The main difference between neon and LED is the aesthetic. Traditional neon is charming and has a nostalgic look and feel. Neon signs are hand made from glass tubing. The words or shapes are bent from pieces of glass and portions of the sign are painted black to stop those parts of the tube from glowing. This creates separations between letters or design elements. Neon signs generally have visible wires and insulator caps where the wire connect to the neon tube. They also have a transformer that’s usually mounted on the backing of the sign, and is visible. However, there are ways to keep the transformer out of view, please ask for more info if this is a concern.LED is a modern alternative to traditional neon. LED signs are made from a flexible tubing that contains multiple little LED lights with an opaque layer to diffuse the many points of light into a uniform glow that mimics a traditional neon tube.