Convex vs Supabase for Vibe Coding: Convex Is Better

TL;DR

If your workflow is prompt -> code -> run -> iterate (aka vibe coding), you want a backend that:

• Minimizes hidden state (dashboards, out-of-band config, manual schema drift)
• Works well with LLMs (TypeScript-first, repo-first, consistent primitives)
• Makes realtime + permissions hard to mess up (fewer footguns when shipping fast)

In practice, that often points to Convex over Supabase - not because Postgres is bad, but because Supabase's best-practice posture pushes you into more surfaces (SQL schema, RLS, migrations, pooling, edge/runtime quirks) that are easy for humans and agents to desync.

Convex isn't perfect either. If you truly need SQL-first workflows, deep Postgres extensions, heavy analyst-style querying, or self-hosting, Supabase can be the better fit.

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A quick definition: what "vibe coding" changes

"Vibe coding" is not "coding but faster." It's coding with a new bottleneck:

• The model can generate code quickly.
• The model is bad at coordinating state across multiple systems (DB schema in a dashboard, auth settings elsewhere, RLS policies in SQL, environment variables in a third place, etc.).

So the best backend for vibe coding is the one that makes the system easiest to reason about with partial context.

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The real difference: where your app's "state of truth" lives

Supabase: state often lives in Supabase

In many Supabase apps, the authoritative state is spread across:

• Postgres schema (+ migrations)
• RLS policies (which can be powerful, but add another domain-specific layer)
• Auth configuration
• Realtime configuration choices
• Connection pooling / serverless access patterns

That's totally workable. It's also a lot for an agent to keep straight while you're iterating quickly.

Convex: state tends to live in your repo

Convex's pitch - especially for TypeScript teams - is that the "backend surface area" is largely expressed as TypeScript files in a convex/ folder:

• Schema is defined in code
• Queries/mutations are functions (code)
• Authorization rules are implemented in code (code you can read/review)

That repo-first model is disproportionately valuable when the "developer" is partly an LLM that reads and edits files.

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Why Convex tends to feel better for vibe coding (the 7 reasons)

1) "It's just TypeScript" (and agents already know it)

With Convex, the happy path is:

• Write a query/mutation in TypeScript
• Call it from your UI
• Get end-to-end types (including helpful editor errors) while you iterate

With Supabase, you can absolutely have a great TypeScript experience - especially with a strong typed layer - but it usually takes more setup and discipline.

2) Realtime is not a separate project

When you're iterating, you want "change data -> UI updates" to be boring.

• Convex is built around reactive queries (you write a query; clients subscribe to it).
• Supabase realtime exists, but it can become another conceptual layer you wire up, reason about, and debug - especially as the app grows.

3) Permissions live where the code lives

Fast shipping + complex permissions is where projects go to die.

Supabase's RLS is powerful, but it's also a specialized policy language living alongside SQL and roles - great when you're deep in the Postgres mindset, harder when you're in prompt-driven iteration mode.

Convex pushes you toward explicit access control in functions - which is easier to audit in PRs and easier for agents to modify safely.

4) Less dashboard-driven configuration during the build loop

Vibe coding is happiest when the loop is:

change files -> refresh -> keep going

Every time you have to:

• click around a dashboard,
• copy IDs,
• sync migrations,
• reconcile "dev vs prod vs branch preview,"

you're increasing the chance of agent confusion and human frustration.

Convex isn't "no dashboard," but it's much closer to "most changes are in code."

5) Preview/dev environments feel lighter

Convex makes it relatively natural for each developer (or contributor) to spin up their own dev deployment from the repo and run convex dev without needing to be invited into a shared org for every experiment.

In Supabase, branching/preview environments exist, but in practice they often feel heavier because you're coordinating a database instance + policies + migrations + secrets across environments.

6) Serverless Postgres pitfalls aren't your first problem

If you vibe code a serverless app that connects to Postgres directly, you can run into:

• connection limits
• pooling choices
• runtime differences (edge vs node)

Supabase provides tools and guidance here, but it's still part of the landscape.

Convex's abstraction sidesteps a lot of that early-stage "why is my DB mad" energy - useful when you're trying to ship the product, not learn infra.

7) Pricing aligns with "I have lots of ideas"

This matters for vibe coding because the natural behavior is: spin up many small experiments.

• Supabase's free plan allows 2 active projects (paused projects don't count). Billing is organization-based, so you often manage "free org" vs "paid org" to keep freebies.
• Convex's free tier includes up to 40 deployments (at the time of writing), which maps well to "many experiments."

You can absolutely work around this on either platform, but the defaults influence behavior.

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The honest section: when Supabase is the better choice

Pick Supabase when:

• You want SQL-first development and the Postgres ecosystem (extensions, tooling, direct DB access)
• You have a strong Postgres/RLS mental model and want DB-enforced policy guarantees
• You need analytics-style querying or lots of third-party tooling that assumes Postgres
• You want self-hosting / portability

Convex is intentionally opinionated around being an application backend. If your "source of truth" needs to be a classic database that many systems query directly, Supabase may be more natural.

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A practical decision checklist (for vibe coders)

Choose Convex if most of these are true:

• You're building with TypeScript and want the backend to feel like code
• You want realtime updates without custom wiring
• You want permissions in PR-reviewable code
• You expect to do a lot of prompt-driven iteration and refactors
• You want lots of small deployments/experiments

Choose Supabase if most of these are true:

• You want Postgres as a product requirement (not just "it's familiar")
• You want SQL access for many internal tools/teams
• You're comfortable investing in schema/RLS/migrations discipline early
• You have a plan for serverless DB connection management