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Databases · head to head

Dremio vs Restate

Dremio logo

Dremio

Databases

SQL query engine and lakehouse layer over Iceberg tables in object storage

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Visit DremioFull 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 $0.2/mo and $300/mo.
  • Only Dremio lists semantic layer; only Restate lists virtual objects.
  • Where Dremio falls short: Dremio Cloud is AWS-first, which leaves Azure and Google Cloud customers on the self-managed path with the operational burden that entails.
  • Prices and features on this page were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Dremio and Restate actually diverge.

Attributes where Dremio and Restate differ
AttributeDremioRestate
Pricing modelPer Dremio Compute Unit consumedPer month by durable action count
PlatformsLinux, Self-hosted, WebLinux, macOS, Web
CategoryDatabasesDeveloper Tools

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

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 Dremio

  • Arrow-based execution
  • Reflections
  • Semantic layer
  • Iceberg catalogue
  • Federated queries
  • Autonomous management
  • Fine-grained access control
  • BI connectors

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.

Dremio

  • A company with petabytes of Parquet in S3 that wants BI dashboards without duplicating it into a warehousenot Restate
  • A data platform team standardising on Apache Iceberg and needing a SQL engine plus catalogue that does not lock the tables innot Restate
  • An analytics group accelerating slow lake queries with Reflections instead of hand-built aggregate tablesnot Restate
  • A regulated enterprise that must keep data on premises but wants a modern lakehouse SQL layernot Restate

Restate

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

Where each one falls short

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

Dremio

  • Reflections consume compute and storage to build and refresh continuously, so a team that enables them widely discovers that background maintenance rather than user queries drives the DCU bill
  • Self-managing Dremio on Kubernetes requires real platform engineering capacity for tuning executors, memory and coordinator sizing, and it is not comparable in effort to running a managed warehouse
  • The Community Edition lacks the security and governance features most enterprises require, so the free tier is a trial path rather than a viable production option for regulated buyers
  • Dremio Cloud is AWS-first, which leaves Azure and Google Cloud customers on the self-managed path with the operational burden that entails
  • Query performance without Reflections on raw, poorly laid out files is often unremarkable, so the promise of querying the lake as is depends on file layout work you still have to do

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

Dremio

Free
  • Community EditionFree
    • Self-managed on your own hardware
    • SQL engine and semantic layer
    • No vendor support
  • Dremio Cloud$0.2/hour
    • Billed at $0.20 per Dremio Compute Unit
    • Includes query execution, Reflections and background processing
    • 400 dollar trial credit for 30 days
  • EnterpriseOn request
    • Self-managed on Kubernetes, on premises or any cloud
    • Enterprise security, SSO and governance
    • Vendor support with SLA

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 Dremio if

  • You need arrow-based execution.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, Self-hosted, Web.
  • You also want reflections.
Dremio 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 Dremio or Restate better?
Neither clearly leads. Dremio 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, Dremio or Restate?
Dremio starts at Free and Restate at Free.
Does Dremio or Restate run on more platforms?
Dremio runs on Linux, Self-hosted, Web. Restate runs on Linux, macOS, Web.
Can I use Dremio for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Dremio best used for?
Dremio is most often used for a company with petabytes of parquet in s3 that wants bi dashboards without duplicating it into a warehouse, a data platform team standardising on apache iceberg and needing a sql engine plus catalogue that does not lock the tables in, an analytics group accelerating slow lake queries with reflections instead of hand-built aggregate tables, a regulated enterprise that must keep data on premises but wants a modern lakehouse sql layer. Of those, a company with petabytes of parquet in s3 that wants bi dashboards without duplicating it into a warehouse and a data platform team standardising on apache iceberg and needing a sql engine plus catalogue that does not lock the tables in are not what Restate is typically brought in for.
What can Dremio do that Restate cannot?
Dremio covers Arrow-based execution, Reflections, Semantic layer, Iceberg catalogue. Restate covers Durable execution, Virtual objects, Single binary runtime, Multi-language SDKs.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Dremio: How is Dremio Cloud billed?

At 0.20 US dollars per Dremio Compute Unit, which counts query execution, Reflection building and platform overhead, not just user queries.

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.

Dremio: Is there a free version?

Yes, a Community Edition you self-manage, but it omits the enterprise security and governance features and comes with no support.

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.

Dremio: Does it lock in my data?

No, tables stay in Apache Iceberg or Parquet in your own object storage and can be read by Spark, Trino or other engines.

Restate: Is there a free tier?

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

Dremio: Do I still need a warehouse?

Often not for analytics, but Dremio is not a transactional store and high-concurrency operational serving is not its strength.

Restate: Which languages are supported?

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

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