Full-stack TypeScript platform with real-time database and serverless functions
Convex is a backend-as-a-service platform that provides a real-time database and serverless functions for web applications.
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AI Editor ApprovedApproved and published by our AI Editor-in-Chief after full panel analysis.Convex is a backend-as-a-service platform designed to simplify full-stack web application development through a unified TypeScript environment. The platform combines a real-time database with serverless functions, allowing developers to build reactive applications without managing separate backend infrastructure.
The core offering includes a document-based database with built-in real-time synchronization, automatic caching, and ACID transactions. Developers can write server-side functions directly in TypeScript, with the platform handling deployment, scaling, and execution automatically. The system provides end-to-end type safety from database queries to client-side code.
Convex targets web developers and teams building modern applications who want to reduce backend complexity while maintaining performance and reliability. The platform integrates with popular frontend frameworks like React, Vue, and Angular, providing client libraries that automatically handle data fetching, caching, and real-time updates.
The platform competes in the backend-as-a-service space alongside Firebase, Supabase, and AWS Amplify, differentiating itself through its TypeScript-native approach and unified development experience. Convex handles common backend challenges like data consistency, real-time updates, and serverless scaling without requiring separate tools or services.
Native vector search capability built into the database for powering similarity-based and AI-driven search features.
Built-in scheduler allows running background workflows and deferred tasks without requiring external job queue infrastructure.
Server-side data fetching is automatically cached with full consistency, so clients always view consistent snapshots of application state.
Built-in file storage for handling large binary objects directly within the Convex platform.
Queries are written as TypeScript code running directly in the database, automatically reacting to database changes similar to how React components react to state changes.
Automatically moves data between client and server over WebSockets, pushing changes to clients for live updates without manual configuration.
Convex is open-source and can be self-hosted, giving teams full control over their infrastructure deployment.
Built-in text search functionality for querying string content stored in the Convex database.
Server-side mutator functions are fully transactional, ensuring data consistency and preventing race conditions during write operations.
Supports defining custom HTTP endpoints via httpAction decorators, allowing external services to interact with Convex functions over standard HTTP routes.
Provides client SDKs for React, React Native, Vue, Svelte, iOS Swift, Android Kotlin, Python, and Rust, enabling use across web and mobile platforms.
Integrates with Clerk, Auth0, or any OIDC provider for authentication, and also offers built-in Convex auth as an alternative.
Personal projects and prototypes; up to 6 developers, 0.5 GB DB, 1 GB files, 1M function calls/mo.
Per developer/month. Production-ready: HIPAA/SOC 2 reports, daily backups, custom domains, 50 GB DB, 25M function calls.
Minimum monthly fee. SAML/SSO, SLAs, dedicated deployments, custom MSA, volume pricing.
Three Dropbox storage engineers building the backend they wished they had — durable founder math.
“Convex pulled a $24 million Series B from a16z and Spark Capital in 2025 on top of a $26 million Series A. Founders Jamie Turner and James Cowling ran storage at Dropbox before this, and the March 2024 open-source pivot closed the lock-in question.”
Jamie Turner ran Storage and Databases at Dropbox. James Cowling did distributed transactions for his MIT PhD before that. Sujay Jayakar came from the same crew. That's the team. a16z led the $26 million Series A and came back to co-lead the $24 million Series B with Spark Capital in 2025.
Reactive TypeScript Queries are the differentiator — the database reacts to writes the way React reacts to state. Pro is $25 per developer per month with HIPAA and SOC 2, and the March 2024 open-source release under FSL Apache 2.0 means self-hosting is a real exit. Firebase and Supabase are the obvious comparison set.
But the FSL license forbids running it as a competing managed service, so "open source" is a hedge against vendor failure, not a switching path. Pilot with one product team for 90 days on the free tier, then move to Pro before the seat count tips.
Firebase still owns mindshare and Supabase has more open-source momentum, but Convex owns the reactive-TS niche.
a16z plus Spark Capital plus HIPAA and SOC 2 reports on the $25 Pro tier defend cleanly to the board.
TypeScript end-to-end with built-in real-time sync collapses three vendors into one and shortens first-ship.
Removes backend ops for TypeScript shops shipping reactive apps; less fit for SQL-first or polyglot stacks.
Ex-Dropbox founding team, $50M+ raised across two a16z-led rounds, open-source hedge via FSL Apache 2.0.
TypeScript-first product teams who want one platform for database and serverless functions.
Backend teams who need Postgres-native SQL or polyglot runtimes beyond TypeScript.
