Abstract Urea (CN₂H₄O) is a fundamental biomolecule whose derivatives are abundant throughout chemistry. Among the latter, rubidium ureate (RbCN₂H₃O) and its cesium analog (CsCN₂H₃O) have been described only very recently and form the first structurally characterized salts of deprotonated urea. Here, we report on a neutron diffraction study on the aforementioned alkaline-metal ureates, which affords the positions for all hydrogen atoms (including full anisotropic displacement tensors) and thus allows us to gain fundamental insights into the hydrogen-bonding networks in the title compounds. The structure refinements of the experimental neutron data proceeded successfully using starting parameters from ab initio simulations of atomic positions and anisotropic displacement parameters. Such joint experimental-theoretical refinement procedures promise significant practical potential in cases where complex solids (organic, organometallic, framework materials) are studied by powder diffraction.