A local alternative to Neon branching
Neon branches are copy-on-write clones in Neon's cloud: fast even for big databases, and reached over the internet with the same roles and passwords as the parent. dbplex puts the copy on your Mac instead, from Neon or any other Postgres, with personal columns masked and branches that never leave localhost.
For Apple Silicon Macs. 7 days free with every feature. No card and no account.
- A Neon branch
- A cloud clone, data included
- Extra branches
- $1.50 a branch-month
- Its passwords
- Same as the parent
- dbplex
- A Mac app, 7 days free
Which one fits
Neon branches are fast and live next to production. dbplex copies are local and live next to you.
Pick Neon branching if
- Your database is too big for a laptop's disk.
- You want a branch for each pull request, made from CI or the API.
- You want to branch from a past moment in the restore window.
Pick dbplex if
- You want the copy off the cloud, where an agent's mistake cannot reach anything shared.
- Your agent should never hold a password that also opens production.
- You want masked data without a beta feature.
- You also use Supabase, MySQL, MongoDB or another of the 12 engines.
Neon branching and dbplex, side by side
A Neon branch and a dbplex copy of the same database.
| Neon branching | dbplex | |
|---|---|---|
| Where the copy runs | Neon's cloud, with its own compute and hostname. | Your Mac, on localhost. |
| Credentials | The same Postgres roles and passwords as the parent branch. | Local credentials for the copy. Production's stay in your Keychain. |
| Speed | Copy-on-write: seconds, whatever the size. | A full pull, which takes longer the bigger the database. |
| Personal data | Anonymized branches, in beta, with static masking. | Masked as the copy is pulled on Postgres, Supabase, MySQL, MariaDB, Turso, SQL Server and Oracle. You confirm each column. |
| Cost | Compute by the hour, storage by the GB-month, and $1.50 for each extra branch-month. | $12.99 a month, or $79.99 for a year of updates, after 7 free days. |
| Going back | Restore within 6 hours to 30 days, by plan. | Saved states, kept until you delete them. |
| Other databases | Postgres on Neon. | Any Postgres, and 11 more engines. |
Questions about Neon branching and dbplex
Does dbplex work with Neon?
Yes. Paste the Neon connection string and dbplex copies the database to your Mac. Production is only read.
Does Neon have a local option?
Neon Local is a proxy to your database in Neon's cloud. It does not run Postgres on your machine.
Is a dbplex copy as fast as a Neon branch?
No. A Neon branch is copy-on-write and ready in seconds. A dbplex pull copies the data, so it takes longer the bigger the database. After that, branches and saved states on your Mac are quick.
Sources
What this page says about Neon branching comes from its own pages, checked on 7 November 2026. If something has changed, tell us and we will fix it.
The databases it copies, and other comparisons
PostgreSQL
SupabaseBreak prod. Locally.
Try it on your own database for 7 days. No card and no account.