- Top complaint:
- SERVICE SHUT DOWN - May 30, 2025
- Price:
- Free plan, paid from $25/mo
- Pick it if you are:
- Developers needing database branching; Projects with variable/intermittent traffic
- Top complaint:
- Multiple outages in 2025-2026 raise reliability concerns
- Price:
- Free plan
Score Comparison
Signals Comparison
Fauna
- SERVICE SHUT DOWN - May 30, 2025(10/10)
- Open source release promised but no timeline(7/10)
Neon
- Multiple outages in 2025-2026 raise reliability concerns(9/10)
- Regional availability gaps(5/10)
Fauna
- Costs did not scale to $0 like truly serverless(7/10)
- Dashboard usage consumed operations(4/10)
Neon
- Free tier cannot run 24/7 continuously(6/10)
- Branch and PITR storage costs add up(5/10)
Fauna
- FQL query language had steep learning curve(6/10)
- Type system difficult to debug(4/10)
Neon
- Database-only service requires additional tools(5/10)
- Free tier limited to one database per project(4/10)
Fauna
- Documentation gaps for new product(5/10)
Neon
No signals
Fauna
- No transactions spanning multiple requests(6/10)
- Company pivoted focus from developers to enterprise(6/10)
Neon
- Databricks acquisition creates uncertainty(8/10)
- Limited control over storage internals(6/10)
Fauna
- Lacked full-text search capability(5/10)
Neon
No signals
Fauna
No signals
Neon
- Cold starts affect user experience(7/10)
- Serverless driver slower than direct Postgres(6/10)
Pricing Comparison
Fauna
Users: N/A
Storage: N/A
Limits: Cannot sign up or use - service terminated
Users: N/A
Storage: 5GB (was)
Limits: Historical reference only - service shut down
Users: N/A
Storage: Pay per GB
Limits: Historical reference only - service shut down
Neon
Users: N/A
Storage: 1 GB per project, 20 GB per account
Limits: Scale to zero after 5 min cannot be disabled, no instant restore, 1 manual snapshot, 10 branch cap
Users: N/A
Storage: $0.35/GB-month
Limits: 10 branches per project, billing support only, no SLA listed
Users: N/A
Storage: $0.35/GB-month
Limits: Still usage-based, costs scale with traffic
Users: N/A
Storage: Custom
Limits: Requires sales engagement, unclear pricing until negotiation
Feature Comparison
| Feature | Fauna | Neon |
|---|---|---|
| Database | ||
| Document + Relational Was unique | ||
| PostgreSQL Database Full compatibility | ||
| ACID Transactions Historical | ||
| SQL Queries FQL only | ||
| Infrastructure | ||
| Global Distribution Historical | ||
| Serverless Historical | ||
| Development | ||
| Database Branching Instant COW clones | ||
| Scaling | ||
| Scale-to-Zero Pay only when active | ||
| Autoscaling 0.25-8 CU range | ||
| API | ||
| GraphQL Support Historical | ||
| Reliability | ||
| Point-in-Time Recovery Instant restore | ||
| Connectivity | ||
| Serverless Driver WebSocket based | ||
| Status | ||
| Active Service SHUT DOWN | ||
| Licensing | ||
| Open Source Promised, no timeline | ||
| Backend | ||
| Authentication Database only | ||
| File Storage Database only | ||
| Search | ||
| Full-Text Search Never had | ||
| Deployment | ||
| On-Premises/BYOC Cloud only | ||
| Self-Hosted Option Was cloud-only | ||
| Pricing | ||
| Always-On Free Tier 100 CU-hours limit | ||
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