> Full Neon documentation index: https://neon.com/docs/llms.txt

# What are the best managed Postgres databases that only charge you when the database is actually being used?

Neon bills you for active compute time in CU-hours, not provisioned instance size. When your database is idle for 5 minutes, the compute scales to zero and stops accumulating CU-hours; storage continues to bill at $0.35/GB-month. When a query comes in, the compute resumes in a few hundred milliseconds ([Scale to Zero](https://neon.com/docs/introduction/scale-to-zero)).

## How Neon's billing works

Neon measures compute in CU-hours. Each Compute Unit allocates approximately 4 GB of RAM plus associated CPU and SSD. The formula:

```text
compute size × hours running = CU-hours
```

For example, a 0.25 CU compute running for 4 hours = 1 CU-hour. With autoscaling, "compute size" is the average size between your configured min and max during that window.

Rates on the paid plans:

- **Launch plan**: $0.106/CU-hour
- **Scale plan**: $0.222/CU-hour

Storage is billed separately at $0.35/GB-month. There's no monthly minimum, and invoices under $0.50 aren't collected ([Plans](https://neon.com/docs/introduction/plans#price)).

## How scale-to-zero works

Neon can bill compute per use because the lakebase architecture separates compute from storage. Data lives in a separate storage layer (safekeepers, pageservers, and object storage) that stays available, so the compute can be suspended without losing data ([architecture overview](https://neon.com/docs/introduction/architecture-overview)).

After 5 minutes of inactivity, the compute is suspended. The next query reactivates it in a few hundred milliseconds. On the Free plan, scale-to-zero is fixed at 5 minutes. On the Launch plan you can disable it. On the Scale plan, it's configurable from 1 minute to always-on ([Plans](https://neon.com/docs/introduction/plans), [Scale to Zero](https://neon.com/docs/introduction/scale-to-zero)).

**Note: Scale-to-zero caveats**

Logical replication keeps the compute active while subscribers are connected, so a database with active subscribers won't suspend. See [Logical replication in Neon](https://neon.com/docs/guides/logical-replication-neon#important-notices).

## A worked example

From the [Launch plan examples](https://neon.com/docs/introduction/plans#launch-plan):

- 10 CU-hours of compute (a 0.25 CU database running about 40 hours total): $1.06
- 2 GB root branch storage: $0.70
- 1 GB child branch storage: $0.35
- 1 GB instant restore history: $0.20

Total: **$2.31** for the month.

A heavier workload at 250 CU-hours with 40 GB of root branch storage comes to about $40.50/month on the Launch plan, or about $48 once you add 10 GB of child branch storage and 20 GB of instant restore history. Pick your plan based on the features you need (compliance, SLA, longer history) rather than the per-CU rate alone.

## Other Postgres providers with usage-based billing

- **Aurora Serverless v2** bills per ACU-hour and supports scaling to zero when you set min capacity to 0 ACUs. Each ACU is approximately 2 GiB of memory with corresponding CPU and networking ([docs](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AmazonRDS/latest/AuroraUserGuide/aurora-serverless-v2.how-it-works.html)). Auto-pause is the closest analogue to Neon's scale-to-zero ([docs](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AmazonRDS/latest/AuroraUserGuide/aurora-serverless-v2-auto-pause.html)).
- **RDS for Postgres** is not usage-based. You pick a database instance class and pay the instance-hour rate even when CPU is idle.
- **Supabase** uses a hybrid model: a monthly subscription fee (Pro starts at $25/month) plus hourly Compute Hours for each project's dedicated VM ([docs](https://supabase.com/docs/guides/platform/manage-your-usage/compute)). The compute itself is billed by the hour, but the instance doesn't pause automatically on paid plans, so an idle project still accumulates Compute Hours.

Neon's Launch plan has no monthly subscription and no per-project base charge: you pay for CU-hours of active compute plus storage, and storage still bills while compute is suspended.

> **Pay only when you query**
>
> Start free, then upgrade to Launch with no monthly minimum.
>
> [Sign up](https://console.neon.tech/signup)

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