Convex is a reactive backend platform with a real-time database, serverless TypeScript functions, auth, and file storage built for modern full-stack apps.
Convex is a reactive backend-as-a-service platform that bundles a real-time document database, serverless TypeScript functions, authentication, file storage, and search into a single managed system. It was founded in 2021 by ex-Dropbox engineers Jamie Turner, James Cowling, and Sujay Jayakar and is headquartered in San Francisco.
Instead of manually wiring together a database, an API layer, and real-time subscriptions, developers write queries and mutations as TypeScript functions; Convex automatically keeps connected clients in sync whenever the underlying data changes.
Core features include reactive queries that auto-update connected UIs, ACID-transactional mutations, scheduled functions and cron jobs, built-in file storage, vector and full-text search for AI/RAG use cases, and end-to-end TypeScript type safety from schema to client.
Convex integrates with popular auth providers like Clerk and Auth0, and its core backend engine is open source under Apache 2.0, giving teams the option to self-host while most use the managed cloud service.
Convex offers a free, pay-as-you-go Starter plan with generous built-in resource limits ideal for prototypes and small projects, and a Professional plan priced around $25 per developer per month that unlocks larger resource allowances and lower usage overage rates.
An Enterprise plan aimed at larger organizations, with SSO, compliance features, and SLAs, is available for teams with advanced requirements, and qualifying startups can apply for a year of free Professional access.
Convex is a backend-as-a-service platform used to build real-time, data-driven web and mobile applications with a reactive database, serverless functions, auth, and storage in one system.
The core Convex backend engine (convex-backend) is open source under the Apache 2.0 license and can be self-hosted, though most users run the managed cloud service.
Convex has a free, pay-as-you-go Starter plan and a Professional plan priced around $25 per developer per month with higher resource allowances; an Enterprise tier with custom pricing is also available.
Convex functions are written in TypeScript or JavaScript, with official client libraries for React, Next.js, React Native, and other JavaScript frameworks.
Convex emphasizes automatic reactivity without manual subscription code, ACID-transactional writes, and a TypeScript-native function model, whereas Firebase and Supabase use different data and consistency models.
Convex was founded in 2021 by Jamie Turner, James Cowling, and Sujay Jayakar, former Dropbox engineers who worked on large-scale storage and database systems.