Convex vs Turso: Reactive Backend vs Edge SQLite

Convex and Turso represent two fundamentally different approaches to the backend layer of a web application. Convex is a complete managed backend: it provides a reactive database, serverless functions, file storage, and end-to-end TypeScript type safety. When data changes in Convex, queries that depend on that data automatically re-run and push updates to connected clients. This reactive model makes building real-time collaborative features substantially easier than traditional polling or websocket management.

Turso is a database-only product built on libSQL, a fork of SQLite designed for edge deployment. Turso distributes your database to edge locations around the world, meaning users in Tokyo get reads from a Tokyo replica rather than waiting for a round-trip to a US data centre. The free tier includes 500 million row reads per month across unlimited databases, and the Developer plan at $4.99 per month is significantly cheaper than most managed database services.

Turso's pricing is structured around database instances and row operations. The free tier provides 5GB storage, 100 databases, and 500 million row reads per month. The Developer plan at $4.99 per month provides unlimited databases with 9GB storage. The Scaler plan at $24.92 per month provides 24GB storage and 2,500 monthly active databases. Overages are charged at $1 per billion additional row reads. Turso removed cold starts in 2025, meaning all databases stay responsive regardless of inactivity.

Convex charges per developer seat on the Professional plan at $25 per month, which includes 25 million function calls and 250GB-hours of compute per developer. The free tier supports up to 6 developers across 20 projects with 1 million function calls per month. Convex also offers a Starter plan as a pure pay-as-you-go option beyond the free tier. For solo developers or small teams, Turso's cost is substantially lower. For teams that need the full reactive backend capabilities Convex provides, the $25 per developer seat is competitive with assembling equivalent services separately.

Real-time data handling is the clearest architectural difference between Convex and Turso. Convex's reactive query model means any data your UI subscribes to is automatically kept in sync. When a user updates a record, every other client with a subscription to that data receives the update without polling, without manually managing websocket connections, and without any additional code. This is built into the Convex model and works automatically for every query.

Turso provides no built-in real-time capability. It is a SQLite database with edge distribution. If your application requires real-time features, you need to implement them separately using a websocket service, polling, or a separate real-time layer. For applications that do not require live data updates, such as read-heavy content sites, static data APIs, or single-user tools, this limitation is irrelevant. For collaborative applications, Convex's built-in reactivity eliminates weeks of engineering work that Turso requires you to do yourself.

Turso's primary architectural advantage is global edge distribution of SQLite databases. By replicating your database to edge locations near your users, Turso can achieve read latencies well under 50ms globally. This matters for applications where database read latency directly affects user experience, such as content delivery, API responses that users directly perceive, or read-heavy applications serving international audiences.

Convex runs in managed cloud regions with US and EU hosting options. It does not distribute data to the edge. For applications where the majority of users are in one region, this distinction is largely irrelevant. For applications serving users across Asia, Europe, and the Americas simultaneously, Turso's edge architecture provides a meaningful latency advantage that Convex cannot currently match. Turso also supports a per-database model well-suited to multi-tenant applications where each customer gets their own isolated database instance.

Convex is designed specifically for TypeScript applications and provides end-to-end type safety from the database schema through functions to the client SDK. Schema changes in Convex automatically propagate type information throughout the application, and the Convex dashboard provides real-time function monitoring, logs, and a data browser. The developer experience is among the best of any backend platform, with a local development setup that mirrors the production environment closely.

Turso is compatible with any SQLite client library, providing flexibility across languages and frameworks. TypeScript developers typically use Turso through Drizzle ORM or better-sqlite3, which provide type-safe query building on top of the raw SQLite interface. The developer experience is not as integrated as Convex's, but the standard ORM tooling ecosystem is mature and well-documented. Turso also provides a CLI and dashboard for managing databases and monitoring usage.

Choose Convex if you are building a TypeScript application that needs real-time data synchronisation, want a complete backend without assembling separate services, or prioritise developer experience and type safety above all else. The reactive query model alone justifies Convex for collaboration tools, dashboards, and any application where multiple users interact with shared data.

Choose Turso if edge read performance is a primary requirement, if you are building a multi-tenant application that benefits from database-per-tenant isolation, or if you want a very low-cost managed database and are comfortable implementing real-time and auth layers separately. Turso at $4.99 per month is hard to beat on cost for a managed database service. The two tools are not direct competitors: Convex is a full backend platform and Turso is a database layer, so choosing Turso means also choosing other services for functions, real-time, and auth.