Neon vs Convex

Pricing: Convex is completely free (Free for small projects), which makes it the obvious pick if budget is the top concern. Neon starts at $19/mo, but Free tier with 0.5 GB storage and 190 compute hours. That cost buys you a more polished or feature-rich experience, so it comes down to whether the extras justify the spend.

Feature gaps: Neon offers Autoscaling, Branching and Scale-to-Zero that Convex lacks. Convex brings File Storage, Real-Time Sync and Scheduling that Neon does not have.

Team fit: Neon is geared toward any size teams, while Convex is aimed at small teams teams. Pick the one that matches where your team is today and where it is headed — migrating tools later is always painful.

Open source: Neon is open source, meaning you can self-host, audit the code, and avoid vendor lock-in. Convex is proprietary — you are trusting the vendor with your data and uptime.

Where each tool shines: Neon's biggest strengths are: scale-to-zero means no cost when database is idle. database branching for development and preview environments. Convex's biggest strengths are: includes real-time sync as a core feature, purpose-built for database workflows. includes server functions as a core feature, purpose-built for database workflows.

Watch out for: With Neon, users commonly note that cold starts when scaling from zero can add latency. With Convex, the main complaint is that free plan exists but key features are locked behind the paid upgrade.