Databases · head to head
Convex vs Yarn
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
Yarn
Developer Tools
Fast, reliable, and secure dependency management
- From
- Free
- Free plan
- Yes
The short version
- Yarn is a package manager.
- Yarn is free; Convex starts at $25/mo.
- Where Yarn falls short: Yarn 2+ (Berry) has limited ESM support which can be a constraint for some projects.
- Prices and features on this page were last checked on 13 November 2026.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Convex and Yarn actually diverge.
Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes).
Not yet recorded: founded for Convex.
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 Yarn
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 Yarn
- Agent backends that need durable state, scheduled work and transactional writes without assembling a queue, a database and a cachenot Yarn
- Small product teams who need a complete backend, including auth integration, file storage and subscriptions, without hiring infrastructure engineersnot Yarn
- Prototypes that must become production without a rewrite of the data layer, where end-to-end TypeScript types remove a class of integration bugsnot Yarn
Yarn
- Monorepo teams managing dependencies across 50+ interdependent packagesnot Convex
- Enterprise JavaScript projects ensuring reproducible builds across CI/CDnot Convex
- Open-source projects with plugin ecosystems coordinating versionsnot Convex
- Teams requiring consistent package installs regardless of network conditionsnot 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
Yarn
- Yarn 2+ (Berry) has limited ESM support which can be a constraint for some projects
- Smaller ecosystem and community compared to npm, though still substantial
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
Yarn
FreeNo published plan breakdown. See the Yarn review.
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 Yarn better?
- Neither clearly leads. Convex starts at Free and Yarn at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Convex or Yarn?
- Convex starts at Free and Yarn at Free.
- Does Convex or Yarn run on more platforms?
- Convex runs on Web. Yarn runs on Web, Linux, macOS, Windows.
- 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 Yarn is typically brought in for.
- What can Convex do that Yarn 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.
Yarn: What is Yarn's main advantage over npm?
Yarn downloads packages in parallel, significantly reducing installation time. It uses a yarn.lock file for deterministic installs, ensuring identical package versions across machines and preventing version conflicts common with npm.
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.
Yarn: Can I use Yarn in offline environments?
Yes, Yarn supports secure offline environments. The yarn.lock file enables reproducible installs without requiring new downloads.
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.
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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