Backups

Neon offers two primary backup strategies, which you can use separately or in combination, depending on your requirements.

1. Instant restore

   With Neon's instant restore capability, also known as point-in-time restore or PITR, you can automatically retain a "history" of changes—ranging from 1 day up to 30 days, depending on your Neon plan. This feature lets you restore your database to any specific moment without the need for traditional database backups or separate backup automation. It's ideal if your primary concern is fast recovery after an unexpected event.

   By default, Neon projects retain 1 day of history. You can increase your restore window on Neon as follows:

   Plan	Restore window limit
   Free	1 day
   Launch	7 days
   Scale	14 days
   Business	30 days

   With this strategy, the only required action is setting your desired restore window. Please keep in mind that increasing your restore window also increases storage, as changes to your data are retained for a longer period.

   

   To get started, see Instant restore.

2. Backups with pg_dump

   For scenarios that require a more traditional approach to backups—such as business continuity, disaster recovery, or compliance with regulatory requirements—you can use traditional methods, such as creating regular backups using the Postgres pg_dump utility.

   For information about using pg_dump with Neon, you can refer to our Migrate data from Postgres with pg_dump and pg_restore guide.

   Automating backups to S3 with pg_dump and GitHub Actions

   If you need to automate pg_dump backups to remote storage, this two-part guide walks you through setting up an S3 bucket and a GitHub Action to automate backups on a recurring schedule. You'll also learn how to configure retention settings to manage how long pg_dump backups are stored before being deleted.

   1. Create an S3 bucket to store Postgres backups
   2. Set up a GitHub Action to perform nightly Postgres backups