Does Django Work With Neon?
Django works seamlessly with Neon PostgreSQL—just point your connection string to Neon and you're ready to build.
Quick Facts
How Django Works With Neon
Django's ORM is database-agnostic and works perfectly with PostgreSQL, so Neon is a drop-in replacement for any Django project currently using Postgres. You simply swap your DATABASE_URL environment variable to use Neon's connection string (which includes built-in SSL). Neon's serverless architecture means your Django app can scale database connections automatically without managing infrastructure—ideal for Django's synchronous request/response cycle. The real advantage is Neon's branching feature: create isolated database branches for development, staging, and testing without duplicating data, which dramatically improves CI/CD workflows. Connection pooling via Neon's built-in PgBounce handles Django's tendency to spawn many short-lived connections, making it efficient even with auto-scaling. The free tier is generous enough for learning and small projects, then scales pay-as-you-go when you need it.
Best Use Cases
Quick Setup
pip install django psycopg2-binary django-environ# settings.py
import environ
import os
env = environ.Env()
env.read_env()
DATABASES = {
'default': {
'ENGINE': 'django.db.backends.postgresql',
'NAME': env('DATABASE_NAME'),
'USER': env('DATABASE_USER'),
'PASSWORD': env('DATABASE_PASSWORD'),
'HOST': env('DATABASE_HOST'),
'PORT': env('DATABASE_PORT', default='5432'),
'CONN_MAX_AGE': 60,
'OPTIONS': {
'sslmode': 'require',
},
}
}
# .env
# DATABASE_NAME=neon_db
# DATABASE_USER=neon_user
# DATABASE_PASSWORD=your_password
# DATABASE_HOST=ep-xxx.us-east-1.neon.tech
# DATABASE_PORT=5432Known Issues & Gotchas
Connection pooling mode differences (Transaction vs Session mode) can cause issues with Django's connection handling and persistent variables
Fix: Use Session mode for Django, or ensure your code doesn't rely on session-level state like SET statements. Neon defaults to Transaction mode—switch in your project settings.
Neon's serverless compute suspends after 5 minutes of inactivity on free tier, causing a 2-3 second cold start on first request
Fix: Use a keep-alive service (Healthchecks.io, UptimeRobot) pinging your app, or upgrade to a reserved compute instance for production.
Django's persistent connections can timeout if held open during Neon compute suspension
Fix: Set CONN_MAX_AGE lower (e.g., 60 seconds) and use connection pooling to handle reconnections gracefully.
Alternatives
- •Django + Amazon RDS PostgreSQL (more control, higher cost)
- •Django + Railway PostgreSQL (simpler pricing, less feature-rich)
- •Django + Supabase (adds auth/realtime, more opinionated than Neon)
Resources
Related Compatibility Guides
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