Neon has introduced read replicas for its Free Plan, allowing users to test their capabilities. Read replicas are a way to use compute hours and can be used for offloading reporting and analytics tasks from the primary database. Unlike traditional setups, Neon's read replicas don't need to copy or duplicate data, making them lighter and cost-efficient. They also scale to zero when idle, saving costs and easing maintenance pressure. Key advantages of Neon's read replicas include lightweight nature, worry-free management, and fast deployment.