8 Best Zero Alternatives (2026)
The closest alternatives to Zero are Appwrite, Convex, ElectricSQL and Firebase, with 4 more below. Each shares a comparison category with it, so every rationale here names both tools' real values. Zero is 8th of 11 on Auth (bring-your-own), usually where a switch starts.
Why do people look for Zero alternatives?
- Most people searching for Zero alternatives are not shopping, they already run it and something has stopped fitting.
- That something is usually a specific number rather than a feeling.
- This page starts from the fields where Zero genuinely trails the rosters it appears in, and only then covers the reasons that never show up in a table.
The measured reasons.
- Auth, bring-your-own, 8th of 11. Supabase
records built-in. - MCP server, No. Convex
records Yes. - File storage, No. Convex records Yes.
- Egress metered, No. Convex records Yes.
- GitHub stars, 3,000, the weakest of the 10 here. Supabase records 90,000.
- Any one of those is enough on its own if you sized your architecture around it.
- None of them is enough if you didn't, which is why the list is short and specific rather than a general case against Zero.
The reasons that never make it into a table.
- A price rise after a funding round.
- A licence change that turns a self-host into a subscription.
- A region you now need and they do not have.
- An acquisition.
- A support experience that quietly degrades.
- None of those are fields, and all of them move teams, which is why every entry below links back to Convex alternatives, where the full field set and its sources live.
- The ones we catch get logged on the Zero timeline.
How the shortlist is ordered.
- Every tool below shares at least one comparison category with Zero, sorted by how many categories the two overlap in.
- There is no editorial ranking, no sponsorship and no affiliate link, the order is the overlap count.
- The rationale under each is generated from the two tools' own cells, so it names real values rather than adjectives.
1.
Appwrite
- Appwrite, Open-source backend platform: databases, auth, storage, functions, self-hostable.
- It meets Zero in Convex alternatives.
- It is ahead on Cron & scheduling (Yes against No), Auth (built-in against bring-your-own) and MCP server (Yes against No).
- What you give up: Transactions (none, where Zero records mvcc) and Local-first sync (No, where Zero records Yes).
- Best for teams that must run the whole backend on their own infrastructure.
- The most complete self-hostable option, held back by console-first schema and the weakest transaction story here.
Where Appwrite and Zero actually differ
Appwrite profileCompare in Convex alternatives- Transactions
- noneZero: mvcc Inferred
- Local-first sync
- NoZero: Yes Inferred
- Raw SQL
- NoZero: Yes Inferred
- Optimistic writes
- NoZero: Yes Inferred
2.Convex
- Convex, Reactive TypeScript backend: database, functions and live queries in one project.
- It meets Zero in Convex alternatives.
- It is ahead on Cron & scheduling (Yes against No), MCP server (Yes against No) and File storage (Yes against No).
- What you give up: Local-first sync (No, where Zero records Yes) and Raw SQL (No, where Zero records Yes).
- Best for small teams shipping realtime-shaped product fast.
- Fastest empty-repo-to-realtime path here, but a 4 on exit cost with no SQL escape hatch.
Where Convex and Zero actually differ
Convex profileCompare in Convex alternatives- Local-first sync
- NoZero: Yes Inferred
3.
ElectricSQL
- ElectricSQL, Postgres
read-path sync: stream subsets of your own database to clients over HTTP. - It meets Zero in Convex alternatives.
- It is ahead on Egress metered (Partial against No), Exit cost (2 against 3) and GitHub stars (8,000 against 3,000).
- What you give up: TS inference (Partial, where Zero records Yes) and Local-first sync (Partial, where Zero records Yes).
- Best for existing Postgres apps that need live read data without a rewrite.
- The narrowest, best-behaved tool: read-path sync over your own Postgres with an exit close to free.
Where ElectricSQL and Zero actually differ
ElectricSQL profileCompare in Convex alternatives- Egress metered
- PartialZero: No Inferred
- TS inference
- PartialZero: Yes Inferred
- Optimistic writes
- PartialZero: Yes Inferred
- Exit cost
- 2Zero: 3 Inferred
- Agent fit
- 2Zero: 3 Inferred
4.
Firebase
- Firebase, Google's app platform: Firestore documents, auth, functions, deep mobile SDKs.
- It meets Zero in Convex alternatives.
- It is ahead on Cron & scheduling (Yes against No), Auth (built-in against bring-your-own) and MCP server (Yes against No).
- What you give up: TS inference (No, where Zero records Yes) and Self-hostable (No, where Zero records Yes).
- Best for consumer mobile apps where offline behaviour is the product.