Reactive TypeScript Queries make Convex the architectural bet for teams that treat the database as the application.
“Jamie Turner, James Cowling, and Sujay Jayakar shipped Convex out of a $26M Series A led by Andreessen Horowitz in April 2022, then added a $24M round co-led by a16z and Spark Capital in November 2025. For a Head of Platform Engineering picking a backend substrate through 2029, the call is whether reactive queries plus end-to-end TypeScript beats stitching Supabase, Redis, and a job queue.”
Three layers most platform teams own separately — data store, cache, websocket gateway — collapse into one substrate here. Reactive TypeScript Queries run inside the database and clients subscribe to them. Self-Hosting Support is open-source, so the lock-in lives in the query model, not the runtime.
The Professional tier at $25 per developer per month bundles HIPAA/SOC 2 reports, daily backups, and 25M function calls. Vector Search ships native, Background Job Scheduler removes a Redis dependency, and Multi-Platform Client SDKs cover React, Swift, and Kotlin. That is platform-shape, not feature-list shape.
But the reactive substrate is the constraint as much as the wedge. If your workload is batch ETL or long-running analytics, Supabase plus Postgres gives you escape hatches Convex deliberately doesn't. The 3-year ceiling is reactive product surfaces, not data-warehouse work.
Differentiated against Firebase, Supabase, and AWS Amplify by treating reactivity as the substrate rather than an add-on.
Twelve documented features including Vector Search and Transactional Mutations match how senior platform teams build reactive apps.
Client SDKs for React, Vue, Svelte, Swift, Kotlin, Python, and Rust plus Clerk and Auth0 integrations cover the practical stack.
Open-source self-hosting limits runtime lock-in, but the query model itself is the dependency.
Reactive queries inside the database is a genuine architectural primitive, not a feature wrapper.
Platform engineering leads building reactive product applications on TypeScript.
Teams whose primary workload is batch analytics or heavy SQL reporting.
Convex publishes three tiers; the $2,500 jump to SAML is where the contract talk starts.
“Professional runs $25 per developer monthly with HIPAA and SOC 2 reports included. SAML and SSO gate behind a $2,500 monthly minimum on Business — the procurement cliff sits between 20 and 50 developers.”
Three tiers, all priced on the page — until you need SAML. Free covers six developers and 1M function calls. Professional runs $25 per developer monthly with HIPAA and SOC 2 reports included. The jump to Business is a $2,500 monthly minimum.
Run the math at 20 developers. 20 × $25 × 12 = $6,000/year, HIPAA included. Compare Firebase Blaze pay-as-you-go — predictable on Convex, harder to model on usage. The catch is SSO. SAML lives behind the $30K/year floor.
Self-hosting is open-source — the docs publish a Docker path. Vector Search ships native. a16z and Spark co-led $24M in November 2025; founders include ex-Dropbox engineers Jamie Turner and James Cowling. The yellow flag is the SAML cliff. Mid-market teams needing SSO before 50 devs will feel it.
Per-developer billing on Professional is finance-friendly until the SSO requirement triggers the Business floor.
Monthly per-developer billing on Professional is friendly; Business requires custom MSA per the pricing page.
Free, Professional, and Business tiers are fully published with limits; only Enterprise volume rates require sales.
Function-call, storage, and concurrency limits are visible per tier, making cost-per-app measurable upfront.
$25/developer monthly is predictable, but SAML-gated Business at $2,500/month minimum reshapes TCO for mid-market.
Web teams who ship full-stack TypeScript apps and need real-time sync without backend sprawl.
Mid-market teams who need SAML SSO before they hit 50 developers.
Convex flows TypeScript types from schema to React hook, but the editor loop runs through `npx convex dev`.
“Convex's Reactive TypeScript Queries run as server functions with end-to-end type inference, and WebSockets push mutations to subscribed clients automatically. The catch is that every code change deploys through `npx convex dev` — break the connection and you break the loop.”
Type safety from schema to client is what backend engineers chase. Convex's Reactive TypeScript Queries run as server functions with type inference flowing through to React hooks — change a schema field, the client call breaks at compile time. Supabase ships generated types but you re-run a CLI; Firebase shrugs.
WebSockets do the sync work — mutations push to subscribed clients without you wiring listeners. Background Job Scheduler is in the box, no Redis or BullMQ. Vector Search lives next to your documents. But the catch is the editor loop: every mutator is a deployed function, and `npx convex dev` is the hot-reload bridge. Lose the connection on a flight, you stop coding.
Pricing reads honest. Free tier carries six developers and 1M function calls. Professional at $25/dev/month opens 25M calls, daily backups, HIPAA reports. Docs were written by people running the tool — error messages link straight to the relevant section.
