Convex

Convex — Reactive TypeScript backend: database, functions and live queries in one project. Convex puts the schema, the server functions and the client bindings in a single TypeScript project, and makes every query reactive by default — when a mutation changes data a query depends on, the result is pushed to subscribed clients with no subscription code. Writes run as transactions under optimistic concurrency control with automatic retries. The backend is open source under FSL-1.1-Apache-2.0 and can be self-hosted. There is no SQL surface: every read goes through Convex's own query builder. Built by Convex, Inc.. Founded 2021. Venture-backed. Open source under FSL-1.1-Apache-2.0.

We track it in 1 comparison — Convex alternatives — so every claim below is a cell in a table you can open and check rather than an impression. Across those rosters it sits against 10 other tools, and what follows is where it visibly separates from them.

Where it wins.

• Agent fit — 5, the best figure of the 11 here.
• Full-text search — Yes, which only 4 of 11 tools here manage.
• Cold start — 0 ms, tied for best across 2 of 6 tools.

Each of those is ranked against the whole roster on its category page, not against a hand-picked subset, so a first place here means first of everything we list.

Where it gives ground.

• Exit cost — 4, 8th of 11. Neon + Drizzle records 1.
• Entry price — $25 /mo, 6th of 9. Firebase records $0 /mo.
• GitHub stars — 8,000, 6th of 10. Supabase records 90,000.
• Function timeout — 10 min, 3rd of 4. Firebase records 60 min.

None of these disqualify it on their own. They are the fields to check against your own requirements before you commit, because they are the ones where a competitor genuinely does better.

Provenance. 26 of 26 tracked fields carry a value for Convex, and 17 of those cite a document you can open. Last verified 2026-07-20. Every figure keeps its own provenance — measured by us, claimed by the vendor, inferred, or community-reported — and we would rather print a dash than a guess.

Its nearest neighbour in our data is Appwrite. Convex is ahead on Optimistic writes (Yes against No) and Vector search (Yes against No). Appwrite takes Auth (built-in against first-party-addon) and GitHub stars (52,000 against 8,000). That pattern repeats across the rest of the roster — see Convex alternatives for the other rivals, each compared the same way.

Company

Convex, Inc.

Founded

2021

Funding

Venture-backed

Licence

FSL-1.1-Apache-2.0 (open source)

Fields we track

26 of 26

Last verified

2026-07-20

The fastest path from empty repo to working realtime feature, and the clearest thinking about transactions on this page. It is also a 4 on exit cost with no SQL escape hatch — a bet worth making deliberately rather than by default.

Agent fit

51st of 11

Inferred

Full-text search

●Yes1st of 11

Vendor-claimedverified 2026-07-20source

Cold start

0 ms1st of 6

Inferred

Exit cost

48th of 11

Inferred

Entry price

$25 /mo6th of 9

Vendor-claimedverified 2026-07-20source

GitHub stars

8,0006th of 10

Inferred

Function timeout

10 min3rd of 4

Inferred

Reactivity

push1st of 11

Vendor-claimedverified 2026-07-20source

Convex is the right call in these situations, each one drawn from a field we actually record:

• Small teams shipping realtime-shaped product fast.
• Codebases where a coding agent does most of the plumbing.
• Apps whose lifespan is short enough that the exit never arrives.
• Agent fit is your binding constraint. Convex records 5, the best figure in the Convex alternatives roster. We define that field as 1–5 judgement score for how far a coding agent can take a feature end-to-end without human plumbing.
• Full-text search is your binding constraint. Convex records Yes, which only 4 of the 11 tools in the Convex alternatives roster do. We define that field as first-party text indexing with relevance ranking.
• Cold start is your binding constraint. Convex records 0 ms, the best figure in the Convex alternatives roster.

Reach for something else when any of the following is a requirement rather than a nice-to-have:

• Exit cost. Convex records 4, 8th of 11 in the Convex alternatives roster. Neon + Drizzle records 1 on the same field. If that is a hard requirement rather than a preference, start elsewhere.
• Entry price. Convex records $25 /mo, 6th of 9 in the Convex alternatives roster. Firebase records $0 /mo on the same field. If that is a hard requirement rather than a preference, start elsewhere.
• GitHub stars. Convex records 8,000, 6th of 10 in the Convex alternatives roster. Supabase records 90,000 on the same field. If that is a hard requirement rather than a preference, start elsewhere.
• Function timeout. Convex records 10 min, 3rd of 4 in the Convex alternatives roster. Firebase records 60 min on the same field. If that is a hard requirement rather than a preference, start elsewhere.
• Raw SQL. Convex records No on the Convex alternatives table. Supabase records Yes on the same field. If that is a hard requirement rather than a preference, start elsewhere.

We publish this block because a comparison that only lists what a tool is good at is marketing. Every figure above sits on the same page as its source, and the field definitions are on the category tables if you want to check how we measured them.

What we don't know. Nothing, on the fields we track: all 26 of them carry a value for Convex. That is unusual and it will decay — vendors add dimensions faster than we add columns — so the verification dates beside each figure matter more than the completeness does.