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Neon PostgreSQL

Use Neon as your PostgreSQL database for FastSvelte - a modern serverless Postgres platform with autoscaling and branching.

What is Neon?

Neon is a serverless PostgreSQL platform that separates storage and compute, offering: - Autoscaling - Scale compute up and down automatically - Branching - Instant database branches for development - Serverless - Pay only for what you use - Fast - Low-latency connections

Cost Estimate

  • Free tier: 0.5GB storage, always available
  • Pro tier: $19/month + usage (~$20-30/month typical)
  • Much cheaper than: Azure PostgreSQL (~$50-100/month)

Why Neon?

  • Great free tier - Perfect for side projects
  • Affordable - 50-70% cheaper than traditional managed databases
  • Modern - Git-like branching for databases
  • Fast provisioning - Database ready in seconds
  • Great for FastSvelte - Works perfectly with container platforms

Setup Guide

1. Create Neon Account

  1. Go to Neon Console
  2. Sign up with GitHub
  3. Create a new project

2. Get Connection String

In Neon Console: 1. Go to your project dashboard 2. Copy the connection string 3. It looks like: postgres://user:pass@ep-xxx.region.aws.neon.tech/dbname?sslmode=require

3. Configure FastSvelte

Add to your backend .env file:

# For development
DATABASE_URL_DEV="postgres://user:pass@ep-xxx.region.aws.neon.tech/dbname?sslmode=require"

# For production
DATABASE_URL_PROD="postgres://user:pass@ep-xxx.region.aws.neon.tech/dbname?sslmode=require"

4. Run Migrations

cd db

# Deploy migrations
./sqitch.sh prod deploy

# Verify
./sqitch.sh prod status

5. Create Admin User

cd ../backend
python scripts/create_admin.py \
  --env prod \
  --password <password> \
  --domain yourdomain.com

Database Branching

Neon's killer feature - create instant database copies:

# Create a branch for testing
neon branches create --name testing

# Get connection string for branch
neon connection-string testing

Use branches for: - Testing migrations before production - Development environments - Feature branch databases

Connection Pooling

Neon includes connection pooling built-in. Use the pooled connection string for better performance:

postgres://user:pass@ep-xxx.region.aws.neon.tech/dbname?sslmode=require&pgbouncer=true

With Vercel: 

Vercel (frontend) + Railway (backend) + Neon (database)
Total: ~$0-20 (free tiers) or ~$30-50/month (paid)

With Azure: 

Azure Container Apps (backend) + Azure Static Web Apps (frontend) + Neon (database)
Total: ~$35-50/month (much cheaper than Azure PostgreSQL)

With DigitalOcean: 

DigitalOcean App Platform (backend + frontend) + Neon (database)
Total: ~$25-35/month

Key Features

  • Autoscaling compute
  • Instant database branches
  • Point-in-time restore
  • Connection pooling (PgBouncer)
  • Read replicas
  • Automatic backups
  • Monitoring and insights

Learn More

Neon is highly recommended for FastSvelte deployments when you want to save on database costs without sacrificing features!