Summary of New Product Release Policy


With the release of Neo4j 5, Neo4j has adopted a delivery model to align Neo4j Enterprise Edition with Neo4j Aura Enterprise and updated the Support Terms accordingly; a Major release is supported until the first Minor release, each Minor release is supported until the next Minor release. Hotfixes will be released between Minor releases in exceptional cases, e.g. High Severity Security fix, and will be supported until the next Minor release. In order to maintain Product Support for new bug fixes and feature enhancements, customers must apply the latest Minor release. All other commitments remain broadly the same, please review details below.

A copy of the Support Terms that applied to all releases prior to Neo4j 5.x is available here.

Product Support


Supporting and patching is intended for stable, generally available (GA) releases of the Neo4j software that have undergone Neo4j’s full release testing (“Software”).

(1) Major Version Release

A new Major Version Release, of the Software that contains breaking changes, functional enhancements and extensions, fixes for high and medium severity security fixes and severity 1 bug fixes; designated by Neo4j by means of a change in the digit to the left of the first decimal point (e.g. Enterprise Edition 4.0 >> Enterprise Edition 5.0). A Major release is supported until the first Minor release.

(2) Minor (Frequent) Release

A Minor Release, is a frequent release of the Software that may introduce a limited amount of new features, critical to medium security rating on the National Vulnerability Database and bug fixes for customer reported issues since the previous release; is designated by Neo4j by means of a change in the digit to the right of the first decimal point (e.g., Enterprise Edition 5.1 >>Enterprise Edition 5.2). Each Minor release is supported until the next Minor release. In order to maintain Support for new bug fixes and feature enhancements, customers must apply the latest Minor Release.

(3) Hotfix Release

A Hotfix Release is a generally available release that Neo4j deems is required under certain circumstances between Minor releases of the Software, including, but not limited to, maintenance corrections only for security vulnerabilities with a critical rating on the National Vulnerability Database and bug fixes that are required for all customers. Hotfix Releases are designated by Neo4j by means of a change in the digit to the right of the second decimal point (e.g. Enterprise Edition 5.1.0 >> Enterprise Edition 5.1.1). Hotfixes will be supported until the next Minor Release.

(4) Long Term Service Release (LTSR)

At the end of the Major release cycle, Neo4j will release the last set of new features and designate a Minor Release as the Long Term Service Release (LTSR) which shall be supported with Minor Releases until the published End of Support date.

A list of currently supported software versions can be found here.

Upgrade Compatibility


Neo4j will use commercially reasonable efforts designed to ensure all features and functions remain compatible between Minor versions within the same Major version, and that upgrades are available from any Minor version to any subsequent Minor version without the need to apply an intermediary Minor release. Neo4j will advise customers when an exception is required and an intermediary Minor release must be applied in order to upgrade between releases. Neo4j may remove or modify features between Major versions of the Software, may mark features as DEPRECATED but will not remove features in Minor Releases. APIs and features indicated in code or documentation as DEPRECATED are the most likely to be removed or modified. APIs and features marked as DEPRECATED in any Minor release of the Software are still supported within that Major version release, and will typically be removed in the subsequent Major release of the Software.

Definitions of Support


    • Platinum Support includes technical support on a 24×7 basis for all issues via telephone, email, and web.
    • Premium Support includes technical support on a 24×7 basis for Severity 1 issues via telephone, email, and web.
    • Standard Support includes technical support during local business hours (as specified below) for all issue severities via telephone, email, and web.
    • Customer support engineers are geographically dispersed to better meet our customers’ global support needs.
    • “Local Business Hours” means 8:00am to 6:00pm, Monday through Friday, excluding holidays. Local Business Hours must be defined and be the same for all contacts to the Support Portal from the same customer project.
    • Access to the Neo4j Support Service system available at https://neo4j.com/support/, for the customer’s nominated technical representative(s).
    • Technical support with service requests, based on severity and escalation guidelines indicated below.
    • Access to supported product releases of the Software, including general maintenance releases and documentation updates.
    • Product Support in the form of incremental software updates may be provided in the form of an API-compatible Minor or Hotfix release, or as otherwise specified by Neo4j Support.
    • Access to Software updates and documented processes for upgrading between supported stable releases of the Software.
    • Development of compatible updates to the Software, where commercially reasonable, for the purpose of addressing critical rated security fixes, Severity 1 and Severity 2 bug fixes identified in the Software release until the End of Support from the Minor release designated as the LTSR version of the Software.

Support Documentation


    • Requests for technical support will be logged and managed in the Neo4j Support Portal. All outstanding and resolved cases relating to the customer account will be visible in this system to the nominated technical representative(s) of the account.
    • Major and Minor releases will be accompanied by release notes, detailing changes and issues resolved from the previous Minor release.
    • General issues and resolutions will be available through the community issue tracking systems, publicly available on github.com.

Severity Definitions


Ticket severity levels are assigned during ticket creation. Severity assignment will be validated with the customer by the Neo4j Customer Support Engineer and is based on the technical and business impact of the customer’s technical issue as outlined below. Neo4j Customer Support, at their sole discretion, may upgrade or downgrade the severity of the ticket depending on developments during the ticket flow process. For example, if available, a temporary resolution may be provided to mitigate the material impact of a given problem resulting in the reduction of the severity of a ticket. Severity levels will also be adjusted downward as the technical issue is mitigated or if the customer does not engage in like-effort.

Severity 1

Production use of the Software is stopped or so severely impacted that the user of the Software cannot reasonably continue work. The user of the Software is experiencing a complete loss of service. The operation is mission critical to the business and the situation is an emergency.

