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Developer Tools · head to head

Hookdeck vs Knack

Hookdeck logo

Hookdeck

Developer Tools

Event gateway that receives, queues, retries and replays inbound webhooks

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Visit HookdeckFull review
Knack logo

Knack

Databases

Hosted no-code database and web app builder priced by stored records and storage, with unlimited user accounts on every plan.

From
$59/month
Free plan
No
Visit KnackFull review

The short version

  • Hookdeck has a free plan, then $39/mo; Knack starts at $59/mo.
  • Only Hookdeck lists ingest and persist; only Knack lists visual database builder.
  • Where Hookdeck falls short: pricing meters delivered events, so fan-out multiplies the bill: one inbound event routed to four services counts as four deliveries.
  • Prices and features on this page were last checked on 13 November 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Hookdeck and Knack actually diverge.

Attributes where Hookdeck and Knack differ
AttributeHookdeckKnack
Starting priceFree$59/month
Pricing modelPer month by delivered event countSubscription
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsWeb, Linux, macOS, WindowsWeb
CategoryDeveloper ToolsDatabases

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 Hookdeck

  • Ingest and persist
  • Automatic retries
  • Filters and fan-out
  • Transformations
  • Local development CLI
  • Rate limiting

Only in Knack

  • Visual database builder
  • User logins and roles
  • Page builder
  • Unlimited users
  • E-commerce
  • Automation flows
  • Scheduled tasks
  • REST API and webhooks

What people use each for

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

Hookdeck

  • A payments integration where losing a Stripe event during a deploy causes an order to go unfulfillednot Knack
  • Fanning one provider webhook out to several internal services without each subscribing separatelynot Knack
  • Debugging a partner integration by replaying the exact failing payload after shipping a fixnot Knack
  • Receiving production-shaped webhooks on a developer laptop without running a public tunnelnot Knack

Knack

  • A member or client portal where thousands of external people need their own login and see only their own recordsnot Hookdeck
  • Replacing a shared spreadsheet used by a team that has outgrown it but cannot justify a developer to build a bespoke internal toolnot Hookdeck
  • Inventory, asset or case tracking for a small operations team that needs roles, forms and a record of who changed whatnot Hookdeck
  • A registration or booking application for an association, school or non-profit where the user count is large and the record count stays modestnot Hookdeck

Where each one falls short

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

Hookdeck

  • Pricing meters delivered events, so fan-out multiplies the bill: one inbound event routed to four services counts as four deliveries
  • Free-tier retention is three days, which is shorter than the time it typically takes to notice a failing integration, so the payloads needed for a replay are often already gone
  • It becomes a single point of failure in front of every third-party integration, and an outage there means every provider webhook queues or fails at once
  • The transformation layer runs JavaScript in a constrained environment, so anything that needs a database lookup or an external call has to happen downstream instead
  • For a team already running Kafka or SQS the value is mostly the console and the replay UI, which is a hard cost to justify against infrastructure they already operate

Knack

  • Plans are capped by stored records, so an application that logs events or keeps history rather than current state climbs tiers on data volume alone, and archiving old records becomes a permanent maintenance chore rather than a one-off
  • API access is capped per day, at 1,000 calls on the entry plan and 10,000 at the Corporate tier, so a scheduled sync or a busy automation can exhaust the day's quota before the working day ends and integrations then fail silently
  • The application itself cannot be exported or self-hosted; records can be downloaded but the pages, roles, flows and business logic exist only inside Knack, so outgrowing the platform means rebuilding the app rather than moving it
  • Customisation beyond the builder is limited to injected CSS and JavaScript that Knack's support does not cover, so any non-standard interface behaviour becomes yours to maintain against a DOM the vendor can change without warning
  • Compliance capabilities that regulated buyers assume are baseline, HIPAA and GovCloud options, advanced SSO, IP restrictions and private environments, are gated to the Corporate and Enterprise tiers, so a small regulated pilot cannot legitimately start on an entry plan

Pricing, plan by plan

Hookdeck

Free
  • DeveloperFree
    • Up to ten thousand events per month
    • Three-day retention
    • One user
  • Team$39/mo
    • Ten thousand events included
    • Unlimited users
    • Pay as you go metering above the included events
  • Growth$499/mo
    • Ten thousand events included plus metered usage
    • Thirty-day retention
    • Uptime and latency SLAs
  • EnterpriseOn request
    • Negotiated event volume
    • Custom retention
    • Dedicated support

Knack

$59/month
  • Starter$59/mo
    • 20,000 database records
    • Unlimited users, tables, fields
    • 25 AI credits
  • Pro$130/mo
    • 50,000 database records
    • Remove Knack branding
    • E-commerce payments
  • Corporate$300/mo
    • 125,000-2.5M database records
    • App restore functionality
    • Advanced SSO
  • EnterpriseOn request
    • Dedicated account manager
    • HIPAA/GovCloud-based options
    • Custom pricing

Which should you pick?

Choose Hookdeck if

  • You need ingest and persist.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Linux, macOS, Windows.
  • You also want automatic retries.
Hookdeck review

Choose Knack if

  • You need visual database builder.
  • You also want user logins and roles.
Knack review

Questions people ask

Is Hookdeck or Knack better?
Neither clearly leads. Hookdeck starts at Free and Knack at $59/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Hookdeck or Knack?
Hookdeck has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Hookdeck and $59/month for Knack.
Does Hookdeck or Knack run on more platforms?
Hookdeck runs on Web, Linux, macOS, Windows. Knack runs on Web.
Can I use Hookdeck for free?
Yes. Hookdeck has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Knack starts at $59/month.
What is Hookdeck best used for?
Hookdeck is most often used for a payments integration where losing a stripe event during a deploy causes an order to go unfulfilled, fanning one provider webhook out to several internal services without each subscribing separately, debugging a partner integration by replaying the exact failing payload after shipping a fix, receiving production-shaped webhooks on a developer laptop without running a public tunnel. Of those, a payments integration where losing a stripe event during a deploy causes an order to go unfulfilled and fanning one provider webhook out to several internal services without each subscribing separately are not what Knack is typically brought in for.
What can Hookdeck do that Knack cannot?
Hookdeck covers Ingest and persist, Automatic retries, Filters and fan-out, Transformations. Knack covers Visual database builder, User logins and roles, Page builder, Unlimited users.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Hookdeck: Is there a free plan?

Yes, ten thousand events a month with three-day retention and one user.

Knack: Is Knack charged per user?

No. User accounts are unlimited on all plans. Plans are bounded by stored record count, file storage, API calls per day and automation transactions.

Hookdeck: How is usage counted?

By delivered events, so a single inbound webhook fanned out to three destinations counts as three.

Knack: What happens when I exceed the record limit?

You move to a higher tier or reduce stored records. Because the limit is on data rather than people, apps that accumulate history hit it while apps that track a fixed set of entities generally do not.

Hookdeck: Can I replay a failed webhook?

Yes, individually or in bulk from the console, with the original payload.

Knack: Can I export my application or self-host it?

You can export record data. The application itself, its pages, roles, permissions and flows, is not exportable and cannot be self-hosted, so leaving means rebuilding elsewhere.

Hookdeck: Does it work for outbound webhooks too?

Yes, the same queueing, retry and observability applies to webhooks you send.

Knack: Is it suitable for public-facing portals?

That is its strongest case, because logins are unlimited and role-based permissions are built in. The constraint is record volume and API throughput, not audience size.

Knack: Can I use it for regulated data?

HIPAA-aligned and government cloud options exist but only on the Enterprise tier, along with private server environments. Lower tiers should not be used for regulated workloads.

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