. Usage for compute, storage, extra branches, and other features is billed at the published rates”
Read 2026-09-05 · official pricing
- ScaleGrid Pricing ↗
“Dedicated Hosting: All-inclusive plans covering machine, disk, and network costs. Bring Your Own Cloud (BYOC): Management-only pricing; you pay cloud provider separately.”
Read 2026-09-11 · official pricing
Startup credit program
- Neon
- Via the Databricks Startup Program: up to $1,000 in Neon credits for self-funded startups (<$1M raised), or up to $200K in Neon and Databricks credits for VC-backed startups (≥$1M raised) or accelerator participants. Credits valid 12 months from acceptance.
- ScaleGrid
- Startup Saver: up to 50% discount on ScaleGrid hosting for 12 months.
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- Neon Startup Program ↗
“Self-Funded: Early-stage, self-funded startups. Less than $1M in funding [...] Up to $1,000 in Neon credits. Venture-Backed: VC-backed startups with at least $1M in funding [...] Up to $200K in Neon and Databricks credits. Credits are valid for 12 months from the date of acceptance.”
Read 2026-09-11 · official site
- ScaleGrid Pricing ↗
“Startup Saver provides up to 50% discount over 12 months.”
Read 2026-09-11 · official pricing
Regions
- Neon
- 8 AWS regions: N. Virginia, Ohio, Oregon, Frankfurt, London, Singapore, Sydney, São Paulo. A project's region is fixed at creation and cannot be changed.
- ScaleGrid
- Six cloud providers: AWS, Google Cloud, Microsoft Azure, DigitalOcean, Oracle Cloud (OCI) and Akamai. Specific regional availability is not published on the pricing or product pages.
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- Regions — Neon Docs ↗
“Each Neon project exists in exactly one region. Your database runs in that region. You cannot change the region for an existing project. If you need your data in a different region, you create a new Neon project in that region and migrate your database there.”
Read 2026-09-05 · official docs
- ScaleGrid MySQL Hosting ↗
“AWS, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud Platform, DigitalOcean, Oracle Cloud (OCI), Akamai.”
Read 2026-09-11 · official site
Engine
- Neon
- PostgreSQL
- ScaleGrid
- MySQL, PostgreSQL, MongoDB, Redis, RabbitMQ and SQL Server.
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- Connection pooling — Neon Docs ↗
“Each Postgres connection creates a new process in the operating system, consuming memory and CPU resources. Postgres limits the number of connections based on available RAM.”
Read 2026-09-05 · official docs
- ScaleGrid Pricing ↗
“MySQL, PostgreSQL, MongoDB, Redis, RabbitMQ, SQL Server.”
Read 2026-09-11 · official pricing
Backup retention
- Neon
- 1 day of history on paid plans by default and 6 hours on Free, configurable up to 7 days on Launch or 30 days on Scale. Neon notes that widening the window raises storage cost, so the ceiling is a paid choice rather than an included allowance.
- ScaleGrid
- Up to five backups per deployment on ScaleGrid's dedicated hosting plans.
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- Point-in-time restore — Neon Docs ↗
“Neon retains a history of changes for your branches, with defaults of 6 hours on Free plan and 1 day on paid plans. [...] You can configure it up to 7 days on Launch or 30 days on Scale plans.”
Read 2026-09-07 · official docs
- ScaleGrid Pricing ↗
“ScaleGrid offers up to five backups per deployment on ScaleGrid's dedicated hosting plans.”
Read 2026-09-11 · 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.
Free tier: Neon or ScaleGrid?
Neon: Yes
ScaleGrid: No
Should I choose Neon or ScaleGrid?
Pick Neon if Workloads that are idle most of the time, and teams who want a real database per pull request. Compute suspends after five minutes and storage is billed separately, so a staging branch costs almost nothing while nobody is using it.
Pick ScaleGrid if Teams that already have a favored database engine and cloud provider but want someone else operating it — the BYOC model bills infrastructure at cost and adds management on top, worth it if the operational burden is the actual problem.