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Business Intelligence · head to head

Databox vs Restate

Databox logo

Databox

Business Intelligence

KPI dashboards that pull from the tools you already run on

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Visit DataboxFull review
Restate logo

Restate

Developer Tools

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

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Visit RestateFull review

The short version

  • Free plans on both; paid from $71/mo and $300/mo.
  • Only Databox lists pre-built dashboards; only Restate lists durable execution.
  • Where Databox falls short: data sources are the billing unit, so cost tracks the number of tools you connect rather than the value you get from them.
  • Prices and features on this page were last checked on 25 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Databox and Restate actually diverge.

Attributes where Databox and Restate differ
AttributeDataboxRestate
Pricing modelSubscriptionPer month by durable action count
PlatformsWeb, iOS, Android, TV and consoleLinux, macOS, Web
CategoryBusiness IntelligenceDeveloper Tools

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes).

Not yet recorded: founded for Restate.

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 Databox

  • Pre-built dashboards
  • Dashboard designer
  • Metric library
  • Goal tracking
  • Scorecards
  • Alerts
  • Scheduled reports
  • Client reporting

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.

Databox

  • Watching marketing, sales and finance KPIs from separate SaaS tools on one shared dashboardnot Restate
  • Agencies reporting campaign performance to many clients without rebuilding a report per accountnot Restate
  • Putting a live KPI board on an office TV or a recurring email to a leadership teamnot Restate
  • Replacing a manually maintained spreadsheet that someone updates from tool exports each weeknot Restate
  • Tracking goals and getting alerted when a metric moves past a thresholdnot Restate

Restate

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

Where each one falls short

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

Databox

  • Data sources are the billing unit, so cost tracks the number of tools you connect rather than the value you get from them
  • The $71 Analyst plan is a single seat: adding even a second person means the $199 Core plan, a 2.8x jump
  • AI credits are metered monthly, from 50 on Free to 1,000 on Scale, so heavier AI use pushes you up a tier
  • Every published price assumes annual billing; monthly billing forfeits the advertised 20% saving
  • Free and Analyst plans sync daily and hourly respectively, so neither suits anything close to real-time monitoring
  • It is a dashboarding layer, not a warehouse: there is no transformation or modelling step for messy source data

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

Databox

Free
  • FreeFree
    • 3 data sources
    • 1 user
    • 50 AI credits per month
  • Analyst$71/mo
    • 5 data sources
    • 1 user
    • 150 AI credits per month
  • Team - Core$199/mo
    • 10 data sources
    • 3 users
    • 500 AI credits per month
  • Team - Scale$319/mo
    • 30 data sources
    • 10 users
    • 1,000 AI credits per month

Restate

Free
  • FreeFree
    • Fifty thousand durable actions per month
    • No credit card required
    • Community support
  • Starter$300/mo
    • Twenty million actions per month
    • Two hundred actions per second, bursting to one thousand
    • Twenty GB storage
  • Pro$1,000/mo
    • Fifty million actions per month
    • Five hundred actions per second, bursting to two thousand
    • Fifty GB storage
  • EnterpriseOn request
    • Negotiated volume
    • Twenty-four seven P0 support
    • 99.99 per cent SLA

Which should you pick?

Choose Databox if

  • You need pre-built dashboards.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android, TV and console.
  • You also want dashboard designer.
Databox 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 Databox or Restate better?
Neither clearly leads. Databox 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, Databox or Restate?
Databox starts at Free and Restate at Free.
Does Databox or Restate run on more platforms?
Databox runs on Web, iOS, Android, TV and console. Restate runs on Linux, macOS, Web.
Can I use Databox for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Databox best used for?
Databox is most often used for watching marketing, sales and finance kpis from separate saas tools on one shared dashboard, agencies reporting campaign performance to many clients without rebuilding a report per account, putting a live kpi board on an office tv or a recurring email to a leadership team, replacing a manually maintained spreadsheet that someone updates from tool exports each week. Of those, watching marketing, sales and finance kpis from separate saas tools on one shared dashboard and agencies reporting campaign performance to many clients without rebuilding a report per account are not what Restate is typically brought in for.
What can Databox do that Restate cannot?
Databox covers Pre-built dashboards, Dashboard designer, Metric library, Goal tracking. Restate covers Durable execution, Virtual objects, Single binary runtime, Multi-language SDKs.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Databox: How much does Databox cost?

Databox has a free forever plan with 3 data sources and 1 user. Paid plans are Analyst at $71 per month, Team Core at $199 per month and Team Scale at $319 per month, with an Agency plan from $79 per month plus $20 client packs and a Custom tier on request. All prices are billed annually; monthly billing forfeits the 20% annual saving.

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.

Databox: Does Databox have a free plan or a free trial?

Both. The Free plan is free forever and covers 3 data sources, 1 user, 50 AI credits a month and daily syncing. Paid plans also offer a 14-day free trial with no credit card required.

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.

Databox: How many users does each Databox plan include?

Free and Analyst are single-user. Team Core includes 3 users and Team Scale includes 10. The Agency and Custom plans include unlimited users.

Source
Restate: Is there a free tier?

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

Databox: How many tools does Databox integrate with?

Databox connects to more than 130 tools, spreadsheets, databases and APIs, including HubSpot, Salesforce, Google Analytics, Google and Facebook Ads, Shopify, Stripe, QuickBooks, Google Sheets and custom API sources.

Source
Restate: Which languages are supported?

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

Databox: How often does Databox refresh its data?

The Free plan syncs daily. Analyst, Team Core, Team Scale, Agency and Custom plans all sync hourly.

Source
Databox: Who makes Databox?

Databox, Inc., founded in 2012 by Davorin Gabrovec, who is now President and Chief Product Officer. Pete Caputa became CEO in 2017 after a decade at HubSpot. The company is headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, with its product and engineering team based in Ptuj, Slovenia.

Source
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