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Developer Tools · head to head

Hookdeck vs Neo4j

Hookdeck logo

Hookdeck

Developer Tools

Event gateway that receives, queues, retries and replays inbound webhooks

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Visit HookdeckFull review
Neo4j logo

Neo4j

Databases

Graph database

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Visit Neo4jFull review

The short version

  • Neo4j is a native graph database.
  • Free plans on both; paid from $39/mo and $65/mo.
  • Only Hookdeck lists ingest and persist; only Neo4j lists native Graph Storage.
  • Where Hookdeck falls short: pricing meters delivered events, so fan-out multiplies the bill: one inbound event routed to four services counts as four deliveries.
  • Where Neo4j falls short: AuraDB Free has no service availability SLA, no backups and no point-in-time recovery.
  • Prices and features on this page were last checked on 13 November 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Hookdeck and Neo4j actually diverge.

Attributes where Hookdeck and Neo4j differ
AttributeHookdeckNeo4j
Pricing modelPer month by delivered event countFreemium
PlatformsWeb, Linux, macOS, WindowsLinux, Windows, macOS, Self-hosted, Web
CategoryDeveloper ToolsDatabases

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes).

Not yet recorded: founded for Hookdeck.

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Hookdeck

  • Ingest and persist
  • Automatic retries
  • Filters and fan-out
  • Transformations
  • Local development CLI
  • Rate limiting

Only in Neo4j

  • Native Graph Storage
  • Cypher Query Language
  • ACID Transactions
  • High Availability
  • Graph Data Science
  • Full-text Search
  • Native Indexes
  • GraphQL

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Hookdeck

  • A payments integration where losing a Stripe event during a deploy causes an order to go unfulfillednot Neo4j
  • Fanning one provider webhook out to several internal services without each subscribing separatelynot Neo4j
  • Debugging a partner integration by replaying the exact failing payload after shipping a fixnot Neo4j
  • Receiving production-shaped webhooks on a developer laptop without running a public tunnelnot Neo4j

Neo4j

  • Graph database for learning and explorationnot Hookdeck
  • Production workloads requiring high availability and multi-zone redundancynot Hookdeck
  • Enterprise deployments needing custom infrastructurenot Hookdeck

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Hookdeck

  • Pricing meters delivered events, so fan-out multiplies the bill: one inbound event routed to four services counts as four deliveries
  • Free-tier retention is three days, which is shorter than the time it typically takes to notice a failing integration, so the payloads needed for a replay are often already gone
  • It becomes a single point of failure in front of every third-party integration, and an outage there means every provider webhook queues or fails at once
  • The transformation layer runs JavaScript in a constrained environment, so anything that needs a database lookup or an external call has to happen downstream instead
  • For a team already running Kafka or SQS the value is mostly the console and the replay UI, which is a hard cost to justify against infrastructure they already operate

Neo4j

  • AuraDB Free has no service availability SLA, no backups and no point-in-time recovery
  • AuraDB Free imposes limits on node and relationship counts and runs single-zone only
  • SSO authentication and role-based access control are excluded from AuraDB Free and AuraDB Professional, starting only at Business Critical at $146 per GB per month with a 2GB minimum cluster
  • AuraDB Professional starts at $65 per GB per month with a minimum 1GB cluster and caps at 128GB memory per instance
  • AuraDB Professional backups are daily with only 7-day retention, against 30 days on Business Critical
  • Customer managed keys and private endpoints are available only on AuraDB Virtual Dedicated Cloud, which is quote only with no published price
  • Change data capture, query log forwarding, secondaries and access to Neo4j Professional Services are excluded below the Business Critical tier
  • Support on AuraDB Free is community only and AuraDB Professional is best effort, with 24x7 one-hour response starting at Business Critical
  • AuraDB Virtual Dedicated Cloud is sold on prepaid contract terms with enterprise commercial negotiation rather than self-serve card payment

