Softwr

Developer Tools · head to head

Hookdeck vs VIVOTEK VAST Security Station

Hookdeck logo

Hookdeck

Developer Tools

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

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Full reviewWebsite
VIVOTEK VAST Security Station logo

VIVOTEK VAST Security Station

Cybersecurity

Camera-vendor video management software with a free 32-channel tier for VIVOTEK devices

From
On request
Free plan
No
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Hookdeck has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Hookdeck pricing meters delivered events, so fan-out multiplies the bill: one inbound event routed to four services counts as four deliveries.; VIVOTEK VAST Security Station vAST 2 has entered end of maintenance with technical support and software files withdrawn, yet distributors still list VAST 2 licences, so a buyer can be quoted unsupported software without realising it.
  • They diverge on capability: Hookdeck covers Ingest and persist, VIVOTEK VAST Security Station covers VSS Lite free tier.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Hookdeck and VIVOTEK VAST Security Station actually diverge.

Attributes where Hookdeck and VIVOTEK VAST Security Station differ
AttributeHookdeckVIVOTEK VAST Security Station
Starting priceFreeOn request
Pricing modelPer month by delivered event countOne-time purchase per camera channel
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsWeb, Linux, macOS, WindowsWindows, Web, iOS, Android
CategoryDeveloper ToolsCybersecurity

Identical on both: 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 Hookdeck

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

Only in VIVOTEK VAST Security Station

  • VSS Lite free tier
  • Per-channel licensing
  • Third-party camera support
  • Failover and TV matrix
  • Vision object analytics
  • Embedded NVR licensing
  • NDAA and TAA compliance

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 VIVOTEK VAST Security Station
  • Fanning one provider webhook out to several internal services without each subscribing separatelynot VIVOTEK VAST Security Station
  • Debugging a partner integration by replaying the exact failing payload after shipping a fixnot VIVOTEK VAST Security Station
  • Receiving production-shaped webhooks on a developer laptop without running a public tunnelnot VIVOTEK VAST Security Station

VIVOTEK VAST Security Station

  • A school or small public building with fewer than 32 VIVOTEK cameras that needs a VMS at no licence costnot Hookdeck
  • A United States public sector site that must meet NDAA and TAA procurement restrictionsnot Hookdeck
  • An existing VAST 2 site that needs to migrate before the software falls further out of maintenancenot Hookdeck
  • A mid-sized site standardising on VIVOTEK hardware with a handful of third-party cameras to absorbnot 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.

VIVOTEK VAST Security Station

  • VAST 2 has entered end of maintenance with technical support and software files withdrawn, yet distributors still list VAST 2 licences, so a buyer can be quoted unsupported software without realising it.
  • The free Lite tier is hard capped at 32 cameras and VIVOTEK devices only, so a site that grows to 33 cameras or adds one third-party camera moves straight to paid Standard licensing.
  • VSS Professional includes no camera licences at all, so the edition that large deployments need starts from a higher effective price than the tier comparison suggests.
  • It is a camera manufacturer's VMS, so the third-party device list, analytics ecosystem and integration catalogue are all narrower than an independent platform like Milestone or Salient.
  • No pricing is published for Standard or Professional channels; everything runs through distribution, which makes budgeting a phased expansion difficult without repeated quotes.

Pricing, plan by plan

Hookdeck

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

VIVOTEK VAST Security Station

On request
  • VSS LiteFree
    • Free of charge
    • Up to 32 VIVOTEK cameras per server
    • No third-party camera support
  • VSS Standard$undefined/one-time
    • Up to 256 cameras per server
    • Eight camera licences included for VIVOTEK or third-party devices
    • Additional channel licences purchased individually
  • VSS Professional$undefined/one-time
    • Large scale deployments with failover and TV matrix
    • No camera licences included at all
    • Every channel purchased or upgraded from Standard

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 VIVOTEK VAST Security Station if

  • You need vss lite free tier.
  • You work on Windows, Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want per-channel licensing.
VIVOTEK VAST Security Station review

Questions people ask

Is Hookdeck or VIVOTEK VAST Security Station better?
Neither clearly leads. Hookdeck starts at Free and VIVOTEK VAST Security Station at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Hookdeck or VIVOTEK VAST Security Station?
Hookdeck has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Hookdeck and On request for VIVOTEK VAST Security Station.
Does Hookdeck or VIVOTEK VAST Security Station run on more platforms?
Hookdeck runs on Web, Linux, macOS, Windows. VIVOTEK VAST Security Station runs on Windows, Web, iOS, Android.
Can I use Hookdeck for free?
Yes. Hookdeck has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. VIVOTEK VAST Security Station starts at On request.
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 VIVOTEK VAST Security Station is typically brought in for.
What can Hookdeck do that VIVOTEK VAST Security Station cannot?
Hookdeck covers Ingest and persist, Automatic retries, Filters and fan-out, Transformations. VIVOTEK VAST Security Station covers VSS Lite free tier, Per-channel licensing, Third-party camera support, Failover and TV matrix.

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.

VIVOTEK VAST Security Station: Should I still buy VAST 2?

No. VAST 2 has entered end of maintenance with support and software files withdrawn. VSS is the current product, and any VAST 2 licence still on a distributor price list should be questioned.

Hookdeck: How is usage counted?

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

VIVOTEK VAST Security Station: Is VSS Lite really free?

Yes, for up to 32 VIVOTEK cameras per server. It does not support third-party cameras and cannot exceed 32 channels.

Hookdeck: Can I replay a failed webhook?

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

VIVOTEK VAST Security Station: How many licences come with Standard?

Eight camera licences, usable for VIVOTEK or third-party devices. Professional includes none.

Hookdeck: Does it work for outbound webhooks too?

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

VIVOTEK VAST Security Station: Is VIVOTEK NDAA compliant?

VIVOTEK publishes an NDAA and TAA compliant product list, which is why it appears in United States public sector specifications where Section 889 excludes several other manufacturers.

Share

Related pages

More on Hookdeck

More on VIVOTEK VAST Security Station

Keep looking

Other head to heads