Used For

• +**Your users refresh constantly to see updates** → Changes sync instantly across all browsers without polling or websockets
• +**You're copy-pasting authentication and database setup for the 10th time** → TypeScript templates with auth, payments, and database ready in minutes
• +**Your backend breaks at 3am when traffic spikes** → Auto-scales without you touching server configs
• +AI generates most of your backend code accurately because it understands TypeScript schemas
• +Built-in job queues and cron scheduling - no setting up separate task runners

Best For

• >Side project stuck at 60% done - boilerplate code after work is soul-crushing
• >Your task app users refresh constantly because changes don't sync automatically
• >You know React but backend scaling gives you nightmares

Not For

• -Non-technical founders — this requires writing TypeScript code, no drag-and-drop interface
• -Large enterprises needing on-premise hosting — it's cloud-only with no self-hosted option
• -Teams already deep into custom infrastructure — you'll be rebuilding everything in their way

Pairs With

• *React or Next.js (for the frontend that talks to Convex's TypeScript backend)
• *Stripe (for payments since Convex handles the webhook complexity)
• *Auth0 or Clerk (for user authentication that integrates cleanly)
• *Vercel (where most people deploy their React frontends)
• *GitHub (where templates and components live for quick project starts)

The Catch

• !You're locked into their TypeScript ecosystem - no Python or other backend languages
• !Components (pre-built modules) are isolated from your database for security, so you'll write API calls for simple things
• !Usage-based pricing means successful apps get expensive fast, but no specific pricing tiers are public

Bottom Line

Lets solo devs build full SaaS apps in 8 hours instead of 8 weeks by handling all the backend plumbing.