The Three Things That Make Convex Different (and Why They Matter)

Join us as James presents The Three Things That Make Convex Different (and Why They Matter).

Convex is a open source reactive backend-as-a-service platform that replaces your database, server, and API layer with a single TypeScript-native system. Instead of stitching together a database, ORM, REST endpoints, caching, and WebSocket infrastructure, you write TypeScript functions that Convex hosts, scales, and keeps reactive out of the box. In this talk, we'll break down the three things that set Convex apart from traditional backends: reactivity by default - where every query is a live subscription that automatically updates your UI when data changes; end-to-end type safety - where your schema, server functions, and client code share a single type system with zero codegen friction; and an AI-friendly developer surface - where Convex's small, opinionated API and strong conventions make it one of the best backends for AI-assisted development. Each concept gets a live example, and by the end you'll see how these three properties compound into a development experience that's dramatically faster than the traditional stack - especially for side projects and solo builders.