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APIs · head to head

Convoy vs Helix

Convoy logo

Convoy

APIs

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

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Helix logo

Helix

Developer Tools

Post-modern modal text editor for the terminal, written in Rust

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: 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.; Helix no official GUI application yet, so it requires comfort with terminal workflows.
  • They diverge on capability: Convoy covers Inbound and outbound, Helix covers Multiple Selections.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Convoy and Helix actually diverge.

Attributes where Convoy and Helix differ
AttributeConvoyHelix
Pricing modelPer month, flat rate regardless of volumeopen-source
PlatformsLinux, Docker, Kubernetes, Cloudlinux, mac, windows
CategoryAPIsDeveloper Tools

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 Convoy

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

Only in Helix

  • Multiple Selections
  • Tree-sitter Syntax Trees
  • Built-in LSP Support
  • Fuzzy File Finder
  • Project-wide Search

What people use each for

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

Convoy

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

Helix

  • Editing code over SSH or in tmux sessionsnot Convoy
  • Working with syntax-aware selection and navigationnot Convoy
  • Getting IDE-like completion and diagnostics without plugin setupnot Convoy
  • Lightweight, low-resource code editing on laptopsnot Convoy

Where each one falls short

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

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.

Helix

  • No official GUI application yet, so it requires comfort with terminal workflows.
  • Plugin ecosystem is far smaller than Vim's or Neovim's, limiting customization.
  • Keybindings differ from both Vim and Kakoune, adding a learning curve for users of either.
  • Configuration is more limited than Neovim's Lua-based extensibility.

Pricing, plan by plan

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

Helix

Free
  • FreeFree
    • Full editor, no paid tiers

Which should you pick?

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

Choose Helix if

  • You need multiple selections.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on linux, mac, windows.
  • You also want tree-sitter syntax trees.
Helix review

Questions people ask

Is Convoy or Helix better?
Neither clearly leads. Convoy starts at Free and Helix at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Convoy or Helix?
Convoy starts at Free and Helix at Free.
Does Convoy or Helix run on more platforms?
Convoy runs on Linux, Docker, Kubernetes, Cloud. Helix runs on linux, mac, windows.
Can I use Convoy for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Convoy best used for?
Convoy is most often used for a fintech that cannot route customer webhook traffic through a third-party saas for compliance reasons, a high-volume platform for which per-message webhook pricing costs more than the flat premium licence, a team that also receives webhooks from many providers and wants ingestion, verification and deduplication in the same gateway, an engineering group that wants webhook delivery driven directly from an existing kafka or sqs topic. Of those, a fintech that cannot route customer webhook traffic through a third-party saas for compliance reasons and a high-volume platform for which per-message webhook pricing costs more than the flat premium licence are not what Helix is typically brought in for.
What can Convoy do that Helix cannot?
Convoy covers Inbound and outbound, Broker-driven ingestion, Payload transformation, Portal links. Helix covers Multiple Selections, Tree-sitter Syntax Trees, Built-in LSP Support, Fuzzy File Finder.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Convoy: Is Convoy really open source?

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

Helix: Is Helix free to use?

Yes, Helix is free and open source, licensed under the Mozilla Public License 2.0 (MPL-2.0), with no paid tiers or subscriptions.

Source
Convoy: What does premium cost?

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

Helix: How do I install Helix?

Install via your operating system's package manager, or download pre-built binaries from GitHub Releases; the nightly version requires building from source.

Source
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.

Helix: Does Helix support plugins?

Not yet. Helix currently has no plugin system, though the project intends to add one eventually; it instead ships with built-in LSP and tree-sitter support out of the box.

Source
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.

Helix: How do I configure Helix?

Helix ships with sane modern defaults requiring much less config-file fiddling than Vim, though settings can still be customized in a config.toml file.

Source
Helix: Where can I get help or support?

Support is community-driven via GitHub for code and issues, the Matrix chat for discussion, and OpenCollective for funding ongoing development.

Source
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