Figma vs Convex
Collaborative interface design — the dominant tool for UI, UX + prototyping
vs. The reactive database where queries are TypeScript code
Pricing tiers
Figma
Starter
$0. 3 Figma files, 3 FigJam files. Unlimited collaborators. Basic features.
$0 base (usage-based)
Professional
$15/editor/mo annual ($20/mo). Unlimited files, version history, team libraries.
$15/mo
Dev Mode Seats
$25/dev/mo. Read-only access for engineers (alternative to full editor seats).
$25/mo
Organization
$45/editor/mo annual ($55/mo). Design systems, branch + merge, SSO.
$45/mo
Enterprise
$75/editor/mo. SAML, audit log, security reviews, dedicated CSM, HIPAA.
$75/mo
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 free on Figma vs starter on Convex.
| Metric | Figma | 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
Figma · 19 features
- Auto Layout — Flexbox-like layout constraints.
- Branch + Merge — Git-like workflow for designs.
- Comments + Reactions — In-file discussion.
- Components — Reusable + variants + properties.
- Design — Vector + layout tools.
- Dev Mode — Handoff view with code specs.
- FigJam — Whiteboard / brainstorming.
- Figma AI — Generative design + Make Designs.
- Figma MCP — AI agent access via Model Context Protocol.
- Figma Slides — Presentations.
- Inspect + Code Tokens — Extract CSS/iOS/Android.
- Plugin Ecosystem — 10,000+ community plugins.
- Prototyping — Interactive flows + transitions.
- REST API — Read file contents + export.
- SSO — SAML/OIDC (Org+).
- Team Libraries — Shared component libraries.
- Variables + Modes — Design tokens with dark/light mode switching.
- Webhooks — File / version events.
- Widgets — Custom interactive widgets in files.
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 | Figma | Convex |
|---|---|---|
| CLI | — | Convex CLI |
| SDK | Plugins API, Widgets API | Android / Kotlin Client, iOS / Swift Client, JavaScript/TypeScript Client, Next.js Integration, Python Client, React Client (useQuery), Rust Client, Svelte Client, Vue Client |
| REST | Figma REST API | Deploy / Dashboard API, HTTP Actions |
| MCP | Figma MCP (Dev Mode) | — |
| OTHER | Figma Desktop, Figma Web, Figma Webhooks | WebSocket Subscriptions |
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