Softwr

Cloud · head to head

Buildah vs Convoy

Buildah logo

Buildah

Cloud

Build OCI container images without a daemon or a Dockerfile

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Convoy logo

Convoy

APIs

Open source webhooks gateway you self-host, handling both sending and receiving

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Buildah linux only, with no native macOS or Windows support; Convoy the default deployment is self-hosted, so you operate Convoy plus Postgres and Redis and carry the on-call burden for the system that delivers your customers' events.
  • They diverge on capability: Buildah covers Daemonless builds, Convoy covers Inbound and outbound.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Buildah and Convoy actually diverge.

Attributes where Buildah and Convoy differ
AttributeBuildahConvoy
Pricing modelOpen source, no licence feePer month, flat rate regardless of volume
PlatformsLinuxLinux, Docker, Kubernetes, Cloud
CategoryCloudAPIs

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), user rating (Not yet rated).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Buildah

  • Daemonless builds
  • Rootless
  • Dockerfile compatible
  • Scriptable builds

Only in Convoy

  • Inbound and outbound
  • Broker-driven ingestion
  • Payload transformation
  • Portal links
  • Circuit breaking
  • Retry policies
  • OpenTelemetry export
  • Role-based access control

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Buildah

  • Building images in CI without a privileged Docker daemonnot Convoy
  • Producing minimal images with tighter layer control than a Dockerfile givesnot Convoy
  • Scripted image assembly where a Dockerfile is the wrong abstractionnot Convoy

Convoy

  • A fintech that cannot route customer webhook traffic through a third-party SaaS for compliance reasonsnot Buildah
  • A high-volume platform for which per-message webhook pricing costs more than the flat premium licencenot Buildah
  • A team that also receives webhooks from many providers and wants ingestion, verification and deduplication in the same gatewaynot Buildah
  • An engineering group that wants webhook delivery driven directly from an existing Kafka or SQS topicnot Buildah

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Buildah

  • Linux only, with no native macOS or Windows support
  • Scriptable builds are powerful but less portable and less familiar than a Dockerfile
  • Narrow by design: it builds images and does not run them, so it needs Podman or another runtime alongside

Convoy

  • The default deployment is self-hosted, so you operate Convoy plus Postgres and Redis and carry the on-call burden for the system that delivers your customers' events.
  • Frain Technologies is a small startup, and putting customer-facing delivery infrastructure on it means accepting real vendor continuity risk on a component that is hard to swap out quickly.
  • The premium tier at a flat 999 US dollars a month is poor value below substantial volume, while the community edition omits the portal, transformations and RBAC that most production deployments end up wanting.
  • The hosted cloud trial is capped at one project and 100 events a day, which is too small to properly evaluate the service before committing.
  • Documentation and the third-party ecosystem are thinner than the established webhook services, so unusual configurations often mean reading the Go source.

Pricing, plan by plan

Buildah

Free
  • BuildahFree
    • Full functionality
    • No usage limits
    • Community support

Convoy

Free
  • CommunityFree
    • Self-hosted open source gateway
    • Inbound and outbound webhooks
    • Automatic retries and message broker support
  • Premium$999/month
    • Flat rate irrespective of message volume
    • Portal links and payload transformation
    • RBAC, circuit breaking and white labelling
  • Enterprise$undefined/year
    • SAML SSO
    • Dedicated support with SLA
    • On-premises deployment assistance
  • Cloud$undefined/month
    • Hosted by Convoy
    • 14 day trial limited to one project and 100 events a day
    • Usage-based tiers above the trial

Which should you pick?

Choose Buildah if

  • You need daemonless builds.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux.
  • You also want rootless.
Buildah review

Choose Convoy if

  • You need inbound and outbound.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, Docker, Kubernetes, Cloud.
  • You also want broker-driven ingestion.
Convoy review

Questions people ask

Is Buildah or Convoy better?
Neither clearly leads. Buildah starts at Free and Convoy at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Buildah or Convoy?
Buildah starts at Free and Convoy at Free.
Does Buildah or Convoy run on more platforms?
Buildah runs on Linux. Convoy runs on Linux, Docker, Kubernetes, Cloud.
Can I use Buildah for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Buildah best used for?
Buildah is most often used for building images in ci without a privileged docker daemon, producing minimal images with tighter layer control than a dockerfile gives, scripted image assembly where a dockerfile is the wrong abstraction. Of those, building images in ci without a privileged docker daemon and producing minimal images with tighter layer control than a dockerfile gives are not what Convoy is typically brought in for.
What can Buildah do that Convoy cannot?
Buildah covers Daemonless builds, Rootless, Dockerfile compatible, Scriptable builds. Convoy covers Inbound and outbound, Broker-driven ingestion, Payload transformation, Portal links.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Buildah: Is Buildah free?

Yes, open source with no licence fee.

Convoy: Is Convoy really open source?

Yes, the community edition is open source and self-hostable, covering both inbound and outbound webhooks with retries.

Buildah: Do I still need a Dockerfile?

No. Buildah reads Dockerfiles if you have them, but images can be built entirely from shell commands instead.

Convoy: What does premium cost?

A flat 999 US dollars a month, self-hosted, regardless of message volume.

Buildah: How is Buildah different from Podman?

Buildah builds images; Podman runs them. Podman actually embeds Buildah for its build command, and the two are designed to be used together.

Convoy: Does it receive webhooks as well as send them?

Yes, inbound ingestion with verification and deduplication is a first-class feature, unlike most webhook services.

Convoy: Do I have to self-host?

No, there is a hosted cloud, but the trial is capped at 100 events a day and self-hosting is the primary model.

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