Modal excels at running isolated Python functions with GPU access, but production apps need more than inference endpoints. Convox deploys complete applications—web services, workers, timers, and databases—defined in a single convox.yml with automatic service discovery and load balancing. No stitching together Lambda-style functions to build a real application.
Modal runs all workloads on their managed infrastructure, creating vendor lock-in and limiting compliance options. Convox Rack deploys into your own AWS, GCP, or Azure account, giving you full control for HIPAA, SOC2, and FedRAMP requirements. Your data, your VPC, your audit trail—Modal can't offer that.
Modal offers no native database resources—you're patching together external services for data persistence. Convox provisions RDS PostgreSQL, MySQL, and Redis directly from your convox.yml. Connection strings are automatically injected as environment variables, and Cloud Databases include automated backups with optional Multi-AZ failover.
Modal charges per-second for CPU, GPU, and memory with costs that spike unpredictably for always-on services. Convox Cloud Machines offer fixed monthly pricing starting at $12/month. Convox Rack lets you leverage existing cloud commitments, reserved instances, and spot pricing—Modal locks you into their billing model.
Modal is Python-only. Your Django API, React frontend, Go workers, and Node.js services all deploy through Convox with standard Dockerfiles—no language restrictions, no runtime lock-in. Build your stack with the right tools for each service, not what a serverless platform supports.
Modal deployments are CLI-driven with no native CI/CD integration. Convox provides automated workflows that trigger on Git push, create review apps for PRs, and promote builds through staging to production. Rolling deployments and instant rollbacks via `convox releases rollback` keep your production stable.
