Neo4j vs PostgreSQL SQL/PGQ
Both are property graph databases. Neo4j (2007, GPL-3.0, Java) ranks #1 this month; PostgreSQL SQL/PGQ (2026-03, PostgreSQL, C) ranks #83.
| Attribute | Neo4j | PostgreSQL SQL/PGQ |
|---|---|---|
| At a glance | ||
| Rank | #1 | #83 |
| Score | 83.3 | 41.6 |
| GitHub stars | 17.2k | — |
| Popularity | 97.3 | — |
| Activity | 86.7 | — |
| Community | 90.2 | 55.4 |
| Research | 98.6 | 49.6 |
| Fundamentals | ||
| Description | A property graph database that stores data as fixed-size records in linked lists for index-free adjacency traversal. Offers community and commercial editions with an extensive graph algorithms library. | Native SQL:2023 property graph query support coming to PostgreSQL, exposing graph pattern matching through the GRAPH_TABLE construct over property graphs defined on existing tables. Property graphs are processed like views and executed as standard relational queries by the existing planner. |
| Vendor | Neo4j Inc | PostgreSQL Global Development Group |
| Model | Property Graph | Property Graph |
| Kind | database | database |
| Category | Established | Emerging |
| First released | 2007 | 2026-03 |
| Status | active | active |
| License | GPL-3.0 | PostgreSQL |
| Written in | Java | C |
| Query languages | Cypher, GQL | SQL/PGQ |
| gdotv support | yes | no |
Feature scores — not surveyed for PostgreSQL SQL/PGQ
| Feature | Neo4j | PostgreSQL SQL/PGQ |
|---|---|---|
| Community & Business | ||
| Active development | ✓ | — |
| Commercial support | ✓ | — |
| Live community | ✓ | — |
| Open Source | ✓ | — |
| Pricing | 0.5 | — |
| Trendiness | ✓ | — |
| Deployment | ||
| Containerization | ✓ | — |
| Work as dedicated instance | ✓ | — |
| Work as embedded | ✓ | — |
| Testing in-memory version | ✓ | — |
| Platform | ||
| Operating on Linux | ✓ | — |
| Operating on Windows | ✓ | — |
| SaaS offering | ✓ | — |
| Operations | ||
| Automatic updates | · | — |
| Client side caching | · | — |
| Data versioning support | · | — |
| Live backups | ✓ | — |
| Distribution | ||
| Cluster Re-balancing | · | — |
| Data Distribution | ✓ | — |
| High-Availability | ✓ | — |
| Query Distribution | ✓ | — |
| Replication support | ✓ | — |
| Developer Experience | ||
| Data types defined | ✓ | — |
| Logging/Auditing | ✓ | — |
| Object-Graph Mapper | ✓ | — |
| Reactive programming | ✓ | — |
| Documentation up-to-date | ✓ | — |
| Binary protocol | ✓ | — |
| CLI | ✓ | — |
| GUI | ✓ | — |
| Data Model | ||
| Multi-database | ✓ | — |
| Graph-native data | ✓ | — |
| REST API | ✓ | — |
| Query Language | ✓ | — |
| Transactions | ||
| Granular locking | ✓ | — |
| Multiple isolation levels | ✓ | — |
| Read committed transaction | ✓ | — |
| Transaction support | ✓ | — |
| Schema & Security | ||
| Constraints | ✓ | — |
| Schema support | ✓ | — |
| Secondary indexes | ✓ | — |
| Server side procedures | ✓ | — |
| Triggers | ✓ | — |
| Authentication | ✓ | — |
| Authorization | ✓ | — |
| Data encryption | · | — |
Links
- Neo4j · website · github · full profile
- PostgreSQL SQL/PGQ · website · full profile