Neptune vs Neo4J: A Head-to-Head Comparison

Amazon Neptune

Amazon Neptune is a fully managed graph database from AWS, built for large and highly connected datasets like social networks, recommendations, and fraud detection. It supports both property graphs and RDF knowledge graphs, allowing queries with Gremlin and SPARQL.

Neptune works with two types of graphs.

1. RDF-based knowledge graphs with SPARQL

2. Property graphs 

In RDF, facts are stored as triples (“A relates-to B”), which can be chained to express machine-readable knowledge. Property graphs, on the other hand, represent entities as vertices and relationships as edges, each with properties — a distinction well explored in this comparison of RDF vs property graphs.

A property graph shows things like people or products as dots. These dots are also called vertices, which are connected through lines (called edges). This way, property graphs describe relationships. 

As part of AWS, Neptune scales easily, integrates with Lambda, SageMaker, and S3, and handles replication and backups automatically. It is designed specifically for graph workloads, making it an attractive option for teams already invested in AWS infrastructure.

Neo4J

Neo4j is one of the most popular graph databases, storing data as nodes and relationships with properties. It uses Cypher, a declarative language created for graph queries, making it intuitive for expressing paths and connections.

Neo4j’s native graph engine delivers significant performance gains over relational databases when dealing with complex traversals. It can be deployed on-premises, in the cloud, or hybrid setups, and it consistently ranks at the top of DB-Engines' graph DBMS list. Neo4j has been adopted by a majority of Fortune 500 companies, powering use cases from fraud detection to supply chain optimization.

As per DB engines's ranking, it is the most popular graph database management system  and is embraced by over 75% of Fortune 500 companies.

In terms of performance, it is almost as fast as its counterpart.  Also, it can be used on-premises or in the cloud, unlike Neptune, which is designed exclusively for the cloud environment. 

Neptune vs. Neo4J

When it comes to popularity, Neptune is not on the same level as Neo4j. However, it's important to consider that Neptune is relatively new to the scene. 

Source: DB-Engines Graph DBMS Ranking

Let's break it down with a quick head-to-head. We'll keep it brief and to the point, focusing on a concise comparison rather than delving into all the features.

1) Developer & Hosting

1. Neptune: Built by AWS, runs exclusively on AWS.

2. Neo4j: Built by Neo4j, Inc., deploys across AWS, Azure, GCP, or on-premises.

2) Data Model

1. Neptune: Supports RDF and property graphs. Nodes have single labels.

2. Neo4j: Property graph only, but supports multiple labels per node for flexible modeling.

3) Query Languages

1. Neptune: Gremlin, SPARQL, and a subset of openCypher. Learn more in Amazon's announcement on openCypher support.

2. Neo4j: Cypher, highly optimized for graph traversals.

4) Driver & Language Support

1. Neptune: C#, Go, Java, JavaScript, PHP, Python, Ruby, Scala.

2. Neo4j: Official drivers for .NET, Java, JavaScript, Go, Python. Developers working in JS environments may also want to check out the best Node.js IDEs to optimize their development workflow.

5) Consistency & ACID

1. Neptune: Immediate consistency on writer, eventual on replicas.

2. Neo4j: Fully ACID-compliant.

6) Data Loading

1. Neptune: Bulk loader via AWS APIs (CSV, Gremlin, RDF).

2. Neo4j: neo4j-admin import, Cypher for smaller jobs, and APOC for JSON/CSV imports.

7) Deployment

1. Neptune: Fully managed, cloud-only on AWS.

2. Neo4j: Cloud, on-premises, or hybrid.

8) Performance

1. Neptune: Optimized for scalability and low-latency queries in AWS.

2. Neo4j: Excels in deep traversals and algorithm-heavy workloads, similar to how backend choice impacts efficiency in our guide on Node.js vs Golang.

9) Graph Algorithms

1. Neptune: Built-in algorithms, integrates with SageMaker.

2. Neo4j: Rich Graph Data Science (GDS) library with algorithms like PageRank and community detection.

10) Licensing & Cost

1. Neptune: Pay-as-you-go pricing for instances, storage, and I/O, as detailed in AWS Neptune pricing.

2. Neo4j: Community Edition is free (GPLv3); Enterprise Edition is commercial. Learn more about Neo4j's licensing.

11) Extensibility

1. Neptune: UDFs supported within Gremlin/SPARQL.

2. Neo4j: Custom procedures/functions via Java API and APOC.

12) Security

1. Neptune: Offers encryption in transit/at rest, VPC isolation, and compliance with industry standards, a must-have in regulated sectors like AWS in healthcare. For developers in this space, it’s worth learning about HIPAA-compliant app development.

2. Neo4j: Role-based access, encryption, and auditing in Enterprise Edition.

13) Community & Support

1. Neptune: AWS docs, forums, and enterprise support; smaller open-source community.

2. Neo4j: Large open-source ecosystem, active community, and numerous third-party tools.

14) Visualization

1. Neptune: Requires third-party tools like Metaphactory, Tom Sawyer, or KeyLines.

2. Neo4j: Offers built-in visualization plus support for tools like Gephi and Tableau.

15) Backup & Recovery

1. Neptune: Automated backups to S3, point-in-time recovery, and multi-AZ replication.

2. Neo4j: Manual or automated backups via neo4j-admin, plus online backup in Enterprise Edition.

Neptune vs Neo4j Performance

Performance is often a deciding factor in the Neo4j vs AWS Neptune debate. Neptune, as a cloud-native managed service, is built for low-latency queries at scale and integrates tightly with AWS services for real-time workloads. Neo4j, with its native graph engine, shines in scenarios requiring deep traversals and advanced graph algorithms, such as fraud detection, recommendations, and social graphs.

If your workload is heavily analytical, Neo4j tends to perform better. If it’s cloud-native with elasticity needs, Neptune is more cost-efficient.

AWS Neptune vs Neo4j Pricing

Pricing also differentiates the two.

1. Amazon Neptune: Pay-as-you-go pricing based on compute, storage, and I/O. This model works well if you want costs to scale directly with usage, as detailed in AWS pricing documentation.

2. Neo4j: Community Edition is free, while Enterprise Edition is priced based on advanced features like clustering, security, and graph data science, more details on Neo4j licensing.

For startups or early-stage teams, Neo4j’s free tier is appealing. For AWS-first enterprises, Neptune offers predictable cloud billing without licensing overhead.

Companies Using Neptune

Neptune is used by a variety of companies, including Amazon, Cox Automotive, Siemens AG, Accenture, Netflix, Nike, and Capital One Financial. These companies use Neptune to power a variety of applications, such as fraud detection, recommendation engines, and social networking.

Companies Using Neo4J

Neo4j is used by Volvo, Marriott, Verizon, eBay, Airbus, JPMorgan, Cisco, LinkedIn, and Walmart for fraud detection, recommendations, supply chain, and network analysis. Over 75% of Fortune 100 companies leverage Neo4j’s graph database capabilities.

Conclusion: Choosing Between Neptune and Neo4j

The choice between Neo4j vs Amazon Neptune depends on your priorities:

1. Choose Neptune if you want a fully managed, AWS-integrated database for cloud-native applications.

2. Choose Neo4j if you need advanced algorithms, flexible deployments, and a mature developer ecosystem.

The best way to decide is to test both with your own data and queries.

If you’re exploring other technology comparisons, check out our guide on Node.js vs Python for backend decision-making insights.

Need expert help evaluating graph databases or building scalable applications? Talk to our team at Brilworks to find the right solution for your business.