Softwr

Cloud · head to head

CapRover vs Restate

CapRover logo

CapRover

Cloud

Free self-hosted platform built on Docker Swarm with a dashboard and automatic certificates

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: CapRover since June 2026 one pseudonymous account wrote 97 of roughly 100 commits and the next human contributor wrote one, so there is no identifiable person or company to contract with, escalate to or hold responsible.; 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: CapRover covers One-click applications, Restate covers Durable execution.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which CapRover and Restate actually diverge.

Attributes where CapRover and Restate differ
AttributeCapRoverRestate
Pricing modelOpen source, no licence feePer month by durable action count
PlatformsWeb, Linux, Docker, CLI, Self-hostedLinux, macOS, Web
CategoryCloudDeveloper Tools

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 CapRover

  • One-click applications
  • Automatic certificates
  • Web dashboard
  • Multiple deploy paths
  • Docker Swarm clustering
  • Custom nginx configuration

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.

CapRover

  • Running a personal server or homelab with several applications behind automatic certificatesnot Restate
  • A two person team that wants a dashboard rather than a terminal for deployments on one boxnot Restate
  • Standing up one-click databases and internal tools without writing Compose filesnot Restate
  • Hosting client demos cheaply where downtime is inconvenient rather than expensivenot Restate

Restate

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

Where each one falls short

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

CapRover

  • Since June 2026 one pseudonymous account wrote 97 of roughly 100 commits and the next human contributor wrote one, so there is no identifiable person or company to contract with, escalate to or hold responsible.
  • Donations over the last twelve months totalled 285 US dollars and there is no commercial tier, so no paid support exists at any price and no maintenance commitment is funded.
  • The LICENSE file is Apache 2.0 with a superseding appendix that bans redistributing a paid version and refers to paid features that do not yet exist, and GitHub cannot classify it, so the terms already anticipate a commercial change of direction.
  • Releases arrive in bursts with an eleven month gap between September 2023 and August 2024 and two further gaps of about six months since, so there is no basis for assuming a security fix will land promptly.
  • The backup feature is documented as experimental, covers only the CapRover configuration directory and explicitly excludes persistent volumes and container images, so every database has to be dumped separately with its container stopped.

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

CapRover

Free
  • CapRoverFree
    • No paid tier and no hosted offering
    • Unlimited applications, servers and users
    • Community support through Slack and GitHub

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 CapRover if

  • You need one-click applications.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Linux, Docker, CLI, Self-hosted.
  • You also want automatic certificates.
CapRover 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 CapRover or Restate better?
Neither clearly leads. CapRover 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, CapRover or Restate?
CapRover starts at Free and Restate at Free.
Does CapRover or Restate run on more platforms?
CapRover runs on Web, Linux, Docker, CLI, Self-hosted. Restate runs on Linux, macOS, Web.
Can I use CapRover for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is CapRover best used for?
CapRover is most often used for running a personal server or homelab with several applications behind automatic certificates, a two person team that wants a dashboard rather than a terminal for deployments on one box, standing up one-click databases and internal tools without writing compose files, hosting client demos cheaply where downtime is inconvenient rather than expensive. Of those, running a personal server or homelab with several applications behind automatic certificates and a two person team that wants a dashboard rather than a terminal for deployments on one box are not what Restate is typically brought in for.
What can CapRover do that Restate cannot?
CapRover covers One-click applications, Automatic certificates, Web dashboard, Multiple deploy paths. Restate covers Durable execution, Virtual objects, Single binary runtime, Multi-language SDKs.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

CapRover: Does CapRover cost anything?

No. There is no paid tier and no hosted version. The only income is donations, which came to 285 US dollars over the last twelve months.

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.

CapRover: Is the licence really Apache 2.0?

Not quite. The LICENSE file is Apache 2.0 plus an appendix that supersedes it in case of conflict, forbidding modification of paid features and redistribution of a paid version. GitHub does not recognise the result as a standard licence.

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.

CapRover: Does the backup feature protect my databases?

No. It backs up the CapRover configuration directory only and explicitly excludes persistent directories and container images. You have to dump each database yourself with the container stopped.

Restate: Is there a free tier?

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

CapRover: Can I move off Docker Swarm later?

Not without rebuilding. CapRover is architecturally tied to Swarm, so outgrowing it means migrating applications to a different platform rather than switching a scheduler.

Restate: Which languages are supported?

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

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