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APIs · head to head

Convoy vs PostgreSQL

Convoy logo

Convoy

APIs

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

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
PostgreSQL logo

PostgreSQL

Databases

The world's most advanced open source relational database

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.; PostgreSQL requires manual scaling across multiple machines for very large deployments
  • They diverge on capability: Convoy covers Inbound and outbound, PostgreSQL covers ACID Compliance.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Convoy and PostgreSQL actually diverge.

Attributes where Convoy and PostgreSQL differ
AttributeConvoyPostgreSQL
Pricing modelPer month, flat rate regardless of volumeUnknown
PlatformsLinux, Docker, Kubernetes, CloudLinux, Windows, macOS, BSD, Unix
CategoryAPIsDatabases
FoundedUnknown1996

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 PostgreSQL

  • ACID Compliance
  • JSON/JSONB Support
  • Full-text Search
  • Extensibility
  • Advanced Indexing
  • Partitioning
  • Replication
  • pgAdmin

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

PostgreSQL

  • Transaction processingnot Convoy
  • Data storagenot Convoy
  • Application backendnot Convoy
  • Reportingnot Convoy
  • Data analyticsnot 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.

PostgreSQL

  • Requires manual scaling across multiple machines for very large deployments
  • Performance tuning requires deep knowledge of database internals
  • No built-in graphical admin interface; command-line tools are primary method

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

PostgreSQL

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the PostgreSQL review.

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 PostgreSQL if

  • You need acid compliance.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, Windows, macOS, BSD, Unix.
  • You also want json/jsonb support.
PostgreSQL review

Questions people ask

Is Convoy or PostgreSQL better?
Neither clearly leads. Convoy starts at Free and PostgreSQL at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Convoy or PostgreSQL?
Convoy starts at Free and PostgreSQL at Free.
Does Convoy or PostgreSQL run on more platforms?
Convoy runs on Linux, Docker, Kubernetes, Cloud. PostgreSQL runs on Linux, Windows, macOS, BSD, Unix.
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 PostgreSQL is typically brought in for.
What can Convoy do that PostgreSQL cannot?
Convoy covers Inbound and outbound, Broker-driven ingestion, Payload transformation, Portal links. PostgreSQL covers ACID Compliance, JSON/JSONB Support, Full-text Search, Extensibility.

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.

PostgreSQL: Is PostgreSQL completely free?

Yes. PostgreSQL is completely free and open source with no licensing fees or restrictions on use.

Source
Convoy: What does premium cost?

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

PostgreSQL: What platforms does PostgreSQL run on?

PostgreSQL runs on all major operating systems including Linux, Windows, macOS, BSD, and commercial Unix variants, and has been proven highly scalable managing terabytes to petabytes of data.

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.

PostgreSQL: What procedural languages are supported?

PostgreSQL supports stored functions and procedures in multiple languages including PL/pgSQL, Perl, Python, Tcl, Java, JavaScript, R, and Rust.

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.

PostgreSQL: What is ACID compliance in PostgreSQL?

PostgreSQL has been ACID-compliant since 2001, ensuring data integrity through atomicity, consistency, isolation, and durability guarantees for all transactions.

Source
PostgreSQL: Does PostgreSQL support JSON data?

Yes. PostgreSQL supports JSON and JSONB data types for storing and querying JSON documents, along with XML and other document formats.

Source
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