Supabase
Open source Postgres development platform with auth, instant APIs, realtime, storage and edge functions.
Pricing FreemiumPaid from $25 a month (Pro), plus usage above the included limitsOpen source yesStars 111knpm a week 35M
Convex alternatives
9 tools you can use instead of Convex, ranked by live GitHub stars and npm downloads. Supabase, Redis and MongoDB Atlas are the most used. Stats updated 16 hours ago.
When Convex is not a good fit
Convex is a backend platform, made by Convex Inc, that combines a document-relational database, server-side TypeScript functions and real-time subscriptions in one system. Client apps get live-updating data automatically, without writing caching or websocket code by hand. The backend source is available on GitHub under the Functional Source License, converting to Apache 2.0 two years after each release.
It is a weaker choice for:
- Teams that need a fully OSI-approved open source license from day one, since the code is source-available under FSL until it converts to Apache 2.0 two years later
- Projects already committed to a traditional SQL database and a separate API layer
- Very high-scale workloads where the $2,500 a month Business minimum is a poor fit versus raw infrastructure
The alternatives
Most used first.
Convex vs Supabase
Redis
In-memory data store used as a cache, database and message broker, available self-hosted or as Redis Cloud.
Pricing FreemiumPaid from about $0.007 an hour, with a $5 a month minimum, for the Essentials planOpen source noStars 76.6knpm a week 17M
MongoDB Atlas
MongoDB's fully managed cloud database service, with a free tier and usage-based paid tiers.
Pricing FreemiumPaid from about $0.011 an hour (up to $30 a month) for the Flex tier, or $0.08 an hour for the smallest Dedicated (M10) tierOpen source noStars 28.6knpm a week 18M
Firebase
Google's backend-as-a-service platform for mobile and web apps: database, auth, hosting and functions.
Pricing FreemiumPaid from Blaze plan is pay-as-you-go on top of the same free limits, billed through Google CloudOpen source noStars 5.1knpm a week 12M
Neon
Serverless Postgres platform with autoscaling and instant branching, owned by Databricks.
Pricing FreemiumOpen source yesStars 23.2knpm a week 5.1M
Pocketbase
Open source backend in a single executable file, with a database, auth and storage built in.
Pricing Open sourceOpen source yesStars 61.3knpm a week 284k
Appwrite
Open source backend platform bundling database, auth, storage, functions and messaging.
Pricing FreemiumPaid from $25 a month per project for the Pro planOpen source yesStars 57.6knpm a week 57.5k
Turso
Distributed SQLite database platform built on libSQL, with databases deployable close to users.
Pricing FreemiumPaid from $4.99 a month for the Developer planOpen source noStars 17.3knpm a week 4M
PlanetScale
Managed database platform built on Vitess, now offering both MySQL and Postgres.
Pricing Pay as you goPaid from $5 a month for a single-node Postgres instanceOpen source noStars 1.2knpm a week 486k
Convex and its alternatives, side by side
| Tool | Pricing | Free plan | Paid from | Open source | GitHub stars |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Convex | Freemium | Yes: 25 million function calls, 50 GB database storage, 100 GB file storage and 50 GB data egress a month included | $25 a developer a month for the Professional plan | No | 12.7k |
| Supabase | Freemium | Yes: 2 active projects, 500 MB database, 50,000 monthly active users, 1 GB file storage. Projects pause after 1 week of inactivity. | $25 a month (Pro), plus usage above the included limits | Yes, Apache-2.0 | 111k |
| Redis | Freemium | Yes: Redis Cloud's free tier includes up to 30 MB of storage on a shared deployment | about $0.007 an hour, with a $5 a month minimum, for the Essentials plan | No | 76.6k |
| MongoDB Atlas | Freemium | Yes: the M0 tier, free forever, with 512 MB storage, shared RAM and vCPU | about $0.011 an hour (up to $30 a month) for the Flex tier, or $0.08 an hour for the smallest Dedicated (M10) tier | No | 28.6k |
| Firebase | Freemium | Yes: the Spark plan, with no-cost usage limits and no payment method required | Blaze plan is pay-as-you-go on top of the same free limits, billed through Google Cloud | No | 5.1k |
| Neon | Freemium | Yes: 0.5 GB storage and 100 compute hours a month per project, no credit card required | Not listed | Yes, Apache-2.0 (core storage engine) | 23.2k |
| Pocketbase | Open source | Yes, PocketBase is free and self-hosted; there is no paid managed version | Not listed | Yes, MIT | 61.3k |
| Appwrite | Freemium | Yes: 75,000 monthly requests, bandwidth and storage included, unlimited projects | $25 a month per project for the Pro plan | Yes, BSD-3-Clause | 57.6k |
| Turso | Freemium | Yes: 100 databases, 5 GB storage, 500 million rows read and 10 million rows written a month | $4.99 a month for the Developer plan | No | 17.3k |
| PlanetScale | Pay as you go | No, there is no free plan; the Base plan is pay-as-you-go with no monthly minimum contract | $5 a month for a single-node Postgres instance | No | 1.2k |
Pricing facts come from each tool's official pricing page, with the checked date on the tool's own page.
Questions
What is the most popular alternative to Convex?
By GitHub stars, Supabase is the most used alternative to Convex listed on ScratchDB, with 111k stars.
Which Convex alternatives are open source?
Supabase, Neon, Pocketbase and Appwrite are open source.
Which Convex alternatives have a free plan?
Supabase, Redis, MongoDB Atlas, Firebase, Neon, Pocketbase, Appwrite and Turso have a free plan. The table on this page shows what each one includes.