Hot-reload through `npx convex dev` keeps the inner loop tight; offline gap is real.
Error messages deep-link to docs written by people running the tool.
Editor depends on a deployed dev backend, so flight-mode coding stops.
Vector Search, HTTP Endpoints, Background Job Scheduler, and self-host cover advanced cases.
React hooks consume queries directly and mutations stay typed end-to-end.
Engineers who build reactive TypeScript apps without managing backend infrastructure.
Teams who need offline-first development without a deployed dev backend.
Reactive TypeScript Queries make Convex feel like a backend someone actually wanted to use.
“Reactive TypeScript Queries and WebSocket sync mean your UI updates without you wiring a single subscription. The $25 per-developer Professional tier is honest, but mobile SDKs exist and credit-style billing on function calls runs the meter.”
A real-time database where queries are just TypeScript functions. That's the move. Most backends ask you to glue together a database, a sync layer, and a cache — Firebase did half, Supabase did a different half. Convex shipped one box that does all three.
Reactive TypeScript Queries earn the rest. You write a query, your React component re-renders when data changes, no manual subscriptions, no stale cache to babysit. Transactional Mutations close the race-condition gap Firebase never quite did. Vector Search lives in the same database, which matters when half your app is suddenly RAG.
The catch is billing shape. $25 per developer per month is fair, but 25M function calls per developer caps fast on a real app, and the jump to Business is a $2,500 monthly minimum. The $26M Series A from Andreessen Horowitz in 2022 buys time to soften that.
Docs read like the team built something with this product, and the dashboard has been iterated on.
TypeScript-everywhere shortens the first hour, but the function-call billing model takes a few weeks to feel out.
Client SDKs cover React Native, iOS Swift, and Android Kotlin — real mobile story, not a wrapper.
Free tier with 1M function calls and preview deployments is enough to actually try it, not a teaser.
Transactional Mutations and automatic server-side caching mean fewer of the consistency papercuts that Firebase apps carry.
TypeScript teams who want one backend instead of three.
Teams whose stack is locked to Postgres and Python.
Convex bet on TypeScript-only when Firebase had a decade of lead — the bet's holding so far.
“James Cowling and Sujay Jayakar have been shipping Convex since 2021, pulled $26M from a16z in 2022 and another $24M in November 2025. The catch is competing with Firebase and Supabase on a much narrower wedge — TypeScript devs who want reactive queries by default.”
Team's the first signal. James Cowling came out of Dropbox infrastructure. Sujay Jayakar too. Shipping Convex since 2021. $26M Series A from a16z in April 2022. Another $24M in November 2025, a16z and Spark Capital. The cap table isn't broken.
The wedge is Reactive TypeScript Queries running directly against the database with WebSocket sync — the unification Firebase never shipped cleanly and Supabase still glues together. Professional is $25 per developer per month, 25M function calls. Self-Hosting Support is real and the source is open.
But the catch is the floor. Firebase has a decade and Google-shaped distribution. Supabase moved faster on Postgres familiarity. Convex's bet is the TypeScript-native developer who'd rather not stitch a backend. Narrow, defensible if shipping cadence holds. Worth a pilot.
TypeScript-native end-to-end is a real wedge vs Firebase and Supabase, but narrow — Postgres-first teams won't bite.
Open-source with real Self-Hosting Support, but the reactive query model is proprietary so app rewrites are non-trivial.
a16z led twice ($26M Series A 2022, $24M follow-on November 2025, ~$53.5M lifetime), Spark Capital co-led — funding signal is solid.
Feature list matches what ships — Reactive TypeScript Queries, WebSocket sync, Self-Hosting Support are all named and documented, no aspirational hand-waving.
Cowling and Jayakar both came out of Dropbox infrastructure, shipping Convex since 2021 — pedigree maps to the category.
Teams who want a TypeScript-first reactive backend without stitching pieces together.
Teams who need Postgres-native tooling or a multi-language backend.
Common questions answered by our AI research team
The Professional plan costs $25 per developer/month.
HIPAA/SOC 2 reports are included in the Professional plan at $25/developer/month.
The free tier includes 1-6 developers, file storage, text search, vector search, crons, auth, Node.js actions, health & insights dashboard, and preview deployments.
SAML/SSO is available on the Business & Enterprise plan, which starts at a $2,500 monthly minimum.
Yes, every part of the backend — database schemas, queries, auth, and APIs — is expressed in pure TypeScript, with typechecking and autocomplete.
