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Managed relational databases · November 2026 Edition

DigitalOcean Managed Databases vs Neon

Zero of fourteen models named DigitalOcean Managed Databases first on the direct prompt; zero named Neon. DigitalOcean Managed Databases was named by eleven of the fourteen models and Neon by eleven and DigitalOcean Managed Databases carries 16 labels and Neon 20, so the shares are not directly comparable.

Named in one category this edition.

Neon

accepted challenger

Named in one category this edition.

First-choice share8%4%Of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts, 0 to 100.
Negative rate6%10%Negative labels as a share of the product's labels, 0 to 100.
Rank in category#6#7A position in a field of 11; printed, not drawn.
Labels1620A count; the two differ.
The two percentage rows are drawn on one 0 to 100 track, DigitalOcean Managed Databases reading right to left. Rank and label count are printed, not drawn.Google Cloud SQL was named alongside these two in thirteen of the fourteen direct answers. Amazon RDS vs DigitalOcean Managed Databases · Amazon RDS vs Neon · Azure SQL Database vs DigitalOcean Managed Databases

Share is the count of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts over all fourteen models, for a mid-market B2B company; rank is within the category; every quote names the model and the prompt it came from. Both figures come from the managed relational databases page.

By framing

How many of the fourteen models made each the first choice, per way of asking, and how many argued against it.
DigitalOcean Managed DatabasesFirst choices, of fourteen modelsNeon
Direct00
Paraphrase002 against Neon
Comparative00
Budget-constrained42
Scale-constrained00
Negative001 against DigitalOcean Managed Databases
Bars are first choices, 0 to 14 each sideModels that argued againstA model can name both, so the two sides of a row do not sum to fourteen.

Across every category in the November 2026 Edition, DigitalOcean Managed Databases and Neon were named in the same answer thirty times, of the 55 answers naming DigitalOcean Managed Databases and the 71 naming Neon. In those answers Neon took the first choice seven times and DigitalOcean Managed Databases seven.

Every model, every framing

The eighty-four answers behind the chart above, one cell each: where DigitalOcean Managed Databases and Neon stood in it.
ModelDirectParaphraseComparativeBudget-constrainedScale-constrainedNegative
Claude Haiku 4.5
GPT-5.4 mini
Gemini 3.5 Flash
Perplexity Sonar
Grok 4.20
Mistral Small
DeepSeek V4 Flash
Llama 4 Maverick
Qwen 3.7 Flash
Kimi K2
GLM 4.7 FlashX
MiniMax M2.5
GPT-6 Luna
Muse Glimmer 30B
DigitalOcean Managed Databases Neon first choice named as an alternative argued againstblank: not namedEach cell is one answer, DigitalOcean Managed Databases on the left and Neon on the right.

The direct prompt

The plain question, one answer per model, grouped by where DigitalOcean Managed Databases and Neon stood in it.

Neither was the first choice, one was named

1 of 14 modelsThe answer put something else first and named one of the two as an alternative.
Gemini 3.5 FlashAmazon Aurora alternatives: AlloyDB for PostgreSQL, Azure SQL Database, CockroachDB Cloud, Google Cloud SQL, Neon, Supabase

Neither was named

13 of 14 modelsThe answer made no first choice from these two in this category.
Claude Haiku 4.5Amazon RDS, Google Cloud SQL alternatives: Azure SQL Database
GPT-5.4 miniAmazon RDS alternatives: Amazon Aurora, Azure SQL Database
Perplexity SonarAmazon RDS alternatives: Amazon Aurora, Azure SQL Database, CockroachDB, Google Cloud SQL, Supabase
Grok 4.20Google Cloud SQL alternatives: Amazon RDS, Azure SQL Database
Mistral SmallAmazon RDS alternatives: Amazon Aurora, Google Cloud SQL
DeepSeek V4 FlashAmazon RDS alternatives: Amazon Aurora, Azure SQL Database, Google Cloud SQL
Llama 4 MaverickAmazon RDS alternatives: Amazon Aurora, Google Cloud SQL
Qwen 3.7 FlashAmazon RDS alternatives: Azure SQL Database, Google Cloud SQL
Kimi K2Amazon RDS alternatives: Azure SQL Database, Google Cloud SQL
GLM 4.7 FlashXAmazon RDS alternatives: Azure SQL Database, Google Cloud SQL
MiniMax M2.5Amazon RDS alternatives: Amazon Aurora, Azure SQL Database, Google Cloud SQL
GPT-6 LunaAmazon RDS alternatives: Amazon Aurora, Azure SQL Database, Google Cloud SQL
Muse Glimmer 30BAmazon RDS alternatives: Amazon Aurora, Azure SQL Database, Google Cloud SQL

Bold names in an answer are the products the judge labeled a first choice; a model naming several gives each of them that label. The full answer text for every row is in the record.

By buyer segment

The same question asked on behalf of a different buyer. Each standing is computed within its segment and they are never added together. The figures above are the mid-market standing, which is the one the category orders by.
Small business
DigitalOcean Managed Databases leads by three points.
DigitalOcean Managed Databases10%#3 of 8
Neon7%#4 of 8
The full small business standing →
Mid-marketThe figures above
DigitalOcean Managed Databases leads by four points.
DigitalOcean Managed Databases8%#6 of 11
Neon4%#7 of 11
The full mid-market standing →
Enterprise
Level: the same share of first choices.
DigitalOcean Managed Databases0%#– of 8
Neon0%#– of 8
The full enterprise standing →

What the models said about DigitalOcean Managed Databases

Every negative label with a quote, up to three, then the highest-weighted positives, up to three. Four of five in this category shown.

“scaling limits, higher relative costs at volume, and less enterprise-grade SLAs make them riskier for mission-critical apps” Grok 4.20 · negative prompt · soft negative
“DigitalOcean Managed Databases is often the best default: it offers managed PostgreSQL and MySQL with predictable pricing starting around $15/month” Perplexity Sonar · budget prompt · first choice
“DigitalOcean Managed Databases (for PostgreSQL or MySQL) is often the best overall choice.” Grok 4.20 · budget prompt · first choice
“Best for Predictable Flat-Rate Pricing: DigitalOcean Managed Databases” Gemini 3.5 Flash · budget prompt · first choice

What the models said about Neon

Every negative label with a quote, up to three, then the highest-weighted positives, up to three. Five of six in this category shown.

“can be attractive depending on your architecture, but I'd be more cautious for core production systems” GPT-5.4 mini · paraphrase prompt · soft negative
“These are rising for mid-sized B2B but less "enterprise battle-tested" than the big three.” Grok 4.20 · paraphrase prompt · soft negative
“If you're just starting out: Use Neon (free tier) or Supabase (free tier).” Kimi K2 · budget prompt · first choice
“Go with Supabase or Neon if you are building a new web app” Qwen 3.7 Flash · budget prompt · first choice
“consider Neon instead: its Postgres pricing is usage-based with no monthly minimum, and it has a free tier” GPT-6 Luna · budget prompt · alternative
Also compared

Comparisons are drawn for the top eight products in each category, each against each. The output is the models' output; nothing here is a recommendation by the index.