Tools / Convex
About Convex
Convex is a backend platform built around TypeScript. You write functions in TypeScript and the platform handles the database, serverless functions, realtime sync, search, workflow, and file storage. Data changes propagate to connected clients automatically, so the frontend stays up to date without you writing polling or websocket plumbing. The platform covers several pieces you'd otherwise assemble yourself: a document database with queries and mutations, authentication with 80+ OAuth integrations, scheduled and background workflows, full-text and vector search, and file storage. There's also an AI Gateway that lets you call major AI models through a single API, and "Components" — independent, modular TypeScript building blocks you can drop into a backend. Convex is open source and can be self-hosted or developed locally. It ships with AI coding support, including setup prompts and plugins for agents like Claude Code and Codex, plus templates for getting started with popular frameworks. The homepage shows comparison pages against Firebase, Supabase, and traditional SQL stacks.
What it does
Convex replaces the usual backend stack — database, API layer, background jobs, realtime layer — with a single TypeScript environment. You define a schema, write queries and mutations as TypeScript functions, and the client libraries subscribe to query results so UI updates arrive as data changes.
Main features
- Realtime sync — queries re-run and push updates to clients when underlying data changes
- Database — document-style storage with typed queries and mutations
- Authentication — 80+ OAuth integrations handled by the platform
- AI Gateway — call major AI models from one API
- Components — independent, modular TypeScript building blocks for backends
- Workflow, search, and file storage — scheduled jobs, text/vector search, and file hosting included
- Open source — self-host or develop locally
- AI coding support — setup prompts, plugins for Claude Code and Codex, and AI code generation guidance
Adoption
The npm package shows about 1.7M weekly downloads, and the backend repo on GitHub has roughly 21,500 stars. The homepage lists OpenAI, Tripadvisor, Zapier, a16z, doxy.me, Town, and Reducto among the logos shown.
Getting started
New projects start with npm create convex@latest. Existing projects can add Convex via npm install convex plus a schema file. There are templates for common frameworks, full documentation at docs.convex.dev, and a community Discord. Convex also runs a startups program and a support program for open source projects.
The site publishes comparison pages for Convex vs. Firebase, Convex vs. Supabase, and Convex vs. SQL if you're evaluating it against those stacks.
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