head to head · open source
react vs Convex
react has 252,095 GitHub stars, 51,624 forks, 1,377 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. Convex has 12,774 stars, 842 forks, 220 open issues and last shipped yesterday. react leads on adoption by 1,874% (252,095 vs 12,774 stars). react is written in JavaScript under MIT; Convex is written in TypeScript under a custom or non-standard licence. react has attracted 20% as many forks as stars, Convex 7%. Convex was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee.
Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.
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Side by side
| react | Convex | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 252K | ★ 13K |
| License | MIT | Custom / other |
| Written in | JavaScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-10-31 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 52K | ⑂ 842 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick react if
- You weight community size — 252K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick Convex if
- You want the Convex feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and Convex fits your workflow better
About react
React · React is a JavaScript library for building user interfaces. Declarative: React makes it painless to create interactive UIs. Design simple views for each state in your application, and React will efficiently update and render just the right components when your data changes. Declarative views make your code more predictable, simpler to understand, and easier to debug. Component Based: Build encapsulated components that manage their own state, then compose them to make complex UIs. Since component logic is written in JavaScript instead of templates, you can easily pass rich data through your app and…
read the full react overview →
About Convex
Convex is the open source reactive database designed to make life easy for web app developers, whether human or LLM. Fetch data and perform business logic with strong consistency by writing pure TypeScript. Convex provides a database, a place to write your server functions, and client libraries. It makes it easy to build and scale dynamic live updating apps. Read the docs to learn more. Development of the Convex backend is led by the Convex team. We welcome small bug fixes and love receiving feedback. We keep this repository synced with any internal development work within a handful of days. Convex is a well…
read the full Convex overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is react or Convex more popular?
react has 252,095 GitHub stars and Convex has 12,774. react has the larger community by that measure.
Are react and Convex free?
Both are open source. react is licensed under MIT, and Convex has no licence declared in this registry. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between react and Convex?
react is written in JavaScript and Convex in TypeScript. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, react or Convex?
Choose react if you want the larger community (252,095 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose Convex if its feature set, stack or Custom / other licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.