Same shape, different contract
Two flavours of graph
RDF is a triple store: every fact is a (subject, predicate, object) triple, predicates are global IRIs, and reasoning runs on top of RDFS/OWL.
Property graphs (Neo4j) attach typed key/value properties to nodes and relationships, with labels for grouping. There is no global identifier scheme; the URI discipline is replaced by application-level conventions.
Rough heuristics:
- Reach for RDF when you need standards-based interchange, formal reasoning, or to publish open data.
- Reach for a property graph when you need fast traversal + rich edge properties (weights, timestamps, confidence) and you own the schema.