The EU-owned Neon alternative
Neon is US-incorporated serverless Postgres. HostStack is an EU-incorporated PaaS with always-on managed Postgres at flat prices — plus a place to run your app. GDPR-native, no US CLOUD Act.
By Michael Michelsen, Founder of HostStack · Updated September 2026
Neon prices checked 29 September 2026 against its public pricing pages.
The short answer
Neon is serverless Postgres: compute that scales to zero, and instant branches of a database. HostStack Postgres is always-on at a flat price, with a place to run the app beside it. Which one is cheaper comes down to how idle your database is.
For a database that is busy all day, flat pricing usually wins. HostStack’s managed Postgres starts at €4/mo, and the €15 Standard tier includes 3-node HA (beta), where one always-on Neon compute unit is about $77/mo on Launch before storage. HostStack is EU-incorporated; Neon is part of Databricks, a US company.
Neon is the better buy for scale-to-zero workloads, very spiky load, or CI that needs real branches of production data. HostStack preview environments share the linked database rather than cloning it.
Where HostStack differs from Neon
- EU-incorporated (Denmark) vs Neon / Databricks (US) — no US parent, a cleaner Schrems II / CLOUD Act story
- Always-on managed Postgres from €4/mo with flat, prorated pricing — no compute-hour metering to forecast
- 3-node Patroni HA (leader + 2 sync replicas) on Standard (€15) and Pro (€50) at no extra cost — in beta, enabled per team. Neon has no hot-standby compute on any plan
- A full PaaS: run web services, workers, and cron jobs next to your database, plus managed MySQL, MongoDB, and Redis
- Preview environments per pull request give every PR its own running copy of the app; unlike Neon branching they share the linked database rather than cloning it
- Data on European infrastructure under a Danish company, DPA signed at signup
Features: HostStack vs Neon
| Feature | HostStack | Neon |
|---|---|---|
| Managed PostgreSQL | ||
| Database branching | Preview envs per PR | Instant branches |
| Scale to zero | ||
| Run your app (web services) | Database only | |
| Background workers / cron | ||
| Managed MySQL / MongoDB / Redis | Postgres only | |
| Legal incorporation | EU (Denmark) | US (Neon, LLC / Databricks, Inc.) |
| EU data residency | Helsinki, FI (Danish company) | One EU region: Frankfurt (US company) |
| Managed HA database | Patroni 3-node (beta), no add-on | Multi-AZ storage; single compute, no hot standby |
| Pricing model | Flat per-resource, prorated | Compute-hours + storage |
| CLI + Terraform | CLI |
Pricing: HostStack vs Neon
| Tier | HostStack | Neon |
|---|---|---|
| Cheapest always-on Postgres | €4/mo Micro (backups included) | Free (scales to zero), or Launch pay-as-you-go: $0.106/CU-hour + $0.35/GB-month (1 CU ≈ 4 GB always-on ≈ $77/mo before storage) |
| Production Postgres with HA | €15/mo Standard — 3-node HA (beta), no add-on | No hot-standby option (multi-AZ storage on all plans); 1 CU always-on ≈ $77/mo Launch or ≈ $162/mo Scale, + storage |
| Run your application | €1/mo Pico service (or free Nano) | Not an app host — database only |
| Pricing predictability | Flat, prorated to the hour | Compute-hours can spike with load |
When NOT to choose HostStack
Neon is the better fit in some cases. Here's when we'd tell you so.
You specifically need Neon-style instant database branching against production data, not per-PR preview environments.
You want scale-to-zero serverless Postgres that costs nothing while idle — HostStack Postgres is always-on.
Your workload is extremely spiky and compute-hour billing is genuinely cheaper than a flat always-on tier for you.
You are standardizing on the Databricks/Neon ecosystem and want tight integration with it.
Migrate from Neon
Open a HostStack account
Sign up at hoststack.dev with an email — no card during migration. Create a project in our EU region.
Provision managed Postgres
Create a managed PostgreSQL on HostStack sized to your workload — Micro (€4) for small apps, Standard (€15) with 3-node HA for production.
Move your data
Neon is standard PostgreSQL. Stream a pg_dump from your Neon project straight into the new HostStack database, then swap your connection string.
Rehost your app + replace branching
Connect your repo to run your application on HostStack. If you used Neon branches in CI, note that HostStack preview environments deploy the app per pull request but connect to the database the service is linked to — create a separate staging database for CI data.
Cut over DNS
Point your records at HostStack and wait for the Let's Encrypt certificate. Rotate Neon credentials and decommission the old project.
Reference for the move: environment variables (including hoststack env import for a .env export), managed databases, the CLI and, to script the whole thing, the TypeScript SDK.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between HostStack and Neon?
Neon is serverless PostgreSQL — a database with separated storage and compute, instant branching, autoscaling, and scale-to-zero. It is a US-incorporated company (Neon, now part of Databricks). HostStack is a European PaaS: always-on managed Postgres, MySQL, MongoDB, and Redis plus a place to run your actual application (web services, workers, cron), all EU-incorporated (Danish company MICCI) with data in Helsinki, Finland today (Germany regions coming). Neon is the better tool if you specifically want database branching or scale-to-zero; HostStack is the better fit if you want a predictable always-on Postgres on EU-incorporated infrastructure and somewhere to run your app on the same platform.
Is Neon EU-hosted and GDPR-compliant?
Neon offers one EU region (AWS Frankfurt) and a DPA, so data can sit in the EU. But Neon is US-incorporated (and now owned by Databricks, also US), so the US CLOUD Act applies regardless of region — the standard Schrems II concern for any US-incorporated provider. HostStack is incorporated in Denmark with no US parent, which is the cleaner legal-residency story for European teams and public-sector procurement.
Is HostStack cheaper than Neon?
It depends on your workload shape. Neon bills by compute-hours plus storage, which is cheap for spiky or scale-to-zero workloads but can be unpredictable for always-on production. HostStack charges a flat, prorated per-resource price: managed Postgres from €4/month (Micro), with a 3-node Patroni HA cluster (in beta, enabled per team) at no extra cost on the €15 Standard and €50 Pro tiers. Neon's Launch plan has no base fee: $0.106 per compute-unit hour plus $0.35/GB-month, so one always-on compute unit (~4 GB RAM) is about $77/month before storage. For a database that runs continuously, HostStack's flat pricing is easier to forecast. Check current Neon pricing before deciding.
How do I migrate from Neon to HostStack?
Neon is standard PostgreSQL, so provision a managed Postgres on HostStack and stream a pg_dump from your Neon project into it. If you relied on Neon branching in CI, replace it with HostStack preview environments (each pull request gets its own ephemeral environment). Move your app onto HostStack by connecting your repo, then cut over your connection string and DNS.
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