Welcome to Neo4j

The Neo4j Graph Data Platform

With a native graph database at the core, Neo4j stores and manages data in a natural, connected state. The graph database takes a property graph approach, which is beneficial for both traversal performance and operations runtime.

neo4j architecture diagram
Figure 1. Components of the Neo4j Graph Data Platform

Neo4j started as a graph database and has evolved into a rich ecosystem with many tools, applications, and libraries, which allows you to integrate graph technologies with your working environment.

For more information about each of the components, go to the Product page.
For more details about reference documentation, see Neo4j documentation.
The latest version of Neo4j is 5.6.

Neo4j Graph Database

Neo4j Graph Database is the core product, a native graph database that is built to store and retrieve connected data.
Two editions, a Community Edition and an Enterprise Edition, are available.
There are various ways to deploy Neo4j: on-premises server installation, self-hosted in the cloud with pre-built images, or by simply using Neo4j Aura.
You can find all necessary documentation on how to install and maintain Neo4j on the Documentation page.

Neo4j Aura

Neo4j is a cloud-friendly database, with a variety of cloud deployment options available. You can run Neo4j on public clouds like AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud Platform (GCP).
Neo4j Aura is a fully managed, cloud-native graph service, that gives developers and data scientists advanced graph tech tools. Neo4j Aura includes AuraDB and AuraDS.

Neo4j AuraDB is a graph database as a service.
For more information, see the official documentation.

Neo4j AuraDS makes it easy to run graph algorithms on Neo4j by integrating two main components:

  • Neo4j Database, where graph data are loaded and stored, and Cypher queries and all database operations (for example user management, query termination, etc.) are executed.

  • Graph Data Science, a software component installed in the Neo4j Database, which main purpose is to run graph algorithms on in-memory projections of Neo4j Database.

Neo4j AuraDS is available on GCP. See pricing page for details. You can find more details in the official documentation for AuraDS.

Neo4j Graph Data Science

Neo4j Graph Data Science (GDS) gives you access to more than 65 graph algorithms, which can be executed with Neo4j and optimized for enterprise workloads and pipelines. GDS helps you to get insights from big data in order to answer critical questions and improve predictions. GDS is the connected data analysis platform that unifies the ML surface and graph database into a single workspace.

See documentation for the library for more details.

Neo4j Tools

Neo4j provides a variety of tools that aim to make learning and development of graph applications easier.

The Neo4j Developer Tools page introduces the most important of them.

  • Neo4j Desktop — a local development environment for working with Neo4j, whether using local database instances or databases located on remote servers. Free download includes Neo4j Enterprise Edition license.

  • Neo4j Browser — online browser interface to query and view the data in the database. Basic visualization capabilities using Cypher query language.

  • Neo4j Operations Manager (NOM) — a UI-based tool that enables a database administrator to monitor, administer, and operate all of the Neo4j database management systems in an Enterprise Edition.
    Video series: NOM Bytes introduces the product and provides some practical tips.
    See the Documentation for Neo4j Ops Manager for more information.

  • Data Importer — a no-code tool that allows you to load data from flat files (.csv and .tsv), define a graph model, map your data to it, and import it to your Neo4j database.

  • Neo4j Bloom — visualization tool for business users that does not require any code or programming skills to view and analyze data. See the Documentation for more information.

Cypher Query Language

Cypher is an open data query language, based on the openCypher initiative. It is the most established and intuitive query language used for property graphs. Cypher can be characterized by following:

  • easy to learn

  • visual and logical

  • secure, reliable, and data-rich

  • open and flexible

See Introduction to Cypher to get acquainted with Cypher basics.

For more detailed information, see the Cypher manual.

Connecting to Neo4j

Neo4j provides a wide range of opportunities for integrating Neo4j with any working environment.

  • Neo4j Drivers — Officially supported drivers and Community drivers.

  • Neo4j Connectors — A set of connectors to integrate your regular working environment with Neo4j.

  • GraphQL Library is a flexible, low-code, open source JavaScript library that enables rapid API development for cross-platform and mobile applications by tapping into the power of connected data.

  • OGM — An Object Graph Mapping Library for Neo4j.

Neo4j Community Forum

Neo4j is dedicated to kind and open communication and aims to create a developer-friendly environment.
Neo4j is open-source and has a large and vibrant community of graph database enthusiasts. You can reach out to our Community Forum or Discord Chat for any help or advice you may need.

Neo4j GraphAcademy

If you want learn how to build, optimize, and launch your Neo4j project, visit the GraphAcademy page. GraphAcademy courses are free, interactive, and hands-on.
All of them have been developed by experienced Neo4j professionals. The set of courses targets a wide range of job roles: data scientists, developers, and database administrators.

For more information about Neo4j products and projects, see the Getting started resources.

This guide is written for anyone who is exploring Neo4j ecosystem.

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