A Severity 1 service request has one or more of the following characteristics:

    • Data corrupted
    • A critical documented function is not available
    • System hangs indefinitely, causing unacceptable or indefinite delays for resources or response
    • System crashes, and crashes repeatedly after restart attempts

Severity 1 classification must not be used for any service request relating to embedded deployments of Software, unless the customer can clearly demonstrate that the issue originates in the Software. Neo4j will use all commercially reasonable efforts to respond to Severity 1 service requests within the Response Time Guidelines set forth below. When Neo4j determines that the issue is a Severity 1, Neo4j will employ commercially reasonable efforts designed to resolve the issue, including the engagement of engineers on a 24×7 basis as long as useful progress can be made. Whilst a Severity 1 service request remains active, Neo4j will assign a designated point of contact to the customer, who will be available 24×7 for Premium and Platinum support issues, and within the customer’s business hours for Standard support issues. The customer is required to provide Neo4j with a contact, available 24×7 for Premium/Platinum and during business hours for Standard, such contact to be reachable via email and phone, to assist with data gathering, testing, and applying fixes. The customer must provide Neo4j with access and materials (e.g. access to servers, copies of on-disk data stores, log files, etc.) necessary to address the Severity 1 issue. Where access cannot be provided or issues cannot be replicated in a timely manner, Neo4j is unable to guarantee the identification of root cause and cannot be held accountable for a delay in resolution.

Please allocate Severity 1 classification with great care, so that valid Severity 1 situations obtain the necessary resource allocation from Neo4j.

Severity 2

The user of the Software is experiencing a severe loss of service, where important features are unavailable, and no acceptable workaround; however, operations can continue in a restricted fashion. The operation is mission critical to the business.

Neo4j will use commercially reasonable efforts to respond to Severity 2 service requests within the Response Time Guidelines set forth below. When Neo4j determines that the issue is Severity 2, Neo4j will employ commercially reasonable efforts designed to resolve the issue, including the engagement of engineers within Local Business Hours, until the issue is resolved or as long as useful progress can be made. While a Severity 2 service request remains active, Neo4j will assign a designated point of contact to the customer, who will be available within Local Business Hours. The customer is required to provide Neo4j with a contact, available within Local Business Hours and reachable via email, to assist with data gathering, testing, and applying fixes. The customer must provide Neo4j with the necessary access and materials (e.g. access to servers, copies of on-disk data stores, log files, etc.) to address the Severity 2 issue. Where access cannot be provided or issues cannot be replicated in a timely manner, Neo4j is unable to guarantee the identification of root cause and cannot be held accountable for a delay in resolution.

Severity 3

The user of the Software is experiencing a minor loss of service. The impact is an inconvenience, which may require a workaround to restore functionality.

Neo4j will use commercially reasonable efforts to respond to Severity 3 service requests within the Response Time Guidelines set forth below.

Severity 4

The customer requests information, an enhancement, or documentation clarification regarding the Software but there is no impact on the operation of the Software. The user of the Software is experiencing no loss of service. The result does not impede the operation of a system. Neo4j will use commercially reasonable efforts to respond to Severity 4 service requests within the Response Time Guidelines further below.

Response Time Guidelines


  Platinum Premium Standard
Severity 1 < 30 mins < 1 hour < 1 business hour*
Severity 2 < 2 hours < 4 business hours* < 4 business hours*
Severity 3 < 8 hours < 8 business hours* < 8 business hours*
Severity 4 < 8 hours < 8 business hours* < 8 business hours*

*Local business hours are 8:00am to 6:00pm, Monday through Friday, excluding major holidays


First, Second and Third Line Technical Support


Guidelines for service request escalation from customer’s First Line Support to Neo4j’s Second and Third Line Support are the following Service Levels:


First Line Support:

Level 1:

The customer is expected to manage First Line Support services for their own end users of the Software. First Line Support includes providing direct responses to all requests relating to performance, functionality and operation raised by users regarding the Software.

If, after reasonable commercial efforts, the customer is unable to diagnose or resolve problems or issues in the Software, the customer may then contact Neo4j for “Second Line Support” that includes Levels 2 and 3 below.


Second Line Support:

Level 2:

A Neo4j Support Engineer receives information on an issue and analyzes the symptoms. They will engage in appropriate troubleshooting practices, and propose solutions or further investigative actions accordingly. Neo4j Support Engineers will, as needed, conduct advanced troubleshooting and analysis in collaboration with assigned customer resources. Investigative actions will be prioritized and managed in order to address the issue. The customer is required to provide Neo4j with access to systems and materials (log files, etc.) to diagnose and reproduce the issue.

Level 3:

The most critical or complex issues are addressed at Level 3. All information and actions taken in Level 2 are shared with the Neo4j product engineering team, who engage in further research and analysis, provide Level 2 with feedback, guidance and when appropriate propose solutions to be developed and provide detailed estimates for delivery. For support requests of Severity 1 and 2, reasonable commercial effort will be made to provide compatible updates to any current LTSR and/or the current Release. When a compatible update is not available, the customer will be provided assistance in preparing their system(s) for upgrade to a recent stable Software release.

Escalation Guidelines


Escalation between service Levels 2 and 3 will be made at the discretion of Neo4j, based on the results of the investigation into the issue.

Changes to Support Terms


Neo4j reserves the right to change, alter, replace or otherwise modify these Support Terms at any time but no such change(s) shall materially reduce or diminish the level of Support provided to the Customer. The date of last modification is stated at the end of these Support Terms.

Last modified: August 22nd, 2022