Algolia vs Convex
AI search & discovery — keyword + neural + personalization
vs. The reactive database where queries are TypeScript code
Pricing tiers
Algolia
Build (Free)
10K search requests/mo, 1M records. Full features for dev/testing.
Free
Grow (PAYG)
Free up to 10K searches/mo + 100K records. $0.50 per 1K additional searches + $0.40 per 1K additional records.
$0 base (usage-based)
Grow Plus (PAYG)
Adds AI Ranking, Advanced Personalization, AI Synonyms, 10k rules/index. $1.75 per 1K searches.
$0 base (usage-based)
Elevate
Annual. NeuralSearch + AI Collections + Smart Groups + real-time personalization. 99.999% SLA, SSO.
Custom
Convex
Starter (Free)
Free with overage via usage-based billing. Great for prototypes.
Free
Professional
$25/developer/month. Overage: $2/M function calls. Daily backups, email support, custom domains.
$25/mo
Business / Enterprise
From $2,500/month. SAML/SSO, SLA, dedicated deployments, Slack Connect support.
$2500/mo
Free-tier quotas head-to-head
Comparing build on Algolia vs starter on Convex.
| Metric | Algolia | Convex |
|---|---|---|
| db storage gb | — | 0.5 GB |
| deployments | — | 40 deployments |
| egress gb month | — | 1 GB/month |
| file storage gb | — | 1 GB |
| function calls month | — | 1000000 calls/month |
| team members | — | 6 users |
Features
Algolia · 16 features
- A/B Testing — Compare two index configurations on live traffic.
- AI Ranking — Dynamic re-ranking based on clicks + conversions.
- Algolia Crawler — Hosted crawler to index websites.
- Autocomplete — JavaScript autocomplete UI library.
- Insights API — Send click + conversion events to train AI Ranking.
- InstantSearch UI — UI libraries: React, Vue, Angular, iOS, Android — prebuilt search components.
- Keyword Search — Fast prefix + typo-tolerant full-text search.
- MCP Tools — Algolia MCP server for agent integrations.
- Merchandising Studio — No-code UI for merchants to pin/bury/boost products.
- NeuralSearch — Hybrid vector + keyword search.
- Personalization — Per-user ranking based on click history.
- Query Suggestions — AI-generated suggestion index from past searches.
- Recommend — Product recommendations: Related, Frequently Bought Together, Trending.
- Rules — Conditional overrides: pin results, banners, redirects, boost/bury.
- Search Analytics — Top searches, no-result searches, click-through rates.
- Synonyms — Equivalent term groups + typo-tolerance tuning.
Convex · 18 features
- Actions — Non-deterministic functions for external I/O (fetch, AI APIs, email). Cannot rea…
- Authentication — Convex Auth (built-in) or BYO provider (Clerk, Auth0, Kinde, WorkOS). ID tokens …
- Convex Agents — AI agent framework with durable memory, threads, tool use. Works with OpenAI / A…
- Convex Auth — First-party auth library: passwords, magic links, OAuth, phone — stored in your …
- Convex Components — Reusable backend modules (rate limiter, workflow, aggregate, action-retrier, etc…
- Cron Jobs — Recurring schedules defined in convex/crons.ts. UTC, cron-style patterns.
- Durable Workflows — Long-running multi-step workflows with retries and at-least-once guarantees.
- Exception Reporting — Auto-capture errors to Sentry, Axiom, Datadog.
- File Storage — Upload/download via storage API. Returns storage IDs referenced in documents.
- Full-Text Search — BM25 search index on table fields. withSearchIndex query helper.
- HTTP Actions — Expose public HTTP endpoints for webhooks, OAuth callbacks, third-party integrat…
- Log Streams — Stream function logs to Axiom, Datadog, Sentry. Pro+.
- Mutations — Transactional write functions. All reads + writes in one mutation are ACID; conf…
- Preview Deployments — Every Git branch gets its own isolated deployment. Integrates with Vercel/Netlif…
- Queries — Deterministic read-only TS functions. Automatically cached and re-run when under…
- Real-Time Subscriptions — useQuery auto-subscribes; server invalidates when data a query read changes. No …
- Scheduler — schedule.after / schedule.at — enqueue functions to run later. Durable, survives…
- Vector Search — Native vector index on tables. withIndex + filter fields. Up to 4096 dims.
Developer interfaces
| Kind | Algolia | Convex |
|---|---|---|
| CLI | Algolia CLI | Convex CLI |
| SDK | algoliasearch-client-go, algoliasearch-client-kotlin, algoliasearch-client-swift, algoliasearch-java, algoliasearch (JS), algoliasearch-php, algoliasearch-python, algoliasearch-rails, react-instantsearch | Android / Kotlin Client, iOS / Swift Client, JavaScript/TypeScript Client, Next.js Integration, Python Client, React Client (useQuery), Rust Client, Svelte Client, Vue Client |
| REST | Algolia Admin API, Algolia Search API | Deploy / Dashboard API, HTTP Actions |
| OTHER | — | WebSocket Subscriptions |
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