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Automation Integration · head to head

Decodable vs Hatchet

Decodable logo

Decodable

Automation Integration

Managed Apache Flink and Debezium with credit-based pricing and a free tier

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Hatchet logo

Hatchet

Automation Integration

Postgres-backed distributed task queue and workflow engine for Python, TypeScript and Go

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Decodable credit pricing rewards intermittent work and penalises always-on pipelines: a single small task running continuously costs roughly 86 US dollars a month before any parallelism.; Hatchet postgres as the queue backend simplifies operations but sets a throughput ceiling, and very high task rates require database tuning or partitioning work that a purpose-built queue would not demand.
  • They diverge on capability: Decodable covers Managed Flink, Hatchet covers Postgres-backed queue.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Decodable and Hatchet actually diverge.

Attributes where Decodable and Hatchet differ
AttributeDecodableHatchet
Pricing modelPer credit by task hourPer month by task run count
PlatformsWeb, LinuxLinux, Docker, Kubernetes, Cloud

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

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 Decodable

  • Managed Flink
  • Change data capture
  • SQL pipelines
  • Custom Flink jobs
  • Credit-based metering
  • Managed connectors

Only in Hatchet

  • Postgres-backed queue
  • Durable execution
  • DAG workflows
  • Concurrency and fairness
  • Rate limiting
  • Cron and scheduling
  • Multi-language SDKs
  • Self-hosting

What people use each for

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

Decodable

  • Streaming Postgres change data capture into Snowflake or Iceberg without running Debezium and Kafka Connect yourselfnot Hatchet
  • Real-time enrichment and filtering of event streams before they reach an expensive warehousenot Hatchet
  • A team that already writes Flink jobs but does not want to operate the cluster, checkpoint store or upgradesnot Hatchet
  • Replacing a fragile set of cron jobs and Lambda functions that move data between operational systemsnot Hatchet

Hatchet

  • An AI product running long agent pipelines that must survive worker restarts and resume mid-workflownot Decodable
  • A team that outgrew Celery and wants concurrency keys, fairness and rate limiting without building themnot Decodable
  • An engineering group that wants durable execution self-hosted with no datastore beyond the Postgres they already runnot Decodable
  • A multi-tenant SaaS that needs one noisy customer's jobs not to starve everyone else'snot Decodable

Where each one falls short

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

Decodable

  • Credit pricing rewards intermittent work and penalises always-on pipelines: a single small task running continuously costs roughly 86 US dollars a month before any parallelism.
  • Parallelism multiplies tasks, so scaling a pipeline to keep up with throughput multiplies the bill in a way that is easy to under-forecast at design time.
  • The free tier retains streams for only 24 hours, which is too short to debug an intermittent failure that surfaces days later.
  • Java and Python transformations are gated behind paid plans, so anything the SQL layer cannot express means moving off the free tier immediately.
  • The operational layer is proprietary even though Flink and Debezium are not, so migrating to self-managed Flink later means rebuilding connectors, schema handling and monitoring from scratch.

Hatchet

  • Postgres as the queue backend simplifies operations but sets a throughput ceiling, and very high task rates require database tuning or partitioning work that a purpose-built queue would not demand.
  • Data retention on the managed tiers is three days on Team and seven on Scale, which is short for debugging intermittent failures and forces you to export run history elsewhere.
  • The step from the free tier to Team is 500 US dollars a month plus usage, which is a large increment for a small team that simply needs a production SLA.
  • Hatchet is a young company in a category with Temporal, Inngest and cloud-native alternatives already established, so ecosystem, hiring pool and third-party material are all thin.
  • Self-hosting the MIT engine is realistic but you then run the engine, its Postgres and its workers yourself, and the managed features such as audit logs and support are not part of that.

Pricing, plan by plan

Decodable

Free
  • FreeFree
    • Up to four concurrent tasks
    • Small and medium task sizes
    • 24 hour or 10 GB stream retention
  • On Demand$undefined/month
    • 0.12 USD per credit, billed monthly
    • Unlimited concurrent tasks
    • Small, medium and large task sizes
  • Enterprise$undefined/year
    • 0.10 USD per credit on pre-purchased annual capacity
    • Custom task sizes
    • Extensible retention

Hatchet

Free
  • DeveloperFree
    • First 100,000 task runs included
    • $10 per million task runs after
    • No card required
  • Team$500/month
    • Usage billed on top of the base fee
    • 10 users and 5 tenants
    • 3 day data retention
  • Scale$1000/month
    • Unlimited users and tenants
    • 7 day data retention
    • Audit logs
  • Enterprise$undefined/year
    • 300 million plus runs a month
    • Latency guarantees and custom SLAs
    • SSO and audit logging

Which should you pick?

Choose Decodable if

  • You need managed flink.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Linux.
  • You also want change data capture.
Decodable review

Choose Hatchet if

  • You need postgres-backed queue.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, Docker, Kubernetes, Cloud.
  • You also want durable execution.
Hatchet review

Questions people ask

Is Decodable or Hatchet better?
Neither clearly leads. Decodable starts at Free and Hatchet at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Decodable or Hatchet?
Decodable starts at Free and Hatchet at Free.
Does Decodable or Hatchet run on more platforms?
Decodable runs on Web, Linux. Hatchet runs on Linux, Docker, Kubernetes, Cloud.
Can I use Decodable for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Decodable best used for?
Decodable is most often used for streaming postgres change data capture into snowflake or iceberg without running debezium and kafka connect yourself, real-time enrichment and filtering of event streams before they reach an expensive warehouse, a team that already writes flink jobs but does not want to operate the cluster, checkpoint store or upgrades, replacing a fragile set of cron jobs and lambda functions that move data between operational systems. Of those, streaming postgres change data capture into snowflake or iceberg without running debezium and kafka connect yourself and real-time enrichment and filtering of event streams before they reach an expensive warehouse are not what Hatchet is typically brought in for.
What can Decodable do that Hatchet cannot?
Decodable covers Managed Flink, Change data capture, SQL pipelines, Custom Flink jobs. Hatchet covers Postgres-backed queue, Durable execution, DAG workflows, Concurrency and fairness.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Decodable: What is a credit worth?

0.12 US dollars on On Demand and 0.10 on Enterprise. A small task consumes one credit per hour, medium two, large four.

Hatchet: Is Hatchet open source?

Yes, the engine is MIT licensed and can be self-hosted, with a managed cloud offered alongside.

Decodable: Is there a free plan?

Yes, up to four concurrent tasks with 24 hour or 10 GB stream retention.

Hatchet: What does it cost?

Free for the first 100,000 task runs, then 10 US dollars per million. Team is 500 US dollars a month plus usage; Scale is 1,000.

Decodable: Is it really Apache Flink underneath?

Yes, Flink for processing and Debezium for change data capture, both managed by Decodable.

Hatchet: Why Postgres as the queue?

So durable task state lives in a database your team already backs up, replicates and can inspect with SQL, instead of a second system.

Decodable: Can I run my own Flink jobs?

Yes, Java and Python jobs on paid plans; the free plan is SQL only.

Hatchet: How does it compare with Temporal?

Lighter to adopt and operate, with a much smaller ecosystem and a lower throughput ceiling from the Postgres backend.

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