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It's a split decision.
Choose TigerGraph for enterprise relationship intelligence where multi-hop reasoning, governed data and deployments across cloud or on-premises matter. Its managed pricing combines per-GB monthly rates with hourly instance charges. Choose Neo4j if you want a choice of managed and self-managed graph products, a free AuraDB tier and published hourly rates for production AuraDB. Both support self-hosting and managed deployment; confirm API details, export paths and total costs for your workload before committing.
01Side by side
| TigerGraph | Neo4j | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Managed: $45 or $126/GB/month, plus instance and storage charges. | AuraDB production: $0.09 or $0.20/GB/hour. |
| Free tier | Free Trial; Community supports one server and up to 300 GB. | AuraDB Free; no payment method required. |
| Self-hosting | Yes; Enterprise supports high availability and disaster recovery. | Yes; self-managed graph database products are available. |
| API and SDKs | Homepage lists APIs, SDKs and GraphQL. | Developer docs listed; API and SDK specifics need verification. |
| CLI and docs | API and SDKs listed; CLI and docs details need verification. | Documentation, Dev Center and GraphAcademy listed. |
| Integrations | Streaming, analytics, cloud infrastructure and AI orchestration. | Partners include AWS, Databricks, Google Cloud, Azure and Snowflake. |
| Deployment model | Managed Savanna or self-managed, including on-premises. | Fully managed AuraDB and self-managed products. |
| Limits and scaling | Enterprise supports scaling over 100 TB. | AuraDB limits vary by tier, cloud and instance. |
TigerGraph Choose TigerGraph if
- Choose TigerGraph if governed, auditable AI needs relationship provenance.
- Choose TigerGraph if you need cloud or on-premises deployment.
- Choose TigerGraph if enterprise-scale deployments over 100 TB matter.
Neo4j Choose Neo4j if
- Choose Neo4j if you want both managed and self-managed products.
- Choose Neo4j if AuraDB's hourly capacity pricing suits your workload.
- Choose Neo4j if its listed developer resources and partner ecosystem fit.
02Pricing at real usage
TigerGraph’s Savanna Free Trial costs $0 and includes up to 32 vCPUs and 256 GB RAM per workspace. Community is also free, for a single server with up to 300 GB of graph and vector storage. Savanna lists $45/GB/month; Business Critical lists $126/GB/month. Managed deployments also incur instance charges, listed at $1–$256/hour for Savanna and $2.80–$499.20/hour for Business Critical, plus storage at $0.025/GB/month. Regional price factors can apply.
Neo4j’s AuraDB Free costs $0. Professional lists $0.09/GB/hour with a 1 GB minimum; Business Critical lists $0.20/GB/hour with a 2 GB minimum. Those rates make capacity and runtime central to the bill. The pricing page lists hourly rates, not monthly totals. Compare your expected provisioned capacity and uptime, plus TigerGraph’s separate instance and storage charges, before estimating production spend.
03API, SDKs and integration
TigerGraph’s homepage lists APIs, SDKs and GraphQL, alongside integrations with streaming platforms, analytics systems, cloud infrastructure and AI orchestration frameworks. It positions the graph as context for AI and GraphRAG. The Community plan lists GSQL, Cypher and GQL; verify which query languages and SDKs apply to the deployment and features you plan to use. The product pages do not name SDK languages or a CLI, so ask for current documentation and examples before choosing a client stack.
Neo4j lists developer documentation, a Dev Center, free GraphAcademy courses, community resources and an AI integration area that includes GraphRAG and Model Context Protocol (MCP). Its product lineup includes AuraDB, Virtual Graph, Aura Graph Analytics and self-managed graph database and data science products. The homepage names AWS, Databricks, Google Cloud, Microsoft Azure and Snowflake as partners. It does not specify API or SDK language details in the listed material; verify supported clients, versions and operational tooling against your application requirements.
04Open source, self-hosting and lock-in
Both vendors offer self-managed options. TigerGraph also lists deployment on AWS, Azure, Google Cloud and on-premises; Neo4j separates fully managed Aura products from self-managed products. Neither product’s open-source status or licence is established by the product pages, so confirm licence terms, redistribution rights and support conditions with the vendor before planning a self-hosted rollout.
Self-hosting gives you control over deployment, but it does not settle migration or exit costs. The vendors do not publish export formats or migration paths in the product details described here. Ask how to export graph data, schemas, algorithms and metadata, and whether backups are portable. Also account for query-language and operational differences when moving applications between platforms. A proof of concept should include a tested export plan and a clear owner for migration work.
Questions people ask
Which is cheaper, TigerGraph or Neo4j?
It depends on capacity and runtime. TigerGraph Savanna lists $45/GB/month, with separate hourly instance and storage charges. Neo4j AuraDB Professional lists $0.09/GB/hour with a 1 GB minimum. Compare the expected instance size and uptime, not just the headline rates.
Does TigerGraph or Neo4j have a free tier?
Both do. TigerGraph lists a free Savanna trial and a free Community edition for a single server with up to 300 GB of graph and vector storage. Neo4j AuraDB Free costs $0 and requires no payment method; its listed plan details do not specify a storage cap.
Can I self-host TigerGraph or Neo4j?
Yes. TigerGraph lists self-hosting, including on-premises deployment and cloud platforms. Neo4j offers self-managed graph database products alongside fully managed AuraDB. Check each vendor’s licence, support terms and operational requirements before selecting a self-managed deployment.
Which platform is better for GraphRAG?
Both position graph technology for AI and GraphRAG. TigerGraph emphasizes governed relationship context and provenance for enterprise AI. Neo4j lists GraphRAG and AI integrations, including Model Context Protocol. Compare the required data sources, query patterns, SDK support and deployment constraints in a workload-specific evaluation.