Pricing, plan by plan

Hookdeck

Free
  • DeveloperFree
    • Up to ten thousand events per month
    • Three-day retention
    • One user
  • Team$39/mo
    • Ten thousand events included
    • Unlimited users
    • Pay as you go metering above the included events
  • Growth$499/mo
    • Ten thousand events included plus metered usage
    • Thirty-day retention
    • Uptime and latency SLAs
  • EnterpriseOn request
    • Negotiated event volume
    • Custom retention
    • Dedicated support

Neo4j

Free
  • FreeFree
    • Learning and exploration access
    • No credit card required
    • All graph tools included
  • AuraDB Professional$65/gb/month
    • 1GB minimum cluster
    • Hourly billing available ($0.09/hour for 1GB)
    • Daily backups with 7-day retention
  • AuraDB Business Critical$146/gb/month
    • 2GB minimum cluster
    • Hourly billing available ($0.40/hour for 2GB)
    • Up to 512GB maximum
  • Virtual Dedicated CloudOn request
    • Custom pricing via sales contact
    • Dedicated VPC infrastructure
    • Hourly backups with 60-day retention

Which should you pick?

Choose Hookdeck if

  • You need ingest and persist.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Linux, macOS, Windows.
  • You also want automatic retries.
Hookdeck review

Choose Neo4j if

  • You need native graph storage.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, Windows, macOS, Self-hosted, Web.
  • You also want cypher query language.
Neo4j review

Questions people ask

Is Hookdeck or Neo4j better?
Neither clearly leads. Hookdeck starts at Free and Neo4j at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Hookdeck or Neo4j?
Hookdeck starts at Free and Neo4j at Free.
Does Hookdeck or Neo4j run on more platforms?
Hookdeck runs on Web, Linux, macOS, Windows. Neo4j runs on Linux, Windows, macOS, Self-hosted, Web.
Can I use Hookdeck for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Hookdeck best used for?
Hookdeck is most often used for a payments integration where losing a stripe event during a deploy causes an order to go unfulfilled, fanning one provider webhook out to several internal services without each subscribing separately, debugging a partner integration by replaying the exact failing payload after shipping a fix, receiving production-shaped webhooks on a developer laptop without running a public tunnel. Of those, a payments integration where losing a stripe event during a deploy causes an order to go unfulfilled and fanning one provider webhook out to several internal services without each subscribing separately are not what Neo4j is typically brought in for.
What can Hookdeck do that Neo4j cannot?
Hookdeck covers Ingest and persist, Automatic retries, Filters and fan-out, Transformations. Neo4j covers Native Graph Storage, Cypher Query Language, ACID Transactions, High Availability.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Hookdeck: Is there a free plan?

Yes, ten thousand events a month with three-day retention and one user.

Neo4j: Is Neo4j free?

Neo4j offers a free tier (AuraDB Free) for learning and exploration with no credit card required. Community Edition is also free and GPL3-licensed. Paid tiers start at $65/GB per month for AuraDB Professional.

Source
Hookdeck: How is usage counted?

By delivered events, so a single inbound webhook fanned out to three destinations counts as three.

Neo4j: What does Neo4j's Professional tier include?

AuraDB Professional costs $65/GB per month with a 1GB minimum cluster, includes daily backups with 7-day retention, single-zone availability, and best-effort support. Hourly billing is available at $0.09/hour per GB.

Source
Hookdeck: Can I replay a failed webhook?

Yes, individually or in bulk from the console, with the original payload.

Neo4j: What is Neo4j's most advanced pricing tier?

AuraDB Business Critical costs $146/GB per month with a 2GB minimum and includes multi-zone redundancy, 99.95% uptime SLA, 24/7 premium support with one-hour response times, and point-in-time recovery.

Source
Hookdeck: Does it work for outbound webhooks too?

Yes, the same queueing, retry and observability applies to webhooks you send.

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