64+ PostgreSQL Extensions on Neon
Neon is serverless Postgres with database branching and autoscaling — enable pgvector, postgis, pg_cron and dozens more with a single CREATE EXTENSION run from the Neon SQL Editor or psql.
AWS RDSEnables scalable inserts and complex queries for time-series data
Enables scalable inserts and complex queries for time-series data
vector data type and ivfflat and hnsw access methods
Full text search for PostgreSQL using BM25
Job scheduler for PostgreSQL
Cheminformatics functionality for PostgreSQL.
Add in-database GraphQL support
Extension to manage partitioned tables by time or ID
Extension to manage partitioned tables by time or ID
Reorganize tables in PostgreSQL databases with minimal locks
Reorganize tables in PostgreSQL databases with minimal locks
PL/JavaScript (v8) trusted procedural language
Columnstore Table in Postgres
Changing data capture in JSON format
incremental view maintenance on PostgreSQL
type for storing hyperloglog data
PostgreSQL extension providing JSON Schema validation
PostgreSQL extension providing JSON Schema validation
Give PostgreSQL ability to manually force some decisions in execution plans.
Give PostgreSQL ability to manually force some decisions in execution plans.
extended check for plpgsql functions
Short unique id generator for PostgreSQL, using hashids
IPv4/v6 and IPv4/v6 range index type for PostgreSQL
Provides end-to-end RAG building blocks in Postgres including text extraction, chunking, local embeddings, reranking and remote LLM calls.
Provides end-to-end RAG building blocks in Postgres including text extraction, chunking, local embeddings, reranking and remote LLM calls.
Manage authentication sessions using JWTs
tiktoken tokenizer for use with OpenAI models in postgres
tiktoken tokenizer for use with OpenAI models in postgres
bloom access method - signature file based index
support for indexing common datatypes in GIN
support for indexing common datatypes in GiST
data type for case-insensitive character strings
connect to other PostgreSQL databases from within a database
connect to other PostgreSQL databases from within a database
text search dictionary template for integers
calculate great-circle distances on the surface of the Earth
determine similarities and distance between strings
data type for storing sets of (key, value) pairs
functions, operators, and index support for 1-D arrays of integers
data types for international product numbering standards
data type for hierarchical tree-like structures
track planning and execution statistics of all SQL statements executed
track planning and execution statistics of all SQL statements executed
text similarity measurement and index searching based on trigrams
text similarity measurement and index searching based on trigrams
PostGIS geometry and geography spatial types and functions
foreign-data wrapper for remote PostgreSQL servers
functions for implementing referential integrity (obsolete)
data type for representing line segments or floating-point intervals
functions that manipulate whole tables, including crosstab
functions that manipulate whole tables, including crosstab
TABLESAMPLE method which accepts number of rows as a limit
TABLESAMPLE method which accepts time in milliseconds as a limit
TABLESAMPLE method which accepts time in milliseconds as a limit
generate universally unique identifiers (UUIDs)
How to enable extensions on Neon
Neon has no per-extension dashboard toggle. You install a supported extension by running CREATE EXTENSION from the Neon SQL Editor in the Console or any psql session — that's the primary path for almost everything. A few extensions that rely on a preloaded shared library (most notably pg_cron) need a one-time Neon API or console step to configure the compute before the CREATE EXTENSION will succeed.
SQL
Run from the Neon SQL Editor (Console) or any psql session connected to your branch.
-- Enable pgvector (the extension is named "vector")
CREATE EXTENSION IF NOT EXISTS vector;
-- Note: some names must be quoted, e.g. CREATE EXTENSION "uuid-ossp";
-- Verify it's installed
SELECT extname, extversion FROM pg_extension WHERE extname = 'vector';
-- Experimental extensions (e.g. pg_mooncake, pgrag) are gated behind a flag,
-- set per-session before the CREATE EXTENSION:
SET neon.allow_unstable_extensions = 'true';
CREATE EXTENSION IF NOT EXISTS pg_mooncake;CLI
pg_cron needs its target database set on the compute endpoint via the Neon API, a compute restart, then CREATE EXTENSION. Replace the IDs and use a Neon API key.
