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APIs · head to head

Convoy vs Mathesar

Convoy logo

Convoy

APIs

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

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Mathesar logo

Mathesar

Spreadsheets

Spreadsheet style interface that edits an existing PostgreSQL database directly, with no schema of its own

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.; Mathesar there is no hosted offering of any kind, so a team without someone who can run and secure a server cannot use it at all.
  • They diverge on capability: Convoy covers Inbound and outbound, Mathesar covers Direct PostgreSQL editing.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Convoy and Mathesar actually diverge.

Attributes where Convoy and Mathesar differ
AttributeConvoyMathesar
Pricing modelPer month, flat rate regardless of volumeOpen source, no licence fee
PlatformsLinux, Docker, Kubernetes, CloudWeb, Linux
CategoryAPIsSpreadsheets

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 Mathesar

  • Direct PostgreSQL editing
  • PostgreSQL permissions
  • Schema editing
  • Data exploration
  • Relationship navigation
  • Import of tabular files
  • Self hosted only

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 Mathesar
  • A high-volume platform for which per-message webhook pricing costs more than the flat premium licencenot Mathesar
  • A team that also receives webhooks from many providers and wants ingestion, verification and deduplication in the same gatewaynot Mathesar
  • An engineering group that wants webhook delivery driven directly from an existing Kafka or SQS topicnot Mathesar

Mathesar

  • A nonprofit or research group whose data is already in PostgreSQL and whose staff cannot write SQLnot Convoy
  • Giving analysts a safe editing interface governed by database roles that already existnot Convoy
  • Replacing a hand built Django or Rails admin screen that nobody wants to maintainnot Convoy
  • Editing production reference data where an export, edit and reimport cycle would risk losing concurrent changesnot 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.

Mathesar

  • There is no hosted offering of any kind, so a team without someone who can run and secure a server cannot use it at all.
  • It works only with PostgreSQL, so a MySQL, SQL Server or SQLite estate is excluded outright.
  • There are no automations, no webhooks and effectively no integration catalogue, so it edits data and does nothing else.
  • Because it writes to the live database, a careless bulk edit or column type change is a production change with no staging step and no undo.
  • Development is grant and community funded rather than commercially funded, so roadmap pace and long term continuity carry a different risk profile from a venture backed vendor.

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

Mathesar

Free
  • Self hosted open sourceFree
    • No licence fee
    • No hosted option offered
    • Connects to your existing PostgreSQL database

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 Mathesar if

  • You need direct postgresql editing.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Linux.
  • You also want postgresql permissions.
Mathesar review

Questions people ask

Is Convoy or Mathesar better?
Neither clearly leads. Convoy starts at Free and Mathesar at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Convoy or Mathesar?
Convoy starts at Free and Mathesar at Free.
Does Convoy or Mathesar run on more platforms?
Convoy runs on Linux, Docker, Kubernetes, Cloud. Mathesar runs on Web, Linux.
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 Mathesar is typically brought in for.
What can Convoy do that Mathesar cannot?
Convoy covers Inbound and outbound, Broker-driven ingestion, Payload transformation, Portal links. Mathesar covers Direct PostgreSQL editing, PostgreSQL permissions, Schema editing, Data exploration.

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.

Mathesar: Is there a cloud version?

No. Self hosting is the only option, and that is a deliberate project decision rather than a gap waiting to be filled.

Convoy: What does premium cost?

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

Mathesar: How does it handle permissions?

Through PostgreSQL roles and privileges directly, so there is no second permission model to keep in step.

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.

Mathesar: What is the row limit?

Whatever PostgreSQL can handle. Mathesar adds no storage layer of its own.

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.

Mathesar: Does it support databases other than PostgreSQL?

No.

Mathesar: Can it replace Airtable?

Only for editing and exploring data. There are no automations, apps or integrations.

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