Choose a connection method (drivers, pooling, serverless)

Summary: Decision guide for mapping each deployment environment to the correct Neon driver and transport. TCP with pg or postgres.js suits long-lived servers. @neondatabase/serverless over HTTP or WebSocket suits Cloudflare Workers, Netlify, and Deno Deploy. The Data API suits browser apps. Use this page when choosing between pooled and direct connections, or when debugging double-pooling or WebSocket lifecycle errors in serverless request handlers. ORM compatibility for Drizzle, Prisma, Kysely, and TypeORM is also covered.

Choosing your connection method

Find the right driver and connection type for your deployment platform

Your connection method depends on where your code runs. Use the table below for a quick lookup, or read the scenario sections for detailed guidance.

Quick reference by environment

Each scenario is described in detail further down the page.

Environment	Recommended driver	Pooling	Guide
Any platform (non-JS/TS)	Native Postgres driver	Neon pooled connection	Language guides
Railway / Render / VPS / Docker	`pg` or `postgres.js`	Client-side or Neon pooling	Framework guides
Vercel (Fluid)	`pg` (node-postgres)	`@vercel/functions`	Vercel guide
Cloudflare + Hyperdrive	`pg` (node-postgres)	Hyperdrive	Hyperdrive guide
Cloudflare Workers	`@neondatabase/serverless`	N/A	Serverless driver
Netlify / Deno Deploy	`@neondatabase/serverless`	N/A	Serverless driver
Client-side (browser)	`@neondatabase/neon-js`	N/A	Data API

Find your scenario

Not using JavaScript or TypeScript?

Use a standard TCP-based Postgres driver with a pooled connection. Connect from a secure backend server using your language's native driver.

Language/Framework	Guide
Django (Python)	Django
SQLAlchemy (Python)	SQLAlchemy
Elixir Ecto	Elixir Ecto
Laravel (PHP)	Laravel
Ruby on Rails	Ruby on Rails
Go	Go
Rust	Rust
Java	Java
Kotlin	Kotlin

For the full list, see Language quickstarts.

Running on a long-lived server (JS/TS)?

If you deploy a JavaScript or TypeScript app to Railway, Render, a VPS, Docker, or any self-hosted environment with persistent processes, use a standard TCP driver with connection pooling. Your server can maintain a connection pool across requests, making TCP the fastest and most efficient option.

Recommended drivers: pg (node-postgres), postgres.js, or Bun.SQL.

Deploying to Vercel or Cloudflare with platform pooling?

These platforms provide their own connection pooling, which makes standard TCP the best choice.

Vercel (Fluid compute): Use pg (node-postgres) with @vercel/functions. Vercel Fluid keeps functions warm long enough to reuse TCP connections, so you skip the connection setup cost on subsequent requests. See the Vercel connection methods guide for details.

Cloudflare (Hyperdrive): Use pg (node-postgres) with Hyperdrive, which provides connection pooling for Workers. See the Cloudflare Hyperdrive guide for setup.

Deploying to another serverless or edge platform?

For platforms like Netlify Functions, Deno Deploy, or Cloudflare Workers (without Hyperdrive), use the Neon serverless driver (@neondatabase/serverless). It connects over HTTP or WebSockets instead of TCP, reducing connection setup latency.

Choose your transport based on your query pattern: use HTTP for single queries and non-interactive transactions, or WebSocket for interactive transactions and node-postgres compatibility. See HTTP vs. WebSocket for details.

Building a client-side app without a backend?

Use the Neon Data API via @neondatabase/neon-js. Browsers cannot open TCP connections to Postgres, so the Data API provides a secure HTTP interface with Row-Level Security support.

See the JavaScript SDK reference for full documentation.

Understanding the options

Pooled vs. direct connections

A pooled connection routes traffic through PgBouncer, which manages a pool of reusable Postgres connections. Use pooled connections by default. They handle up to 10,000 concurrent client connections and work well for serverless apps and high-concurrency workloads.

A direct connection connects straight to Postgres without PgBouncer. Use direct connections for operations that require stable, long-lived connections or features PgBouncer does not support, such as:

Schema migrations (Prisma Migrate, Drizzle Kit, django-admin migrate)
CREATE INDEX CONCURRENTLY
LISTEN / NOTIFY
Temporary tables or prepared statements across multiple queries

Direct connections are limited by max_connections, which ranges from about 100 to 4,000 depending on your compute size.

You select pooled or direct by choosing the right connection string. Pooled strings include -pooler in the hostname:

text

# Pooled
postgresql://user:pass@ep-cool-rain-123456-pooler.us-east-2.aws.neon.tech/neondb?sslmode=require&channel_binding=require

# Direct
postgresql://user:pass@ep-cool-rain-123456.us-east-2.aws.neon.tech/neondb?sslmode=require&channel_binding=require

See Connection pooling for details.

HTTP vs. WebSocket (serverless driver)

The Neon serverless driver supports two transports:

HTTP uses fetch requests. It is faster for single queries (~3 round trips vs. ~8 for TCP) and supports non-interactive transactions. Choose HTTP when your queries are independent, one-shot operations.
WebSocket maintains a persistent connection within a request. It supports interactive transactions and is compatible with the node-postgres API (Pool, Client). Choose WebSocket when you need multi-step transactions or pg compatibility.

Data API

The Data API provides a REST interface to your database over HTTP. It works in browsers, edge runtimes, and anywhere you can make HTTP requests. It validates JWTs from any authentication provider and enforces PostgreSQL Row-Level Security, making it suitable for client-side apps that query the database directly.

ORM compatibility

Popular JavaScript and TypeScript ORMs work with Neon across all connection methods. For non-JS/TS ORMs (Django, SQLAlchemy, ActiveRecord, Ecto), use your language's native Postgres driver with a pooled connection.

ORM	Supported drivers	Guide
Drizzle	`pg`, `postgres.js`, `@neondatabase/serverless`	Drizzle guide
Kysely	`pg`, `postgres.js`, `@neondatabase/serverless`	Kysely guide
Prisma	`pg`, `@neondatabase/serverless`	Prisma guide
TypeORM	`pg`	TypeORM guide

Choose the driver based on your platform (see the scenarios above), then configure your ORM to use it.

Common pitfalls

Issue	Description
Double pooling	Neon-side pooling uses PgBouncer to manage connections between your app and Postgres. Client-side pooling occurs within your driver before connections reach PgBouncer. If you use a pooled Neon connection, avoid adding client-side pooling on top. Let Neon handle it. If you must use client-side pooling, release connections back to the pool promptly to avoid conflicts with PgBouncer.
Understanding limits	`max_connections` is the maximum number of concurrent Postgres connections, determined by your compute size. `default_pool_size` is the maximum number of backend connections PgBouncer maintains per user/database pair. Increasing your compute to raise `max_connections` may not help if `default_pool_size` is the bottleneck. To increase `default_pool_size`, contact Support.
Use request handlers	In serverless environments (Vercel Edge Functions, Cloudflare Workers), WebSocket connections cannot outlive a single request. Create, use, and close `Pool` or `Client` objects within the same request handler. Do not create them outside a handler or reuse them across handlers. See Pool and Client for details.

Connect to Neon

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