whichdb
vs

Amazon Neptune vs Neo4j

Amazon Neptune: AWS's managed graph database speaking Gremlin, openCypher and SPARQL on shared storage. Neo4j: The default property-graph database, with Cypher, a big ecosystem and a managed cloud.

key differences

  • Licensing: Amazon Neptune is proprietary (Proprietary (AWS service)); Neo4j is open source (copyleft) (GPL-3.0 (Community) / commercial (Enterprise)).
  • Amazon Neptune is built for larger datasets (≤ 1 PB) than Neo4j (≤ 10 TB).
  • Horizontal scaling is none in Amazon Neptune and addon in Neo4j.
  • Only Neo4j has secondary indexes, full-text search, vector search, stored procedures, streaming ingest.
  • Amazon Neptune has a serverless option; Neo4j does not.

choose amazon-neptune for

  • +Identity graphs and customer 360 on AWS
  • +Fraud detection
  • +Knowledge graphs with SPARQL
  • +Security and network graphs

best at · Traversal, Knowledge graph, OLTP

choose neo4j for

  • +Fraud rings and entity resolution
  • +Real-time recommendations
  • +Knowledge graphs for GraphRAG
  • +Network and IT dependency mapping

best at · Traversal, Graph analytics, Knowledge graph

Amazon NeptuneAWS's managed graph database speaking Gremlin, openCypher and SPARQL on shared storage.
Neo4jThe default property-graph database, with Cypher, a big ecosystem and a managed cloud.
overview
Primary model
Graph
Graph
Also supports
RDF / Triple Store
Vector
Type
Managed service
Database engine
Status
Active
Active
Developer
Amazon Web Services
Neo4j, Inc.
First release
2017
2007
Latest version
1.4.8.1 (Oct 6, 2026)
2026.10.1 (Oct 2026)
License
ProprietaryProprietary (AWS service)
Open source (copyleft)GPL-3.0 (Community) / commercial (Enterprise)
Free tier
✓
✓
popularity
WhichDB Score
15.2
61.2
Rank
#219
#15
GitHub stars
–
17.4K
Stack Overflow questions
1K
23K
scale & guarantees
Comfortable data size
Large (≤ 1 PB)
Medium (≤ 10 TB)
Horizontal scaling
None
Addon
Multi-region
Read replicas
Read replicas
ACID
Full
Full
Consistency
Strong, Eventual
Strong, Causal
Schema
Schemaless
Flexible
Architecture
Primary replica, Shared storage, Serverless
Single node, Primary replica, Client server
deployment
Self-hosted
—
✓
Vendor-managed cloud
✓
✓
Serverless
✓
—
Embedded
—
—
Edge
—
—
Clouds
AWS
AWS, Google Cloud, Azure
capabilities
Transactions
✓
✓
Joins
—
—
Secondary indexes
—
✓
Full-text search
—
✓
Vector search
—
✓
Geospatial
✓
✓
JSON
—
—
Change data capture
✓
✓
Triggers
—
—
Stored procedures
—
✓
Materialized views
—
—
TTL / expiry
—
—
Pub/Sub
—
—
Columnar storage
—
—
In-memory
—
—
Durable persistence
✓
✓
Compression
—
—
Encryption at rest
✓
✓
Role-based access
✓
✓
Time travel
—
—
Branching
—
—
Online schema changes
✓
✓
Streaming ingest
—
✓
Offline sync
—
—
Runs in WebAssembly
—
—
interfaces
Query languages
Gremlin, openCypher, SPARQL
Cypher, GQL
Client languages
Java, Python, JavaScript, .NET, Go
Java, JavaScript, Python, Go, .NET, Rust (community)
Best for
Traversal, Knowledge graph, OLTP, RAG
Traversal, Graph analytics, Knowledge graph, RAG
Add more to this comparisonNot sure either fits? Try smart match

Amazon Neptune vs Neo4j: FAQ

What is the difference between Amazon Neptune and Neo4j?

Amazon Neptune: AWS's managed graph database speaking Gremlin, openCypher and SPARQL on shared storage. Neo4j: The default property-graph database, with Cypher, a big ecosystem and a managed cloud. Licensing: Amazon Neptune is proprietary (Proprietary (AWS service)); Neo4j is open source (copyleft) (GPL-3.0 (Community) / commercial (Enterprise)). Amazon Neptune is built for larger datasets (≤ 1 PB) than Neo4j (≤ 10 TB). Horizontal scaling is none in Amazon Neptune and addon in Neo4j.

When should I choose Amazon Neptune over Neo4j?

Choose Amazon Neptune for identity graphs and customer 360 on AWS; fraud detection; and knowledge graphs with SPARQL. Choose Neo4j for fraud rings and entity resolution; real-time recommendations; and knowledge graphs for GraphRAG.

Is Amazon Neptune or Neo4j more popular?

Neo4j ranks #15 on the WhichDB Score (61.2/100) and Amazon Neptune ranks #219 (15.2/100). Popularity is not fit: check the requirements that matter for your project.

Are Amazon Neptune and Neo4j open source?

No. Amazon Neptune is proprietary, closed-source software. Yes. Neo4j is open source. License: GPL-3.0 (Community) / commercial (Enterprise).