Databases · head to head
Convex vs Harness
Convex
Databases
Reactive backend combining a document database, TypeScript server functions and live queries, source-available under the Functional Source Licence.
- From
- Free
- Free plan
- Yes
Harness
Developer Tools
Software delivery platform across CI, CD, security testing and cost management
- From
- Free
- Free plan
- Yes
The short version
- Harness is free; Convex starts at $25/mo.
- Where Harness falls short: essentials and Enterprise pricing requires sales contact; no published rates.
- Prices and features on this page were last checked on 13 November 2026.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Convex and Harness actually diverge.
Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), platforms (Web).
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 Convex
- Reactive queries
- TypeScript server functions
- ACID transactions
- Document database
- Scheduling and workflows
- File storage
- Text and vector search
- End-to-end types
Only in Harness
Nothing recorded that Convex does not also cover.
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
Convex
- Collaborative applications where several users see the same data and every client must reflect a change immediatelynot Harness
- Agent backends that need durable state, scheduled work and transactional writes without assembling a queue, a database and a cachenot Harness
- Small product teams who need a complete backend, including auth integration, file storage and subscriptions, without hiring infrastructure engineersnot Harness
- Prototypes that must become production without a rewrite of the data layer, where end-to-end TypeScript types remove a class of integration bugsnot Harness
Harness
- Deploying apps to AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud with rollbacksnot Convex
- Integrating security scanners throughout build pipelines before productionnot Convex
- Automating cloud cost reduction and tracking unit-level expensesnot Convex
- Enabling developers to provision infrastructure without operations bottlenecksnot Convex
- Assessing deployment frequency and lead time productivity metricsnot Convex
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
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
Harness
- Essentials and Enterprise pricing requires sales contact; no published rates
- DevOps Essentials has no on-premises deployment option
- Internal Developer Portal requires minimum 20 developer licenses
- Pipeline execution history retention 6 months (Essentials) vs 25 months as add-on (Enterprise)
Pricing, plan by plan
Convex
Free- Free & StarterFree
- Supports 1-6 developers
- Reactive database
- File storage
- Professional$25
- Supports up to 20 developers
- All Starter features
- Log streaming
- Business & Enterprise$2,500/month minimum
- Supports 50+ developers
- SAML/SSO
- Service SLAs
Harness
Free- FreeFree
- Starter platform for software delivery lifecycle
- Open source options available (Harness Open Source, Litmus Chaos)
- EssentialsOn request
- Growing organizations with small to mid-size teams
- Packaged DevOps Essentials bundle
- Continuous software delivery capabilities
- EnterpriseOn request
- Large-scale organizations
- Pick any modules based on needs
- Advanced features
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 Convex or Harness better?
- Neither clearly leads. Convex starts at Free and Harness at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Convex or Harness?
- Convex starts at Free and Harness at Free.
- Does Convex or Harness run on more platforms?
- Both run on Web, so platform support will not decide this one for you.
- Can I use Convex for free?
- Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
- What is Convex best used for?
- Convex is most often used for collaborative applications where several users see the same data and every client must reflect a change immediately, agent backends that need durable state, scheduled work and transactional writes without assembling a queue, a database and a cache, small product teams who need a complete backend, including auth integration, file storage and subscriptions, without hiring infrastructure engineers, prototypes that must become production without a rewrite of the data layer, where end-to-end typescript types remove a class of integration bugs. Of those, collaborative applications where several users see the same data and every client must reflect a change immediately and agent backends that need durable state, scheduled work and transactional writes without assembling a queue, a database and a cache are not what Harness is typically brought in for.
- What can Convex do that Harness cannot?
- Convex covers Reactive queries, TypeScript server functions, ACID transactions, Document database.
Answered from the vendors’ own pages
Convex: 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.
Harness: Is there a free Harness plan?
Yes, Harness offers a free plan for individual developers and small teams with open source options including Harness Open Source and Litmus Chaos.
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.
Harness: What are Harness's paid pricing tiers?
Harness offers Essentials for growing teams and Enterprise for large-scale organizations. Both require contacting sales for custom pricing. Pricing is based on modules and features selected.
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.
Harness: Can Harness be deployed on-premises?
Enterprise plans include self-managed platform deployment option. DevOps Essentials bundle does not offer on-premises deployment.
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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- Harness vs HCP Terraform
- Harness vs Argo CD
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- Harness vs StackBlitz
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- Harness vs Tilt
- Harness vs Vim
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