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Amazon Neptune Analytics

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by Amazon Web Services · since 2023 · also known as Neptune Analytics

Memory-optimized AWS graph engine for fast algorithms, openCypher and vector search over large graphs.

graphvectormanaged serviceproprietarygrowing
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Overview

Neptune Analytics is a separate AWS service from Neptune Database: a memory-optimized graph engine that loads a graph from S3 or a Neptune cluster snapshot into RAM and runs built-in algorithms (PageRank, community detection, path finding, similarity) and low-latency openCypher queries over it. Each graph can hold a vector index, so similarity search and traversal combine in one query, and it backs the managed GraphRAG option in Amazon Bedrock Knowledge Bases. Capacity is provisioned in memory-optimized Neptune Capacity Units. Use it for exploratory analytics, data science and GraphRAG on AWS, alongside Neptune Database for transactional work.

Graph analyticsVector searchRAG & AI memoryKnowledge graph

Strengths & trade-offs

Strengths

  • +Built-in graph algorithms callable from openCypher with no separate compute cluster
  • +In-memory engine loads billions of edges from S3 or Neptune snapshots quickly
  • +Vector index inside the graph combines similarity search with traversal
  • +Managed GraphRAG via Amazon Bedrock Knowledge Bases

Trade-offs

  • −AWS-only and billed for provisioned memory even when idle
  • −openCypher only; no Gremlin or SPARQL
  • −One vector index per graph and limited transactional semantics

Great for

  • +Graph data science and community detection
  • +GraphRAG on AWS
  • +Fraud ring discovery
  • +Ad-hoc analysis of Neptune Database snapshots

Think twice for

  • −Primary OLTP system of record
  • −Multi-cloud deployments
  • −RDF/SPARQL workloads

Capabilities

Native or official first-party support · 5 of 25 tracked

✓Vector search
✓In-memory
✓Durable persistence
✓Encryption at rest
✓Role-based access
–Transactions
–Joins
–Secondary indexes
–Full-text search
–Geospatial
–JSON
–Change data capture
–Triggers
–Stored procedures
–Materialized views
–TTL / expiry
–Pub/Sub
–Columnar storage
–Compression
–Time travel
–Branching
–Online schema changes
–Streaming ingest
–Offline sync
–Runs in WebAssembly

Scale & consistency

Comfortable data size
Medium · ≤ 10 TB
Horizontal scaling
None
Multi-region
No
Transactions
Limited ACID
Consistency
Strong
Schema
Schemaless
Architecture
In memory, Serverless
Query languages
openCypher

Graph size is bounded by the provisioned memory capacity of a single graph.

Deployment

Self-hosted Vendor-managed cloud Serverless Embedded Edge Kubernetes operator

available on · AWS

Amazon Neptune AnalyticsAWS

Ecosystem

apis & protocolsHTTPS query API, AWS SDK, Bedrock Knowledge Bases integration
client languagesPython, Java, JavaScript, Go

Alternatives to Amazon Neptune Analytics

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Amazon NeptuneGraph15.2

AWS's managed graph database speaking Gremlin, openCypher and SPARQL on shared storage.

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Neo4jGraph61.2

The default property-graph database, with Cypher, a big ecosystem and a managed cloud.

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TigerGraphGraph16.6

Distributed MPP graph database built for deep-link analytics on very large graphs.

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MemgraphGraph24.4

In-memory, Cypher-compatible graph database in C++ for streaming and real-time graph workloads.

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PuppyGraphGraph5.6

Zero-ETL graph query engine that runs Cypher and Gremlin directly on your lakehouse and SQL tables.

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LadybugDBGraph20.7

Community-maintained continuation of Kùzu: embedded columnar graph database with Cypher.

amazon-neptune-analytics vs ladybugdb →

Amazon Neptune Analytics FAQ

What is Amazon Neptune Analytics?

Amazon Neptune Analytics is a graph database by Amazon Web Services, first released in 2023. Neptune Analytics is a separate AWS service from Neptune Database: a memory-optimized graph engine that loads a graph from S3 or a Neptune cluster snapshot into RAM and runs built-in algorithms (PageRank, community detection, path finding, similarity) and low-latency openCypher queries over it. Each graph can hold a vector index, so similarity search and traversal combine in one query, and it backs the managed GraphRAG option in Amazon Bedrock Knowledge Bases. Capacity is provisioned in memory-optimized Neptune Capacity Units. Use it for exploratory analytics, data science and GraphRAG on AWS, alongside Neptune Database for transactional work.

Is Amazon Neptune Analytics open source?

No. Amazon Neptune Analytics is proprietary, closed-source software.

Does Amazon Neptune Analytics support ACID transactions?

Partly. Amazon Neptune Analytics offers limited ACID guarantees (for example, single-record or single-partition transactions), with strong consistency.

Does Amazon Neptune Analytics scale horizontally?

Amazon Neptune Analytics does not scale horizontally; it runs on a single node, so you scale it up rather than out. It is comfortable at medium scale (≤ 10 TB).

How can I run Amazon Neptune Analytics?

You can use the vendor's managed cloud. It is available on AWS.

What is Amazon Neptune Analytics best for?

Amazon Neptune Analytics is a strong fit for graph data science and community detection; GraphRAG on AWS; and fraud ring discovery. Think twice for primary OLTP system of record.

What are the best alternatives to Amazon Neptune Analytics?

Common alternatives to Amazon Neptune Analytics include Amazon Neptune, Neo4j, TigerGraph, Memgraph and PuppyGraph. The right choice depends on your workload, scale and hosting; WhichDB's smart match ranks them against your requirements.

How popular is Amazon Neptune Analytics?

Amazon Neptune Analytics has little measurable public adoption today, so it ranks near the bottom of the WhichDB Score.