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Developer Tools · head to head

Hookdeck vs Zeabur

Hookdeck logo

Hookdeck

Developer Tools

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

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Full reviewWebsite
Zeabur logo

Zeabur

Cloud

AI-powered cloud deployment platform for developers

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • 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.; Zeabur free plan limited to single server with 48-hour log retention
  • They diverge on capability: Hookdeck covers Ingest and persist, Zeabur covers AI Agent.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Hookdeck and Zeabur actually diverge.

Attributes where Hookdeck and Zeabur differ
AttributeHookdeckZeabur
Pricing modelPer month by delivered event countFixed monthly plans
PlatformsWeb, Linux, macOS, WindowsWeb, CLI
CategoryDeveloper ToolsCloud
FoundedUnknown2025

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 Hookdeck

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

Only in Zeabur

  • AI Agent
  • Managed Servers
  • Domain and DNS Management
  • Email Service
  • AI Hub
  • Deploy Templates
  • Git Integration

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

Zeabur

  • Deploying full-stack web applications without DevOps expertisenot Hookdeck
  • Building AI agent infrastructure with integrated API accessnot Hookdeck
  • Managing multi-region deployments with automated scalingnot Hookdeck
  • Running containerized services with built-in domain and emailnot 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.

Zeabur

  • Free plan limited to single server with 48-hour log retention
  • Small team size may limit support and feature velocity
  • Building spec upgrades limited on lower tiers
  • Enterprise support not clearly documented

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

Zeabur

Free
  • FreeFree
    • 1 manageable server
    • 2C4G build specs
    • 48-hour log retention
  • Dev$5/month
    • 3 manageable servers
    • 7-day log retention
    • 250 MB file uploads
  • Pro$19/month
    • 10 manageable servers
    • 4C8G build specs
    • 30-day log retention
  • Team$79/month
    • 3 included seats
    • Unlimited manageable servers
    • 90-day log retention

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 Zeabur if

  • You need ai agent.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, CLI.
  • You also want managed servers.
Zeabur review

Questions people ask

Is Hookdeck or Zeabur better?
Neither clearly leads. Hookdeck starts at Free and Zeabur at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Hookdeck or Zeabur?
Hookdeck starts at Free and Zeabur at Free.
Does Hookdeck or Zeabur run on more platforms?
Hookdeck runs on Web, Linux, macOS, Windows. Zeabur runs on Web, CLI.
Can I use Hookdeck for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
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 Zeabur is typically brought in for.
What can Hookdeck do that Zeabur cannot?
Hookdeck covers Ingest and persist, Automatic retries, Filters and fan-out, Transformations. Zeabur covers AI Agent, Managed Servers, Domain and DNS Management, Email Service.

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.

Zeabur: What is included in the free plan?

The free plan includes 1 manageable server, 2C4G build specifications, 48-hour log retention, 50 MB file upload limit, and community support.

Source
Hookdeck: How is usage counted?

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

Zeabur: How do additional seats work on the Team plan?

The Team plan includes 3 seats with additional seats available at $24 per seat per month.

Source
Hookdeck: Can I replay a failed webhook?

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

Zeabur: Is there a free trial period?

The Dev and Pro plans include 14 days free before billing begins.

Source
Hookdeck: Does it work for outbound webhooks too?

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

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