Neon vs DynamoDB for Solo Developers

Quick Comparison

Neon Overview

Neon is serverless PostgreSQL that scales to zero. You get a full Postgres database with branching, autoscaling, and a generous free tier. Every Postgres tool, ORM, and framework works with it because it is Postgres. No compatibility layers, no surprises.

For solo developers, Neon hits the sweet spot. The free tier handles side projects and early-stage products. The $19/mo Pro plan scales with you as traffic grows. Database branching means you can test migrations against a copy of production data in seconds. And because it's just Postgres, you carry zero learning overhead.

I keep coming back to Neon for new TypeScript and Python projects. The cold start times are fast enough that scale-to-zero doesn't cause issues. The connection pooling works well with serverless functions. It's the kind of tool where you set it up once and forget about it.

DynamoDB Overview

DynamoDB is AWS's flagship NoSQL database. It promises single-digit millisecond performance at any scale, and it delivers. The tradeoff is that you have to completely rethink how you model data. No joins, no flexible queries. You design your table structure around your access patterns, and you better get those patterns right upfront.

The free tier gives you 25GB of storage and enough read/write capacity for small projects. Pay-per-request pricing means you only pay for actual database operations, which can be cost-effective for low-traffic apps or spiky workloads.

I've built projects on DynamoDB and the performance is real. Reads are instant. Writes are instant. But the mental overhead of data modeling is significant. Every new feature requires asking "how does this fit my partition key strategy?" That's not a question you want to deal with when you're trying to ship fast as a solo developer.

Key Differences

SQL vs NoSQL changes everything about how you build. With Neon, you write SQL. You join tables. You filter with WHERE clauses. You aggregate with GROUP BY. Your ORM handles the mapping. With DynamoDB, you design access patterns, define partition keys, create secondary indexes, and build your queries around those constraints. SQL is flexible. DynamoDB is performant but rigid.

Data modeling effort is wildly different. In Neon/Postgres, you normalize your data into tables and query however you need. Later, you add a new query? Write a new SQL statement. In DynamoDB, adding a new query pattern might require a Global Secondary Index (limited to 20 per table) or restructuring your data. For solo developers iterating on features quickly, Postgres gives you room to experiment. DynamoDB punishes changing your mind.

Cost at low scale favors Neon's simplicity. Both have free tiers. But Neon's pricing is predictable: free or $19/mo. DynamoDB's pricing depends on read/write units, storage, data transfer, and whether you use on-demand or provisioned capacity. I've seen DynamoDB costs surprise people who didn't model their capacity correctly.

Vendor lock-in is a DynamoDB problem. Neon uses standard Postgres. You can take your schema and data to any Postgres host. DynamoDB uses a proprietary API that only exists on AWS. Your code, your data models, your query patterns are all AWS-specific. Migrating off DynamoDB means rewriting your data layer from scratch.

Local development experience matters. With Neon, you can run a local Postgres instance for development. Same queries, same behavior. With DynamoDB, you need DynamoDB Local (a Java application that simulates DynamoDB). It's not identical to production and adds friction to your dev setup.

When to Choose Neon

• You want a relational database that's flexible and easy to query
• You're building with any standard web framework
• You value the ability to iterate quickly on data models
• You want to avoid AWS vendor lock-in
• You need features like JSONB, full-text search, or complex joins

When to Choose DynamoDB

• You're building exclusively on AWS with Lambda and API Gateway
• Your access patterns are simple, well-known, and unlikely to change
• You need guaranteed single-digit millisecond reads at massive scale
• Your data is naturally key-value (sessions, user profiles, event streams)
• You're already experienced with DynamoDB data modeling

The Verdict

Neon wins this comparison decisively for solo developers. The 9/10 vs 5/10 ratings reflect real experience. Neon gives you the full power of PostgreSQL with serverless convenience, and you can query your data however you need to. DynamoDB gives you raw performance at the cost of rigid data modeling that slows down feature development.

Unless you're building a serverless AWS application where DynamoDB's integration advantages are critical, go with Neon. You'll spend less time fighting your database and more time building features. And when your project grows, Postgres scales further than most solo developers will ever need.