Software · head to head
dbt vs Convex
dbt
Software
SQL transformation framework enabling analytics engineers to version, test and deploy models
- From
- Free
- Rated
- -
C
Convex
Software
The reactive backend platform that keeps up with you and your agents
- From
- On request
- Rated
- -
The short version
- Only dbt has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
- Each has a real cost: dbt free tier severely limited to one developer seat and 3,000 models/month; Convex the Free and Starter tier includes only 1 million function calls and 0.5 GB of database storage per month before per-unit overage charges of $2.20 per million calls apply, as of August 2026.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which dbt and Convex actually diverge.
Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated), category (Unknown).
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
dbt
- Data warehouse transformation and ELT pipelinesnot Convex
- Analytics engineering for reporting and business intelligencenot Convex
- Data quality testing and validation at scalenot Convex
- Cross-functional data collaboration with version controlnot Convex
- Cost optimisation of warehouse usage through intelligent schedulingnot Convex
Convex
No use cases recorded yet. See the Convex review.
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
dbt
- Free tier severely limited to one developer seat and 3,000 models/month
- Starter plan at $100/user/month for each additional seat adds costs for team collaboration
- Requires existing data warehouse; not suitable for teams without cloud warehouse investment
Convex
- The Free and Starter tier includes only 1 million function calls and 0.5 GB of database storage per month before per-unit overage charges of $2.20 per million calls apply, as of August 2026.
Pricing, plan by plan
dbt
Free- Developer (Free)Free
- One Developer seat
- 3,000 successful models built per month
- Browser IDE
- Starter$100/user/month
- Five Developer seats
- 15,000 successful models built per month
- dbt Catalog
- Enterprise$null/custom
- Custom Developer seat count
- 100,000 successful models built per month
- 30 projects
- Enterprise+$null/custom
- Unlimited projects
- All Enterprise features
- PrivateLink
Convex
On requestNo published plan breakdown. See the Convex review.
Which should you pick?
Choose dbt if
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Cloud, Self-hosted, IDE integration (VS Code, Cursor, Claude Code, Windsurf).
Choose Convex if
Nothing in the data separates Convex from dbt on the points above - pick on price and on how each one feels to use.
Questions people ask
- Is dbt or Convex better?
- Neither clearly leads. dbt starts at Free and Convex at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, dbt or Convex?
- dbt has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for dbt and On request for Convex.
- Does dbt or Convex run on more platforms?
- dbt runs on Cloud, Self-hosted, IDE integration (VS Code, Cursor, Claude Code, Windsurf). Convex runs on Web.
- Can I use dbt for free?
- Yes. dbt has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Convex starts at On request.
- What is dbt best used for?
- dbt is most often used for data warehouse transformation and elt pipelines, analytics engineering for reporting and business intelligence, data quality testing and validation at scale, cross-functional data collaboration with version control. Of those, data warehouse transformation and elt pipelines and analytics engineering for reporting and business intelligence are not what Convex is typically brought in for.