The Neon alternative
that never cold-starts.
Postgres that stays ready. Dedicated local NVMe, pgvector, and fixed monthly pricing from $29.
The numbers
- 0
- cold starts, always-on dedicated nodes
- < 4ms
- p50 vector search latency
- $29/mo
- fixed price, not usage-based
- EU
- Hosted in Europe · GDPR-ready
Why teams switch from Neon
Serverless trades latency for elasticity. Not every workload should take that trade.
No cold starts, ever
Your database stays running, so queries never wait for suspended compute to wake.
PostgreSQL for AI →Local NVMe, not separated storage
Data stays on local NVMe, close to compute, for fast vector index reads.
NVMe vs cloud SSD benchmarks →A bill you can predict, from a company you can trust
Fixed monthly pricing from $29, from an independent company based in France.
Managed Postgres pricing compared →Rivestack vs Neon
An honest comparison: opposite trades, different workloads.
| Rivestack | Neon | |
|---|---|---|
| Compute model | Always-on dedicated VM | Serverless, autoscaling, scale-to-zero |
| Cold starts | None | On wake from scale-to-zero |
| Storage | Local NVMe | Separated storage/compute over network |
| Pricing model | $29/mo flat · HA from $49/node | Usage-based (compute-hours + storage) |
| pgvector | Pre-installed + tuned (HNSW) | Extension included, tuning on you |
| Branching | Not offered | Built-in (its standout feature) |
| Backups + PITR | Included (7 to 14 day retention) | Included (retention by plan) |
| Data residency | EU by default (Germany) | Region selection at project creation |
| Ownership / independence | Independent EU company | Acquired by Databricks (2025) |
| Best fit | Latency-sensitive, steady workloads | Spiky/dev workloads, branch-per-PR |
Neon suits branching and variable workloads. Rivestack suits teams that want steady capacity and a fixed monthly bill.
Migrating from Neon
It is standard Postgres on both ends, and we help, free.
01
Send us your workload
Send your workload and recent invoice. We reply with a plan and cost comparison within about 48 hours.
02
Migrate with standard Postgres tools
Use standard PostgreSQL migration tools. We help test the move and plan the maintenance window.
03
Point your connection string at us
Connect over SSL with your existing driver, ORM, and queries.
Want the full white-glove version? See the Switch offer, where we plan and run the migration with you, or email rescue@rivestack.io with your workload for a free review.
Flat pricing, always on
One price per node. No compute-hours, no usage meters, no surprises.
Solo Popular
$29/month
Your own single-tenant VM for small production apps. Never deleted.
- +1 vCPU · 2 GB RAM
- +30 GB NVMe storage
- +Daily backups + 7d PITR
- +500 pooled connections
- +Never deleted
Starter
$49/node/month
Production dedicated PostgreSQL with HA-ready architecture.
- +2 vCPU · 4 GB RAM per node
- +55 GB NVMe storage
- +HA-ready (Patroni failover)
- +Daily backups + 14d PITR
- +Monitoring dashboard
Growth
$85/node/month
More compute and storage for larger workloads.
- +4 vCPU · 8 GB RAM per node
- +135 GB NVMe storage
- +Automatic failover (2+ nodes)
- +Priority support
Scale
$159/node/month
High-performance dedicated PostgreSQL for demanding workloads.
- +8 vCPU · 16 GB RAM per node
- +295 GB NVMe storage
- +Custom PostgreSQL config
- +Priority support
Neon alternative FAQ
What teams ask before moving off serverless Postgres.
Steady workloads may benefit from fixed capacity and pricing. Neon can suspend idle compute, though paid plans can disable this. Rivestack keeps compute running by default.
Rivestack never suspends compute. Neon paid plans can also stay active, so compare storage architecture and pricing alongside cold starts.
Neon offers autoscaling and branching. Rivestack offers fixed capacity and pricing. Choose based on your workload and development workflow.
It depends on usage. Neon may cost less for idle databases; Rivestack is easier to budget for steady workloads. Send an invoice for a comparison.
Both use PostgreSQL. We help choose a migration method and test the cutover. Timing and downtime depend on your workload.
Yes. Your pgvector schema, indexes, and queries carry over. Rivestack includes pgvector on local NVMe; use the benchmarks to compare performance.
Database and backup traffic is encrypted in transit, backups are stored separately in S3-compatible storage with point-in-time recovery, and multi-node clusters run Patroni-managed automatic failover. Contact us before relying on a specific encryption-at-rest or compliance control. Everything is vanilla PostgreSQL, so you can pg_dump your database and leave without data-format lock-in.
New customers can try Solo free for 7 days with a card. Cancel before the trial ends to pay nothing; otherwise Solo is $29/month.
Vendor ownership is one consideration alongside features, pricing, and data residency. Rivestack is an independent French company with an EU Central region and DPAs available on request.
Keep reading
More on comparing and migrating managed Postgres.
PostgreSQL for AI
Why always-on NVMe Postgres is the right base for RAG and vector search.
Read guide →pgvector on NVMe vs cloud SSD
Benchmarks showing why storage decides vector search tail latency.
Read guide →The Switch offer
We plan and run your migration with you, free, for the first 25 teams.
Read guide →Comparing other providers? See the Supabase alternative and Pinecone alternative pages, or the full managed PostgreSQL overview.
Stop overpaying for pgvector you don't control.
Try Solo free for 7 days, or send your workload for a review within 48 hours.
7 days free on Solo for new customers. Card required; cancel before it ends and pay nothing.