Convox vs Render (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Render grades higher than Convox: 2.4 against 2.0 out of 4.0.
Checked Nov 12, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 · graded Nov 12, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
Render grades higher on value for money and features. They get the same grade on the free plan, ease of use and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Convox
Heroku-style deploy platform that runs in your own cloud account
Render
Cloud hosting for web services, databases and workers
Which one is for you
Pick Convox if
- Fits if you want Heroku-style deploys inside your own AWS or Google Cloud account
- Makes sense if you are one developer who can stay within the free plan
Look elsewhere if
- Pricey if you are a small team, at $165 a month for 2 users and $99 for each extra
- Tight if you want more than 1 rack or 2 workflows, which the free plan caps
- Skip it if you need RBAC or email support, as those start at Pro at $415 a month
- Watch out: the self-hosted console for PCI or HIPAA is quoted through sales
Pick Render if
- Fits if you want web services and Postgres together
- Works for backends that need cron jobs and background workers
Look elsewhere if
- Tight if you stay free: free instances have limits and 5 GB of bandwidth
- Pricey if you add it up: workspace plus each service's instance
- Watch out: full-stack previews and autoscaling need Pro
- Watch out: HIPAA workspaces, SAML SSO and SCIM start at $499 on Scale
- Watch out: no bandwidth overage price is named
How we grade them
| 2.0GPAConvoxFair | 2.4GPARenderFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | DBasic is $165 a month billed annually with 2 users, many times the $10.99 middle for web hosting, and each extra user is $99. Your cloud account is billed separately. | CPro is $25 a month plus compute, above the dearer quarter's $19 as a floor, but Hobby is $0. A $7 instance buys 512 MB RAM and Postgres starts at $6. |
| Free plan and trial | CA free plan with 1 user, 1 rack, 2 workflows and 1 quick app, with API throttling. Those caps will be hit by any team. | CHobby is $0 with up to 25 services, but free instance types come with limitations and bandwidth is 5 GB. |
| Features | CAuto-scaling, CI/CD workflows, racks and quick apps, database and cache management and a local rack. RBAC and email support start at Pro, and WordPress and Magento quick apps are listed as coming soon. | BWeb services, workers, cron, Postgres, Key Value, previews, autoscaling, API and infrastructure as code. The listing names no core gap. |
| Ease of use | CNo store rating on record. You connect cloud accounts and set up racks and workflows. | CNo store rating on record. You define services, instance types and databases. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb only, but it connects to GitHub, GitLab, Slack, AWS, Google Cloud, Azure and DigitalOcean. | BWeb only, with Docker, a CLI, a REST API and an MCP server. |
| Best for | Heroku-style deploys into your own cloud | web services and Postgres in one place |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Convox and Render. How we grade
Price against what you get
Convox starts at $165 a month and scores 2.3 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Render starts at $25 a month and scores 2.7.
Render scores higher and starts $140 a month lower. Of the other web hosts on the chart, 12 score higher than Convox for less, and none scores higher than Render for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
At a glance
| Convox | Render | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | $165 per month, billed annually ($199 billed monthly) | $25 per month plus compute (Pro workspace) |
| Free plan | 1 user, 1 rack, 2 workflows and 1 quick app, with a limited monitoring dashboard. | Hobby workspace: $0 a month, up to 25 services, 5 GB of bandwidth, and free instance types for web services, Postgres and Key Value (limitations apply). |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| Web | ||
| Made by | Convox | Render |
| Price read from | convox.com | render.com |
| Checked | Nov 13, 2026 | Nov 12, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Convox
- Convox's fee covers the console only; infrastructure is billed by your cloud provider, though the FAQ says Convox adds no markup on instances or apps.
- Each user beyond those included costs $99 a month on every paid plan.
- RBAC and email support start on Pro, and the self-hosted console for PCI/HIPAA is quoted through sales.
- WordPress and Magento quick apps are listed as coming soon.
