Convex vs Firebase
Pricing
Convex: Free tier, paid from $25/mo per member
Firebase: Free Spark plan, pay as you go on Blaze
Description
Convex: Reactive backend platform with real-time database, serverless functions, and automatic caching
Firebase: Google's app platform with a NoSQL database, authentication, hosting, cloud functions, storage and push messaging, plus SDKs for web and mobile
Pros
- Real-time data sync out of the box with no extra config
- TypeScript-first with end-to-end type safety
- Generous free tier that scales to zero
- The Spark plan needs no payment method and includes 1 GiB of Firestore storage and 50,000 document reads a day
- SDKs for Apple platforms, Android, the web, Flutter, Unity and C++
- Authentication is free up to 50,000 monthly active users
Cons
- Vendor lock-in with no self-hosting option
- Relatively new platform with a smaller community
- Cloud Functions and Cloud Storage need the pay-as-you-go Blaze plan
- Firestore is a NoSQL document database, not a relational SQL database like the Postgres behind Supabase
- Budget alerts only send email; a hard spending cap exists for just a few services, such as Cloud Functions and App Hosting
Details
Convex is a reactive backend platform where the database, server functions, and caching work together as one system. It handles real-time subscriptions, ACID transactions, and file storage without requiring separate infrastructure. The free Starter plan is pay-as-you-go with no base cost, making it practical for solo founders to prototype and launch without upfront commitment.
Firebase bundles the backend pieces an app needs: Cloud Firestore and the Realtime Database, Authentication, Hosting, Cloud Functions, Cloud Storage, Cloud Messaging for push notifications and Crashlytics. The client SDKs talk to these services directly, guarded by security rules, so many apps need no server of their own.
It suits founders building mobile apps or prototypes on Google’s infrastructure. Firebase Authentication, its sign-in service, can also be used without the rest of Firebase.
Spark is free and covers a side project. Once you need functions or file storage you move to Blaze, which keeps the same free allowances and bills the usage beyond them. Set a budget when you upgrade, and know that it only warns you by email: services keep running unless you add a spend cap where one is available.
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