Databases · head to head
Cloudinary vs Convex
Convex
Databases
Reactive backend combining a document database, TypeScript server functions and live queries, source-available under the Functional Source Licence.
- From
- Free
- Rated
- -
The short version
- Each has a real cost: Cloudinary free plan includes only 25 monthly credits and is limited to 3 users and 1 account; Convex the Functional Source Licence is not an OSI open source licence: competing use is prohibited until each release reaches its second anniversary and converts to Apache 2.0, so you may self-host but you may not build a service on it.
- Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Cloudinary and Convex actually diverge.
| Attribute | Cloudinary | Convex |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | freemium | subscription |
Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), platforms (Web), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Databases).
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 Cloudinary
Nothing recorded that Convex does not also cover.
Only in Convex
- Reactive queries
- TypeScript server functions
- ACID transactions
- Document database
- Scheduling and workflows
- File storage
- Text and vector search
- End-to-end types
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
Cloudinary
- Automating image transformations and delivery across multiple devicesnot Convex
- Generating AI-powered image captions and alternative text at scalenot Convex
- Transcoding and optimizing video with automatic subtitle generationnot Convex
- Building workflow automation for content teams without codingnot Convex
Convex
- Collaborative applications where several users see the same data and every client must reflect a change immediatelynot Cloudinary
- Agent backends that need durable state, scheduled work and transactional writes without assembling a queue, a database and a cachenot Cloudinary
- Small product teams who need a complete backend, including auth integration, file storage and subscriptions, without hiring infrastructure engineersnot Cloudinary
- Prototypes that must become production without a rewrite of the data layer, where end-to-end TypeScript types remove a class of integration bugsnot Cloudinary
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
Cloudinary
- Free plan includes only 25 monthly credits and is limited to 3 users and 1 account
- Enterprise plan pricing is custom; rates not published
- Monthly billing is more expensive than annual; yearly plan is $89/month for Plus ($224/month for Advanced)
Convex
- The Functional Source Licence is not an OSI open source licence: competing use is prohibited until each release reaches its second anniversary and converts to Apache 2.0, so you may self-host but you may not build a service on it.
- Transactions are bounded at one second of user code, 16 MiB read and written, 32,000 documents scanned and 16,000 written, so every backfill, migration or bulk import has to be chunked into scheduled batches rather than written as a single operation.
- There is no SQL and no query planner; you declare up to 32 indexes per table and traverse them, and joins are loops in TypeScript, so an unanticipated access pattern requires a schema and index change rather than a new query.
- It is not an analytical database, so reporting means streaming data out to a warehouse and BI tools cannot be pointed at Convex directly, which adds a pipeline the architecture diagram did not originally include.
- The application is written against Convex's function and client APIs rather than a standard protocol, so leaving means rewriting the data access layer and replacing the reactivity model, not repointing a connection string.
Pricing, plan by plan
Cloudinary
Free- FreeFree
- Upload widget
- API
- Search
- Plus$99/month
- All Free features
- S3 bucket backup
- Auto-tagging search
- Advanced$249/month
- All Plus features
- Custom domain (CNAME)
- Optional HTTPS SSL
- Enterprise$null/custom
- Multi-CDN infrastructure
- Enterprise SLAs
- Designated success manager
Convex
Free- Free & StarterFree
- Supports 1-6 developers
- Reactive database
- File storage
- Professional$25/month per developer
- Supports up to 20 developers
- All Starter features
- Log streaming
- Business & Enterprise$2500/month minimum
- Supports 50+ developers
- SAML/SSO
- Service SLAs
Which should you pick?
Choose Convex if
- You need reactive queries.
- You want to start without paying.
- You also want typescript server functions.
Questions people ask
- Is Cloudinary or Convex better?
- Neither clearly leads. Cloudinary starts at Free and Convex at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Cloudinary or Convex?
- Cloudinary starts at Free and Convex at Free.
- Does Cloudinary or Convex run on more platforms?
- Both run on Web, so platform support will not decide this one for you.
- Can I use Cloudinary for free?
- Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
- What is Cloudinary best used for?
- Cloudinary is most often used for automating image transformations and delivery across multiple devices, generating ai-powered image captions and alternative text at scale, transcoding and optimizing video with automatic subtitle generation, building workflow automation for content teams without coding. Of those, automating image transformations and delivery across multiple devices and generating ai-powered image captions and alternative text at scale are not what Convex is typically brought in for.
- What can Cloudinary do that Convex cannot?
- Convex covers Reactive queries, TypeScript server functions, ACID transactions, Document database.
Answered from the vendors’ own pages
Cloudinary: What are included in Cloudinary's free plan?
Cloudinary's free plan includes upload widget, API access, search, remote fetch, auto-backup, revision tracking, image and video transformations, video transcoding, and CDN delivery. The free plan includes 25 monthly credits, 3 users, and 1 account with community support.
SourceConvex: Is Convex open source?
It is source-available under FSL-1.1-Apache-2.0. You may read, modify and self-host it, but competing use is prohibited until each release converts to Apache 2.0 on its second anniversary.
Cloudinary: How does Cloudinary's credit system work?
Cloudinary credits measure usage: one credit equals 1,000 transformations, or 1 GB managed storage, or 1 GB image bandwidth, or 2 GB video bandwidth. The free plan grants 25 credits per month, Plus plan 225 monthly credits, and Advanced plan 600 monthly credits.
SourceConvex: Can I self-host it?
Yes. The backend, dashboard and CLI can run on your own infrastructure, with most of the features of the cloud product. Self-hosted instances include a telemetry beacon that can be disabled.
Cloudinary: What is the difference between Cloudinary Plus and Advanced plans?
Plus plan costs $99/month (or $89/month annually) and includes S3 backup, auto-tagging, and expedited support for up to 3 users across 2 accounts with 225 credits. Advanced is $249/month ($224/month annually), adds custom domain (CNAME) and SSL options for 5 users across 3 accounts with 600 credits.
SourceConvex: Does it support SQL?
No. Data is accessed through a TypeScript query builder over declared indexes. Relationships are traversed in code, which is explicit and type-safe but means no ad hoc querying.
Cloudinary: Does Cloudinary offer annual billing discounts?
Yes. Cloudinary's annual billing provides discounts: Plus plan is $89/month when billed yearly (versus $99/month monthly), and Advanced plan is $224/month when billed yearly (versus $249/month monthly).
SourceConvex: What happens if a mutation exceeds the limits?
It fails rather than running longer, so bulk work must be split into batches and scheduled. The limits are per transaction: one second of user code, 16 MiB read and written, 32,000 documents scanned and 16,000 written.
Convex: How does reactivity actually work?
Queries are deterministic functions and Convex records the data each one read. When a mutation changes that data, affected queries are re-run and subscribed clients receive the new result, so cache invalidation is handled by the platform.
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