- Best offline story and mobile SDKs, worst exit on the page; fine only if you never migrate.
Where Firebase and Zero actually differ
Firebase profileCompare in Convex alternatives- TS inference
- NoZero: Yes Inferred
- Raw SQL
- NoZero: Yes Inferred
5.
InstantDB
- InstantDB, Client-side reactive database with a relational graph model and instant sync.
- It meets Zero in Convex alternatives.
- It is ahead on Auth (built-in against bring-your-own), MCP server (Yes against No) and File storage (Yes against No).
- What you give up: Raw SQL (No, where Zero records Yes) and Entry price ($30 /mo, where Zero records $0 /mo).
- Best for multiplayer or collaborative UIs where every interaction must feel local.
- The most pleasant DX for instant collaborative UIs; the missing server-side runtime is the constraint people hit.
Where InstantDB and Zero actually differ
InstantDB profileCompare in Convex alternatives- Raw SQL
- NoZero: Yes Inferred
- MCP server
- YesZero: No Inferred
- Full-text search
- NoZero: Partial Inferred
6.
Neon + Drizzle
- Neon + Drizzle, The DIY baseline: serverless Postgres, a typed SQL query builder, nothing else.
- It meets Zero in Convex alternatives.
- It is ahead on MCP server (Yes against No), Exit cost (1 against 3) and Egress metered (Partial against No).
- What you give up: Reactivity (manual, where Zero records push) and Local-first sync (No, where Zero records Yes).
- Best for teams that already know what backend they want to build.
- Not a competitor, the yardstick: you build everything yourself, but nothing you build is owned by anyone else.
- Note that we carry Neon + Drizzle as the do-it-yourself baseline in that roster, the "what if we just ran this ourselves" reference point.
- The honest answer is usually that it is cheaper and considerably more work.
Where Neon + Drizzle and Zero actually differ
Neon + Drizzle profileCompare in Convex alternatives- Reactivity
- manualZero: push Inferred
- Local-first sync
- NoZero: Yes Inferred
- Optimistic writes
- NoZero: Yes Inferred
- Exit cost
- 1Zero: 3 Inferred
7.
Nhost
- Nhost, Postgres plus Hasura GraphQL, auth, storage and serverless functions.
- It meets Zero in Convex alternatives.
- It is ahead on Cron & scheduling (Yes against No), Auth (built-in against bring-your-own) and MCP server (Yes against No).
- What you give up: Local-first sync (No, where Zero records Yes) and Optimistic writes (No, where Zero records Yes).
- Best for teams already committed to GraphQL and Hasura.
- An underrated exit: Postgres plus open-source Hasura both survive leaving, if you like GraphQL and quiet projects.
Where Nhost and Zero actually differ
Nhost profileCompare in Convex alternatives- Local-first sync
- NoZero: Yes Inferred
- Optimistic writes
- NoZero: Yes Inferred
- Cron & scheduling
- YesZero: No Inferred
- MCP server
- YesZero: No Inferred
8.
PocketBase
- PocketBase, One Go binary: SQLite
database, auth, file storage, realtime and an admin UI. - It meets Zero in Convex alternatives.
- It is ahead on Auth (built-in against bring-your-own), File storage (Yes against No) and Cron & scheduling (Partial against No).
- What you give up: Local-first sync (No, where Zero records Yes) and Optimistic writes (No, where Zero records Yes).
- Best for internal tools and side projects where one VPS is plenty.
- Absurd value for single-machine workloads with the easiest extraction here; the ceiling is one writer, one box.
Where PocketBase and Zero actually differ
PocketBase profileCompare in Convex alternatives- Local-first sync
- NoZero: Yes Inferred
- Optimistic writes
- NoZero: Yes Inferred
- Cron & scheduling
- PartialZero: No Inferred
- Backing
- solo-maintainerZero: venture-backed Community-reported
How this list was built
There is no editorial ranking on this page and no sponsorship behind it. The order is mechanical: every tool that shares a comparison category with Zero, sorted by how many categories the two overlap in. A tool that meets Zero in three rosters sits above one that meets it in a single roster, because more overlap means the comparison is more like-for-like.
The rationale under each entry is composed from the two tools' own cells. Where they differ on a field we score, the sentence names both values and the unit. Where they don't differ, it says so instead of manufacturing a distinction, which is why some entries are short.
Values, sources and verification dates all live on the category tables: Convex alternatives. If a figure here disagrees with a vendor's current pricing page, the vendor is right and we are stale.
Still deciding whether to move at all? The Zero profile has the when-to-use and when-not-to-use blocks, and the Zero timeline has the dated changes that usually trigger a migration.