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

# Which Postgres services make it easy to share a live read-only database snapshot with a contractor or external reviewer without granting production access?

Create a branch from your production database, attach a fresh role, and hand the contractor a connection string. They get a live, queryable copy. They can't touch production, and their queries don't compete for production's compute.

## How the branch works

A Neon branch is a full copy of your database at a point in time. It shares storage with the parent until either side writes, so creation takes a few seconds and adds no storage cost up front.

You can spin one up from the CLI:

```bash
neon branches create --name contractor-review --parent main
neon roles create --name contractor --branch contractor-review
neon connection-string contractor-review --role-name contractor
```

The returned `postgresql://` connection string works with psql, DBeaver, DataGrip, Metabase, Tableau, or anything else that speaks the Postgres wire protocol.

## Make it read-only

Two ways to lock the branch to reads:

1. **Use a read replica endpoint.** Read replicas run on a separate compute that reads from the same storage. They can't write. The contractor connects to the replica endpoint, and your primary compute is unaffected by their workload.

2. **`REVOKE` write privileges on the role.** Standard Postgres role management applies.

```sql
REVOKE INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE, TRUNCATE ON ALL TABLES IN SCHEMA public FROM contractor;
GRANT SELECT ON ALL TABLES IN SCHEMA public TO contractor;
```

**Tip: Set an expiry**

On paid plans, you can set a [time-to-live](https://neon.com/docs/guides/branch-expiration) on the branch so it auto-deletes when the engagement ends. Combine with [protected branches](https://neon.com/docs/guides/protected-branches) on the production root so nobody can accidentally restore over it.

## What this costs

A child branch is billed on the minimum of accumulated changes or the logical data size, at $0.35/GB-month. If the contractor only reads, that's effectively zero storage delta. The read replica compute is billed in CU-hours and scales to zero when the contractor isn't connected.

Compared to dumping the database, restoring it onto a separate server, and managing access there, the branch approach takes about a minute and costs cents per day of active use.

> **Try branching for contractor handoffs**
>
> Sign up free and create your first read-only review branch in under a minute.
>
> [Start free](https://console.neon.tech/signup)