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Business Intelligence · head to head

Fabi vs Restate

Fabi logo

Fabi

Business Intelligence

AI notebooks combining SQL, Python and no-code for small data teams

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Visit FabiFull 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 $39/mo and $300/mo.
  • Only Fabi lists smart Reports; only Restate lists durable execution.
  • Where Fabi falls short: the free and Builder tiers cap AI requests, and the daily cap on Starter is reached quickly during genuine exploratory work.
  • Prices and features on this page were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Fabi and Restate actually diverge.

Attributes where Fabi and Restate differ
AttributeFabiRestate
Pricing modelPer user per monthPer month by durable action count
PlatformsWebLinux, macOS, Web
CategoryBusiness IntelligenceDeveloper 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 Fabi

  • Smartbooks
  • Smart Reports
  • AI analysis
  • Scheduled runs
  • Database connectors
  • Viewer seats

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.

Fabi

  • A single analyst at a startup fielding ad hoc questions faster than dashboards can be built for themnot Restate
  • An operations team that needs Python for a one-off analysis but has to hand the result to non-technical colleaguesnot Restate
  • Replacing a set of scheduled Jupyter notebooks that nobody outside the data team can read or rerunnot Restate
  • Exploratory work against a warehouse where building a semantic model first would cost more than the answer is worthnot Restate

Restate

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

Where each one falls short

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

Fabi

  • Fabi is an early-stage company with a small team, so the durability risk is real and there is no obvious migration path for Smartbooks if it stops trading
  • There is no meaningful governance layer: no data catalogue, no certified metric definitions and limited lineage, so it does not scale to an organisation that needs a single agreed number
  • The free and Builder tiers cap AI requests, and the daily cap on Starter is reached quickly during genuine exploratory work
  • Connector counts are limited by tier, so the Builder plan at 39 dollars connects to exactly one data source, which is rarely enough in practice
  • It overlaps heavily with what Snowflake, Databricks and Hex now ship natively, so a company already paying for one of those is buying a fourth notebook interface

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

Fabi

Free
  • StarterFree
    • One builder seat
    • Ten dashboard viewers
    • Five Smartbooks
  • Builder$39/mo
    • Twenty-five Smart Report viewers
    • Ten Smartbooks with workflows
    • One data connector
  • Team$199/mo
    • Four builder seats, extra seats at 39 USD
    • Fifty viewers
    • Premium connector
  • EnterpriseOn request
    • Unlimited builder seats
    • Full connector access
    • Custom security review

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 Fabi if

  • You need smartbooks.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You also want smart reports.
Fabi 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 Fabi or Restate better?
Neither clearly leads. Fabi 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, Fabi or Restate?
Fabi starts at Free and Restate at Free.
Does Fabi or Restate run on more platforms?
Fabi runs on Web. Restate runs on Linux, macOS, Web.
Can I use Fabi for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Fabi best used for?
Fabi is most often used for a single analyst at a startup fielding ad hoc questions faster than dashboards can be built for them, an operations team that needs python for a one-off analysis but has to hand the result to non-technical colleagues, replacing a set of scheduled jupyter notebooks that nobody outside the data team can read or rerun, exploratory work against a warehouse where building a semantic model first would cost more than the answer is worth. Of those, a single analyst at a startup fielding ad hoc questions faster than dashboards can be built for them and an operations team that needs python for a one-off analysis but has to hand the result to non-technical colleagues are not what Restate is typically brought in for.
What can Fabi do that Restate cannot?
Fabi covers Smartbooks, Smart Reports, AI analysis, Scheduled runs. Restate covers Durable execution, Virtual objects, Single binary runtime, Multi-language SDKs.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Fabi: Is there a free plan?

Yes, a Starter tier with one builder, ten viewers, five Smartbooks and ten AI requests a day.

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.

Fabi: Do viewers cost money?

Viewers are bundled by tier rather than charged individually; builders are the priced seat.

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.

Fabi: Can I run arbitrary Python?

Yes, Smartbooks include Python cells alongside SQL and no-code steps.

Restate: Is there a free tier?

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

Fabi: How many data connectors does the entry paid plan include?

One. Additional and premium connectors come with the Team tier.

Restate: Which languages are supported?

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

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