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Lambda (AWS Serverless) vs Restate

Lambda (AWS Serverless) logo

Lambda (AWS Serverless)

Cloud

Run code without thinking about servers

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Full reviewWebsite
Restate logo

Restate

Developer Tools

Durable execution engine in Rust with a free tier and low-latency workflows

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Lambda (AWS Serverless) billed on two axes at once, $0.20 per million requests plus $0.0000166667 per GB-second of duration, so memory settings change the bill as much as traffic does; Restate the runtime is under a Business Source Licence rather than an open source licence, so building a competing managed offering on it is prohibited and some procurement functions will reject it on licence grounds alone.
  • They diverge on capability: Lambda (AWS Serverless) covers Function-as-a-Service, Restate covers Durable execution.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Lambda (AWS Serverless) and Restate actually diverge.

Attributes where Lambda (AWS Serverless) and Restate differ
AttributeLambda (AWS Serverless)Restate
Pricing modelusage-basedPer month by durable action count
PlatformsWeb, ApiLinux, macOS, Web
CategoryCloudDeveloper Tools
Founded2014Unknown

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), user rating (Not yet rated).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Lambda (AWS Serverless)

  • Function-as-a-Service
  • Event-driven execution
  • Auto-scaling
  • Pay-per-use
  • Multiple languages
  • Concurrency limits
  • Dead Letter Queues
  • Environment variables

Only in Restate

  • Durable execution
  • Virtual objects
  • Single binary runtime
  • Multi-language SDKs
  • Workflows and sagas
  • Restate Cloud

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Lambda (AWS Serverless)

  • Event-driven functions without managing serversnot Restate
  • API backends behind API Gatewaynot Restate
  • Processing S3, DynamoDB, SQS and Kinesis eventsnot Restate
  • Scheduled jobs without a always-on instancenot Restate
  • Edge compute through Lambda@Edgenot Restate

Restate

  • Payment or order flows where a crash between two external API calls must not double-charge or lose the ordernot Lambda (AWS Serverless)
  • AI agent loops that call tools over minutes or hours and must survive a deployment mid-runnot Lambda (AWS Serverless)
  • Replacing hand-rolled retry, idempotency key and outbox code across a set of microservicesnot Lambda (AWS Serverless)
  • A small team that wants durable workflows without operating a Temporal cluster and its databasenot Lambda (AWS Serverless)

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Lambda (AWS Serverless)

  • Billed on two axes at once, $0.20 per million requests plus $0.0000166667 per GB-second of duration, so memory settings change the bill as much as traffic does
  • Provisioned concurrency, used to avoid cold starts, is charged separately at $0.0000041667 per GB-second whether or not the function runs
  • Ephemeral storage beyond the included 512 MB is metered
  • Lambda@Edge costs $0.60 per million requests, three times the standard request rate
  • VPC use and cross-region data transfer carry EC2 charges on top

Restate

  • The runtime is under a Business Source Licence rather than an open source licence, so building a competing managed offering on it is prohibited and some procurement functions will reject it on licence grounds alone.
  • Restate Cloud jumps from a free fifty thousand actions straight to 300 US dollars a month for twenty million, so a workload sitting at a few hundred thousand actions pays enterprise-shaped money for hobby-shaped volume.
  • It is a young project against Temporal’s established base, so hiring engineers who already know it is unrealistic and the answer to most questions is in the docs rather than on Stack Overflow.
  • The programming model requires structuring code around durable handlers and virtual objects, which is a genuine rewrite for existing services rather than a library you add.
  • The single-binary simplicity that makes small deployments cheap also means fewer operational knobs at very large scale than a system designed as separable components.

Pricing, plan by plan

Lambda (AWS Serverless)

Free
  • Free TierFree
    • 1M free requests/month
    • 400,000 GB-seconds/month
    • Always free

Restate

Free
  • FreeFree
    • Fifty thousand durable actions per month
    • No credit card required
    • Community support
  • Starter$300/month
    • Twenty million actions per month
    • Two hundred actions per second, bursting to one thousand
    • Twenty GB storage
  • Pro$1000/month
    • Fifty million actions per month
    • Five hundred actions per second, bursting to two thousand
    • Fifty GB storage
  • Enterprise$undefined/year
    • Negotiated volume
    • Twenty-four seven P0 support
    • 99.99 per cent SLA

Which should you pick?

Choose Lambda (AWS Serverless) if

  • You need function-as-a-service.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Api.
  • You also want event-driven execution.
Lambda (AWS Serverless) review

Choose Restate if

  • You need durable execution.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, macOS, Web.
  • You also want virtual objects.
Restate review

Questions people ask

Is Lambda (AWS Serverless) or Restate better?
Neither clearly leads. Lambda (AWS Serverless) starts at Free and Restate at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Lambda (AWS Serverless) or Restate?
Lambda (AWS Serverless) starts at Free and Restate at Free.
Does Lambda (AWS Serverless) or Restate run on more platforms?
Lambda (AWS Serverless) runs on Web, Api. Restate runs on Linux, macOS, Web.
Can I use Lambda (AWS Serverless) for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Lambda (AWS Serverless) best used for?
Lambda (AWS Serverless) is most often used for event-driven functions without managing servers, api backends behind api gateway, processing s3, dynamodb, sqs and kinesis events, scheduled jobs without a always-on instance. Of those, event-driven functions without managing servers and api backends behind api gateway are not what Restate is typically brought in for.
What can Lambda (AWS Serverless) do that Restate cannot?
Lambda (AWS Serverless) covers Function-as-a-Service, Event-driven execution, Auto-scaling, Pay-per-use. Restate covers Durable execution, Virtual objects, Single binary runtime, Multi-language SDKs.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Lambda (AWS Serverless): Is there a free tier for AWS Lambda?

Yes. AWS Lambda offers a free tier including 1 million requests per month, 400,000 GB-seconds per month, and 100 GB monthly response streaming.

Source
Restate: Is Restate open source?

The SDKs are MIT. The runtime is under a Business Source Licence, which permits self-hosting but not offering it as a competing service.

Lambda (AWS Serverless): How is AWS Lambda charged?

Lambda charges $0.20 per million requests. Duration charges are $0.0000166667 per GB-second for x86 (up to 6 billion GB-seconds/month in US East Ohio with tiered pricing). Ephemeral storage over the included 512 MB costs $0.0000000309 per GB-second. Provisioned Concurrency costs $0.0000041667 per GB-second with a 5-minute minimum.

Source
Restate: How does it compare with Temporal?

Same problem, different shape: one Rust binary with embedded storage instead of a server plus database plus workers, and lower per-step latency.

Lambda (AWS Serverless): What are Lambda Durable Functions pricing?

Lambda Durable Functions include operations at $8.00 per million (start execution, steps, waits). Data written costs $0.25 per GB. Data retention is $0.15 per GB-month with configurable 1-90 day retention (default 14 days).

Source
Restate: Is there a free tier?

Yes, fifty thousand durable actions a month on Restate Cloud with no card required.

Restate: Which languages are supported?

TypeScript, Java, Kotlin, Go, Python and Rust.

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