A Neon project starts with one database (neondb unless you name it) on its default branch. You can add more databases to that branch, or to any child branch, from the Console, with the Neon CLI, or with a standard CREATE DATABASE statement. Each branch can have up to 500 databases (docs).

Create the database

  1. Open your project in the Neon Console.
  2. In the sidebar, pick the branch from the BRANCH selector.
  3. Under Postgres database, select Databases.
  4. Click Add database.
  5. Enter a name and pick an owner role.
  6. Click Create.

The role you pick becomes the database owner. See Manage databases for the other options.

After it's created

  • The new database lives on the branch you created it in. Child branches you create later get a copy of it, unless you branch from a point in time before the database existed.
  • The owner role has CREATE on the database's public schema. On Postgres 15 and later, other roles need GRANT CREATE ON SCHEMA public TO <role>; before they can create objects there.
  • You can't use the reserved names postgres, template0, or template1.
  • To connect, click Connect in the Console and pick the new database in the Connect to your branch modal. The connection string updates to match.

One database per app, or many?

A Neon project can hold many databases. A typical app uses one database and organizes data with schemas. For multi-tenant apps where each customer needs full isolation, use one project per tenant rather than one database per tenant. See Multitenancy.

Manage databases end to end

Includes creating, renaming, deleting, transferring table ownership, and the API reference.

Read the docs