# 1. Point pg_cron at your database (Update endpoint API)
curl -s -X PATCH \
"https://console.neon.tech/api/v2/projects/$PROJECT_ID/endpoints/$ENDPOINT_ID" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $NEON_API_KEY" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{"endpoint":{"settings":{"pg_settings":{"cron.database_name":"neondb"}}}}'
# 2. Restart the compute so the new setting takes effect
curl -s -X POST \
"https://console.neon.tech/api/v2/projects/$PROJECT_ID/endpoints/$ENDPOINT_ID/restart" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $NEON_API_KEY"
# 3. Now create the extension (from SQL Editor or psql)
# CREATE EXTENSION pg_cron;
# Schedules run in UTC; jobs only fire while the compute is active.Pre-enabled on Neon
These extensions ship enabled by default — no CREATE EXTENSION needed.
Neon-specific extensions
Proprietary extensions that exist only on Neon, not part of the open-source PostgreSQL ecosystem.
Neon-internal extension exposing platform metrics such as the Local File Cache (LFC) hit ratio, so you can see how well your working set fits the compute's cache.
DocsAdds num_cpus(), which reports the compute's current vCPU allocation — useful for observing how autoscaling has sized your endpoint at query time.
DocsHandles JWT-based sessions inside Postgres, underpinning authenticated access for the Neon Data API (PostgREST-style HTTP access to your database).
DocsNotable absences
Extensions you might expect that aren't available on Neon, with workarounds where they exist.
timescaledbWhy missing: timescaledb is available on Neon but only the Apache-2 licensed edition — the proprietary TSL (Community) features, including native compression, continuous aggregates' incremental refresh internals, and tiered storage, are NOT enabled. If you CREATE EXTENSION timescaledb expecting compression, those calls fail.
Alternative: For compression and the full feature set, self-host TimescaleDB or use Timescale Cloud. On Neon, lean on native Postgres partitioning plus pg_partman for time-series tables.
pg_cronWhy missing: pg_cron is supported, but Neon's scale-to-zero suspends the compute after inactivity and pg_cron jobs only run while the compute is active. A schedule that fires during a suspended window simply won't run — there's no wake-on-cron.
Alternative: Disable scale-to-zero (or keep the compute running 24/7) on the branch that hosts the schedule, or drive jobs from an external scheduler such as GitHub Actions or a serverless cron hitting a Postgres function.
file_fdwWhy missing: file_fdw reads files from the database server's local filesystem, which Neon's separated storage and scale-to-zero compute model doesn't expose. sslinfo is likewise unavailable because client connections terminate at the Neon proxy rather than directly at Postgres.
Alternative: Load external data through postgres_fdw against a reachable Postgres, or stage files into a table via the SQL Editor / a client-side COPY before querying.
Can you install custom extensions on Neon?
Neon runs an allow-list of vetted extensions: you install any supported one yourself with CREATE EXTENSION, but you cannot upload arbitrary or custom-compiled C extensions onto Neon's managed computes. pg_tle (Trusted Language Extensions) is not supported on Neon either. If you need an extension that isn't on the list, submit Neon's "Request an extension" form, open a support ticket, or ask in the Neon Discord.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I enable an extension on Neon?
Does Neon support pgvector?
Does pg_cron work on Neon serverless with scale to zero?
Is timescaledb fully supported on Neon?
Can I install custom extensions on Neon?
Other PostgreSQL providers
Manage your Neon database with 1bench
1bench is a modern GUI client for PostgreSQL — connect to your Neon instance, install extensions, write queries, and inspect schemas without leaving the IDE.
Try 1bench for PostgreSQL