Databases · head to head
Convex vs Memcached
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: 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.; Memcached no persistence at all: restart a node and its cache is gone, which every design must assume
- They diverge on capability: Convex covers Reactive queries, Memcached covers In-memory key-value cache.
- Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Convex and Memcached actually diverge.
Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), 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 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 Memcached
- In-memory key-value cache
- Multithreaded
- Client-side sharding
- Predictable memory use
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 Memcached
- Agent backends that need durable state, scheduled work and transactional writes without assembling a queue, a database and a cachenot Memcached
- Small product teams who need a complete backend, including auth integration, file storage and subscriptions, without hiring infrastructure engineersnot Memcached
- Prototypes that must become production without a rewrite of the data layer, where end-to-end TypeScript types remove a class of integration bugsnot Memcached
Memcached
- Caching expensive database query results to cut loadnot Convex
- Session storage where losing sessions on restart is acceptablenot Convex
- Fronting an API whose responses are costly and change slowlynot 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.
Memcached
- No persistence at all: restart a node and its cache is gone, which every design must assume
- No replication or failover, so losing a node loses that share of the cache
- Only simple key-value, with none of the lists, sorted sets or streams Redis offers
- Values are capped at 1MB by default, which surprises teams caching large documents
Pricing, plan by plan
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
Memcached
Free- MemcachedFree
- Full functionality
- Self-hosted
- No usage limits
Which should you pick?
Choose Convex if
- You need reactive queries.
- You want to start without paying.
- You also want typescript server functions.
Choose Memcached if
- You need in-memory key-value cache.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Linux, macOS, Windows, Docker, Self-hosted.
- You also want multithreaded.
Questions people ask
- Is Convex or Memcached better?
- Neither clearly leads. Convex starts at Free and Memcached at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Convex or Memcached?
- Convex starts at Free and Memcached at Free.
- Does Convex or Memcached run on more platforms?
- Convex runs on Web. Memcached runs on Linux, macOS, Windows, Docker, Self-hosted.
- 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 Memcached is typically brought in for.
- What can Convex do that Memcached cannot?
- Convex covers Reactive queries, TypeScript server functions, ACID transactions, Document database. Memcached covers In-memory key-value cache, Multithreaded, Client-side sharding, Predictable memory use.
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.
Memcached: Is Memcached free?
Yes, open source with no licence fee.
Convex: 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.
Memcached: Memcached or Redis?
Memcached is a pure cache: simpler, multithreaded and very predictable. Redis adds persistence, replication and rich data structures, which is why it is the default choice unless you specifically want a cache and nothing more.
Convex: 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.
Memcached: Does Memcached persist data?
No. Everything is in memory and lost on restart, by design.
Convex: 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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