Short answer

You have a few options for running Postgres without managing servers. Neon is a complete set of cloud backend primitives built around Lakebase Postgres. Lakebase Postgres separates storage from compute, autoscales between a min and max size, and suspends compute when idle. AWS Aurora Serverless v2 and Supabase are alternatives, each with different trade-offs on minimum capacity and cold-start behavior.

What "no infrastructure" means

With a self-managed Postgres install, you pick instance sizes, plan for failover, run major-version upgrades, and provision storage ahead of demand. A managed platform takes those tasks over. A serverless platform goes further: capacity scales with traffic, and you stop paying for compute when traffic stops (storage continues to bill on paid plans).

What Neon handles for you

  • Provisioning. Sign up, paste the connection string, and start querying. No instance type to choose. See the quickstart.
  • Scaling. Autoscaling adjusts compute between your configured min and max (up to 16 CU, ≈64 GB RAM) based on load.
  • Connection limits. Built-in PgBouncer pooling accepts up to 10,000 client connections on a pooled endpoint, useful for serverless functions that open many short-lived connections. See connection pooling.
  • High availability. Storage components (Safekeepers and Pageservers) are distributed across multiple Availability Zones. Compute restarts or reschedules automatically on failure. See high availability.
  • Backups. Instant restore covers up to 30 days of point-in-time recovery on the Scale plan (root branches only).
  • Extensions. pgvector, PostGIS, pg_stat_statements, and dozens more are pre-installed.

When serverless isn't the right fit

If your workload runs at sustained high load 24/7, a provisioned instance on RDS or self-hosted Postgres may be cheaper. Serverless Postgres is a better fit for bursty traffic, dev and preview environments, and apps that idle overnight.

How the main "no infrastructure" Postgres options compare

ServiceCapacity modelScale-to-zero
NeonAutoscaling between a min and max CU. Storage is separate from compute. See autoscaling.Yes by default after 5 minutes idle. See scale to zero.
AWS Aurora Serverless v2You configure a min/max ACU range; capacity adjusts within that range. See Aurora Serverless v2.Optional, by setting the min to 0 ACU and enabling auto-pause. Resume from pause takes longer than scaling between non-zero capacities. See Aurora auto-pause.
AWS RDS for PostgresFixed instance class chosen up front. Vertical resize requires a restart. See RDS user guide.No. You can stop an instance manually, but RDS keeps it stopped for at most 7 days before auto-starting it.
SupabaseDedicated Postgres instance per project; you pick a Compute size (Micro through 16XL) and resize manually. See Supabase compute.Free Plan projects can be paused after extended inactivity. Paid plans run continuously and accrue Compute Hours.

Cold starts

Lakebase Postgres compute resumes from suspend in a few hundred milliseconds. If you need every request to hit an already-warm compute, disable scale to zero on the Launch plan or Scale plan.

Try serverless Postgres

Create a project on the Free plan and see what no infrastructure feels like.