Render
- The workspace fee is only part of the bill: every service pays for its instance, for example $7 a month for 512 MB RAM or $25 for 2 GB.
- Free instance types carry limitations, and Postgres on a paid plan starts at $6 a month for 256 MB RAM.
- HIPAA-compliant workspaces, SAML SSO and SCIM start on the $499 Scale plan.
- Bandwidth is included per workspace plan (5 GB, 25 GB, 1 TB), with the page naming no overage price.
Key features
Convox
- Runs in your cloud account
- Convox deploys to your own AWS, Google Cloud, Azure or DigitalOcean account, so you keep direct access to the infrastructure.
- Auto-scaling
- The platform ships with pre-configured auto-scaling policies that can be tuned as needs change.
- CI/CD workflows
- Workflow integrations with GitHub and GitLab build and deploy code, with a limit on workflows and concurrent jobs set by plan.
- Racks and quick apps
- Racks are the infrastructure environments Convox manages, and quick apps launch prebuilt applications such as Drupal.
- Database and cache management
- The product pages cover managing databases and caches, plus monitoring and alerts through a dashboard and Slack notifications.
- Local development rack
- A local rack installs on Mac or Linux to mirror staging and production environments on a developer machine.
Render
- Services and workers
- Web services, private services, background workers and cron jobs run Node, Python, Go, Rust, Ruby, Elixir or custom Docker containers.
- Managed Postgres and Key Value
- Fully managed PostgreSQL with point-in-time recovery and connection pooling, plus a Redis-compatible Key Value store.
- Preview environments
- Pull requests can get their own preview, single-service on Hobby and full-stack on Pro and above.
- Autoscaling and zero-downtime deploys
- Horizontal autoscaling is a Pro feature, and deploys are listed as zero downtime in the product menu.
- Infrastructure as code and API
- Services can be defined as code, managed with the Render CLI and REST API, or driven from an MCP server.
- Persistent disks
- SSD disks can be attached to services at $0.25 per GB per month.
Plans
Convox
Free$0
1 user, 1 rack, 2 workflows, 1 quick app and 1 deploy key, with some API throttling.
Basic$165
per month, billed annually ($199 billed monthly)
2 users plus $99 a month per extra user, 5 racks, 10 workflows, Slack notifications and 24-hour audit logs.
Pro$415
per month, billed annually ($499 billed monthly)
5 users plus $99 a month per extra user, 20 racks, 50 workflows, simple RBAC, email support and 30-day audit logs.
Plus$832
per month, billed annually ($999 billed monthly)
10 users plus $99 a month per extra user, 100 racks, 100 workflows, priority feature requests and 90-day audit logs.
Render
Hobby$0
per month, plus compute
Up to 25 services, 5 GB of bandwidth, single-service previews, custom domains, database PITR and chat support.
Pro$25
per month, plus compute
Unlimited seats and services, 25 GB of bandwidth, full-stack previews, horizontal autoscaling and isolated environments.
Scale$499
per month, plus compute
Multiple workspaces, 1 TB of bandwidth, HIPAA-compliant workspaces, SAML SSO and SCIM, and advanced RBAC roles.
EnterpriseCustom
Contractual uptime SLAs, a dedicated technical account team, a support Slack channel and support response SLAs.
Ways to pay less
Convox
- Annual discount
2 months free with annual billing
The pricing page marks annual billing as two months free; Basic is $165 a month billed annually against $199 billed monthly.
Render
- Startups
Up to $100K in credits for VC-funded startups
The pricing page links to Render for Startups, which offers up to $100K in credits to VC-funded startups.
- Other savings
Up to $10K in migration credits
Teams moving to Render can get up to $10K in credits through the migration program linked from the pricing page.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Convox or Render?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Render is cheaper to start with: $25 a month, against $165 a month for Convox. Convox starts at $165 per month, billed annually ($199 billed monthly), and Render starts at $25 per month plus compute (Pro workspace).
Which has a free plan, Convox or Render?
As of Nov 13, 2026, both Convox and Render have a free plan.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.