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APIs · head to head

Convoy vs Typesense

Convoy logo

Convoy

APIs

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

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Typesense logo

Typesense

Databases

Open-source typo-tolerant search engine as an Algolia alternative

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.; Typesense holding the index in memory caps dataset size by available RAM, which becomes expensive at scale
  • They diverge on capability: Convoy covers Inbound and outbound, Typesense covers In-memory index.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Convoy and Typesense actually diverge.

Attributes where Convoy and Typesense differ
AttributeConvoyTypesense
Pricing modelPer month, flat rate regardless of volumeOpen source, no licence fee; managed cloud billed separately
PlatformsLinux, Docker, Kubernetes, CloudLinux, macOS, Docker, Self-hosted
CategoryAPIsDatabases

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 Typesense

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

Typesense

  • Replacing Algolia when per-search pricing outgrows the valuenot Convoy
  • Instant search over a product catalogue or documentation sitenot Convoy
  • Hybrid keyword and vector search without running two systemsnot 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.

Typesense

  • Holding the index in memory caps dataset size by available RAM, which becomes expensive at scale
  • Narrower than Elasticsearch by design: no log analytics or complex aggregation pipelines
  • Smaller ecosystem and community than Algolia or Elasticsearch, so fewer integrations exist off the shelf

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

Typesense

Free
  • TypesenseFree
    • Full functionality
    • Self-hosted
    • No usage limits

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 Typesense if

  • You need in-memory index.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, macOS, Docker, Self-hosted.
  • You also want typo tolerance.
Typesense review

Questions people ask

Is Convoy or Typesense better?
Neither clearly leads. Convoy starts at Free and Typesense at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Convoy or Typesense?
Convoy starts at Free and Typesense at Free.
Does Convoy or Typesense run on more platforms?
Convoy runs on Linux, Docker, Kubernetes, Cloud. Typesense runs on Linux, macOS, Docker, Self-hosted.
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 Typesense is typically brought in for.
What can Convoy do that Typesense cannot?
Convoy covers Inbound and outbound, Broker-driven ingestion, Payload transformation, Portal links. Typesense covers In-memory index, Typo tolerance, Faceting and filtering, Vector search.

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.

Typesense: Is Typesense free?

The engine is open source and free to self-host. Typesense Cloud is a paid managed option.

Convoy: What does premium cost?

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

Typesense: Why choose Typesense over Algolia?

Cost and control. Algolia charges per search and per record; Typesense can be self-hosted with no per-query fee, at the cost of running it yourself.

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.

Typesense: Does Typesense support vector search?

Yes, including hybrid search combining keyword and semantic matching in one query.

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.

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