# Connect Vercel and Neon manually

### What you will learn:

- [When to use manual connections over integrations](#when-to-choose-this-path)
- [How to connect using environment variables](#connection-steps)
- [Advanced CI/CD automation options](#cicd-based-preview-branching-github-actions)

### Related topics

- [Vercel-Managed Integration](/guides/integrations-tooling-guides-vercel-managed-integration)
- [Neon-Managed Integration](/guides/integrations-tooling-guides-neon-managed-vercel-integration)
- [Automate branching with GitHub Actions](/guides/integrations-tooling-guides-branching-github-actions)

***

## When to choose this path

Choose manual connection if you prefer not to install a Marketplace integration. This approach is ideal when you:

- Deploy via a custom pipeline (self-hosted CI, monorepo, etc.)
- Need non-Vercel hosting (for example Cloudflare Workers + Vercel Functions hybrid)
- Want full control over branch naming, seeding, migration, or teardown

If you simply want Neon and Vercel with minimal setup, stick to the managed integrations. They're simpler and include UI support.

***

## Prerequisites

- Neon project with database (get a connection string via **Connect** in the Console)
- Deployed Vercel project

***

## Connection steps

1. Copy the connection string from the [Neon Console](https://console.neon.tech/). Click **Connect** in the Console nav, select the branch, role, and database you want, then copy the _Connection string_.

   <img src="/current/media/t/75c5dc71-055f-4496-bcaf-6966eeb0b645/p/af70e81f-ccf2-4beb-9df8-efafa018b2a1/02f0b8578897ec0293f6d70d963b054565e505f99b4536d3fde50022915f0943.png/raw" alt="Neon connection details modal">

   For example:

   ```
   postgresql://alex:AbC123dEf@ep-cool-darkness-123456.us-east-2.aws.neon.tech/dbname?sslmode=require&channel_binding=require
                ^              ^                                               ^
                |- <role>      |- <hostname>                                   |- <database>
   ```

2. In the Vercel dashboard, open your project and navigate to **Settings → Environment Variables**.

3. Add either:

   ```
   Key: DATABASE_URL
   Value: <your connection string>
   ```

   _or_ the granular `PG*` variables:

   ```
   PGUSER=alex
   PGHOST=ep-cool-darkness-123456.us-east-2.aws.neon.tech
   PGDATABASE=dbname
   PGPASSWORD=AbC123dEf
   PGPORT=5432
   ```

   :::callout{intent="note"}
   Neon uses the default Postgres port, `5432`.
   :::

4. Select which environments need database access (Production, Preview, Development) and click **Save**.

5. Redeploy your application (or wait for your next deployment) for the variables to take effect.

That's it. Your Vercel app now connects to Neon just like any other Postgres database.

***

## CI/CD-based Preview Branching (GitHub Actions)

Looking for a full CI/CD recipe? See **[Automate branching with GitHub Actions](/guides/integrations-tooling-guides-branching-github-actions)**.

## Need help?

Join our [Discord Server](https://neon.com/discord) to ask questions or see what others are doing with Neon. For paid plan support options, see [Support](/guides/postgres-introduction-support).

## Related pages

- [Connecting with the Vercel-Managed Integration](./integrations-tooling-guides-vercel-managed-integration.md)
- [Connecting with the Neon-Managed Integration](./integrations-tooling-guides-neon-managed-vercel-integration.md)
- [Managing Vercel preview branch cleanup](./integrations-tooling-guides-vercel-branch-cleanup.md)
- [Connecting to Neon from Vercel](./integrations-tooling-guides-vercel-connection-methods.md)
- [Vercel Postgres Transition Guide](./integrations-tooling-guides-vercel-postgres-transition-guide.md)

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