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Automation Integration · head to head

Hatchet vs Restate

Hatchet logo

Hatchet

Automation Integration

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

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Restate logo

Restate

Developer Tools

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

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: 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.; 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: Hatchet covers Postgres-backed queue, Restate covers Virtual objects.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Hatchet and Restate actually diverge.

Attributes where Hatchet and Restate differ
AttributeHatchetRestate
Pricing modelPer month by task run countPer month by durable action count
PlatformsLinux, Docker, Kubernetes, CloudLinux, macOS, Web
CategoryAutomation IntegrationDeveloper 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 Hatchet

  • Postgres-backed queue
  • DAG workflows
  • Concurrency and fairness
  • Rate limiting
  • Cron and scheduling
  • Self-hosting

Only in Restate

  • Virtual objects
  • Single binary runtime
  • Workflows and sagas
  • Restate Cloud

Both cover

  • Durable execution
  • Multi-language SDKs

What people use each for

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

Hatchet

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

Restate

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

Where each one falls short

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

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.

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

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

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 Hatchet if

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

Choose Restate if

  • You need virtual objects.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, macOS, Web.
  • You also want single binary runtime.
Restate review

Questions people ask

Is Hatchet or Restate better?
Neither clearly leads. Hatchet 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, Hatchet or Restate?
Hatchet starts at Free and Restate at Free.
Does Hatchet or Restate run on more platforms?
Hatchet runs on Linux, Docker, Kubernetes, Cloud. Restate runs on Linux, macOS, Web.
Can I use Hatchet for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Hatchet best used for?
Hatchet is most often used for an ai product running long agent pipelines that must survive worker restarts and resume mid-workflow, a team that outgrew celery and wants concurrency keys, fairness and rate limiting without building them, an engineering group that wants durable execution self-hosted with no datastore beyond the postgres they already run, a multi-tenant saas that needs one noisy customer's jobs not to starve everyone else's. Of those, an ai product running long agent pipelines that must survive worker restarts and resume mid-workflow and a team that outgrew celery and wants concurrency keys, fairness and rate limiting without building them are not what Restate is typically brought in for.
What can Hatchet do that Restate cannot?
Hatchet covers Postgres-backed queue, DAG workflows, Concurrency and fairness, Rate limiting. Restate covers Virtual objects, Single binary runtime, Workflows and sagas, Restate Cloud. Both handle Durable execution, Multi-language SDKs.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Hatchet: Is Hatchet open source?

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

Restate: Is there a free tier?

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

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.

Restate: Which languages are supported?

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

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