Side-by-side comparison · Databases & Backend
Airtable vs Convex vs Neon
Everything that matters when choosing between them, in one place: our rating, what each can do, what they cost, and the trade-offs.
Comparing 3 tools, the maximum.
At a glance
Airtable
3.9Pick it if: Small marketing and ops teams who need a shared database and don't have a developer.
Convex
4.1Pick it if: People building collaborative or real-time apps with Claude Code who want the backend to just work.
Neon
4.0Pick it if: Developers and Claude Code users who want a dependable Postgres database and nothing else.
Convex scores highest overall, but Neon gives you more for your money. Which one is right comes down to what you value most.
Overview
| Attribute | Airtable | Convex | Neon |
|---|---|---|---|
| In one line | Spreadsheets that behave like a database, with forms, views and automations built in. | A backend that keeps every screen of your app in sync the moment the data changes. | A Postgres database that scales to zero when idle, so side projects cost nothing. |
| Pricing model | Freemium | Open source | Freemium |
| Starting price | $24/seat/mo | $25/developer/mo | Pay as you go |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Works with Claude Code | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Rating breakdown
Our scores out of 5. The higher bar in each row is highlighted.
| Attribute | Airtable | Convex | Neon |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall rating | 3.9 | 4.1Winner | 4.0 |
| Ease of useHow quickly someone non-technical gets value from it. | 4.5 | 3.5 | 3.5 |
| FeaturesHow much it can do, and how well the pieces fit together. | 4.0 | 4.0 | 3.5 |
| Output qualityHow good the results are before you fix them. | 4.0 | 4.5 | 4.5 |
| Value for moneyWhat you get for the price, including the free plan. | 3.0 | 4.0 | 4.5 |
| Speed & reliabilityHow fast it is and how often it falls over. | 4.0 | 4.5 | 4.0 |
Feature comparison
A tick means it does this today. A dash means we haven't checked.
| Attribute | Airtable | Convex | Neon |
|---|---|---|---|
| Access & platform | |||
| Free plan | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Mobile app | Yes | No | No |
| Desktop app | Yes | No | No |
| Browser extension | No | No | No |
| API access | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Teams & business | |||
| Team workspace | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Enterprise plan or SSO | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Connects to other apps | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Open source or self-hosted | No | Yes | Yes |
| AI abilities | |||
| Works with your files | Yes | Yes | No |
| Understands images | No | No | No |
| Makes images | No | No | No |
| Makes video | No | No | No |
| Writes code | Yes | No | Yes |
| Runs agents or automations | Yes | Yes | No |
| Learns your brand or style | No | No | No |
| Works in many languages | Yes | – | – |
| Capabilities score | 11/ 17 | 8/ 17 | 7/ 17 |
Pricing
Plans as listed on each vendor's site when we last checked. Confirm before you buy.
| Attribute | Airtable | Convex | Neon |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plans | Free Free One person or a tiny team with a small list. | Free and Starter Free, then pay as you go Side projects and small teams getting started. | FreeOur pick Free Side projects and learning. |
TeamOur pick $24/seat/mo, or $20/seat/mo billed yearly Most small teams. | ProfessionalOur pick $25/developer/mo Products with real users. | Launch Pay as you go, no monthly minimum Small production apps. | |
Business $54/seat/mo, or $45/seat/mo billed yearly Bigger teams syncing data from other systems. | Business and Enterprise From $2,500/mo Larger companies with compliance and scale needs. | Scale Pay as you go, higher rates Teams needing an SLA and bigger databases. | |
Enterprise Scale Custom Large organisations with many workspaces. | |||
| Which plan to pick | Free is only for testing; you'll hit the 1,000-record cap fast. Team is the plan for nearly everyone, and billing yearly saves about 17 percent. Keep editor seats to the people who actually change data, since viewers and form fillers are free. | Start on Free. Move to Professional when you launch, mainly for daily backups and the bigger limits. Business is a big jump aimed at teams of 50 or more, so most readers will never need it. | Free covers more than you'd expect, including several small live apps. Move to Launch when a project needs more than 100 compute hours a month or a longer restore window. Scale is for teams that need an SLA, not for individuals. |
Key features
| Attribute | Airtable | Convex | Neon |
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Pros and cons
| Attribute | Airtable | Convex | Neon |
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Who each one is for
| Attribute | Airtable | Convex | Neon |
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How we compare
Ratings are our own, from using each tool, across ease of use, features, output quality, value for money, speed & reliability. The "Visit" buttons may use affiliate links, which never affect a score.
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