A growing category of graph databases has led to some technical folks attempting to educate engineers on artificial distinctions, with non-native vendors testing their support for graphs in non-native graph databases. However, these attempts fail to meet the definition of a native graph database, which is designed for graph workloads at every level and consistently processes graphs without excess components. Two common approaches, the graph layer and graph operator, violate this definition by requiring multiple components, inconsistent query languages, and unpredictable performance. In contrast, Neo4j achieves native graph database status through its careful design, optimized algorithms, and consistent processing of graph data.