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Automation Integration · head to head

Inngest vs Temporal

Inngest logo

Inngest

Automation Integration

Unbreakable Agents. Invisible Infra.

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Temporal logo

Temporal

Automation Integration

Durable execution platform for fault-tolerant workflows.

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Inngest hobby plans pause execution once free quota exhausted; upgrade required to continue; Temporal cloud pricing scales with action volume, with per-million overage fees ($50 per million initially)
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 29 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Inngest and Temporal actually diverge.

Attributes where Inngest and Temporal differ
AttributeInngestTemporal
PlatformsWebWeb, API, Self-hosted

Identical on both: starting price (Free), pricing model (freemium), free tier (Yes), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Automation Integration).

What people use each for

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

Inngest

  • Handling unpredictable LLM behavior with fine-grained error controlnot Temporal
  • Retrying failed workflow steps independently without restartingnot Temporal
  • Rate limiting per-tenant usage on shared infrastructurenot Temporal
  • Processing thousands of webhooks per event with replay capabilitynot Temporal
  • Persisting state across serverless function invocationsnot Temporal

Temporal

  • AI pipeline orchestration and long-running AI workflowsnot Inngest
  • Distributed system workflows requiring state durabilitynot Inngest
  • Complex backend processes with retry requirementsnot Inngest
  • High-volume asynchronous task executionnot Inngest
  • Microservices coordination with guaranteed state consistencynot Inngest

Where each one falls short

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

Inngest

  • Hobby plans pause execution once free quota exhausted; upgrade required to continue
  • Pro plan overages carry tiered metering: additional concurrent steps at $25 per 25, span data at $3/GB, scores at $1.50 per 1K, events at $0.50 per 1M

Temporal

  • Cloud pricing scales with action volume, with per-million overage fees ($50 per million initially)
  • Enterprise customers incur additional storage costs beyond base allocations
  • Self-hosted deployments require operational expertise to deploy and maintain the Temporal Service
  • No native workflow UI builder; workflows must be defined in code
  • Free tier limited to self-hosted option only; no free cloud tier

Pricing, plan by plan

Inngest

Free
  • HobbyFree
    • 50k executions/month
    • 5 concurrent steps
    • 500 MB span data
  • Pro$99/month starting
    • 1M executions included, pay-as-you-go up to 20M
    • 100+ concurrent steps
    • 5 GB span data ingested
  • Enterprise$null/custom
    • customizable metrics
    • 90-day trace retention
    • SAML, RBAC, audit trails

Temporal

Free
  • Open-sourceFree
    • Self-hosted deployment
    • Full platform functionality
    • Community support
  • Essentials$100/month
    • 1 million actions monthly
    • 1 GB active storage
    • 40 GB retained storage
  • Business$500/month
    • 2.5 million actions monthly
    • 2.5 GB active storage
    • 100 GB retained storage
  • Enterprise$undefined/month
    • 10 million actions monthly
    • 10 GB active storage
    • 400 GB retained storage

Which should you pick?

Choose Inngest if

  • You want to start without paying.
Inngest review

Choose Temporal if

  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, API, Self-hosted.
Temporal review

Questions people ask

Is Inngest or Temporal better?
Neither clearly leads. Inngest starts at Free and Temporal at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Inngest or Temporal?
Inngest starts at Free and Temporal at Free.
Does Inngest or Temporal run on more platforms?
Inngest runs on Web. Temporal runs on Web, API, Self-hosted.
Can I use Inngest for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Inngest best used for?
Inngest is most often used for handling unpredictable llm behavior with fine-grained error control, retrying failed workflow steps independently without restarting, rate limiting per-tenant usage on shared infrastructure, processing thousands of webhooks per event with replay capability. Of those, handling unpredictable llm behavior with fine-grained error control and retrying failed workflow steps independently without restarting are not what Temporal is typically brought in for.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Inngest: How much does Inngest cost?

Inngest offers a free Hobby plan with 50k executions per month and up to 3 users. Pro plans start at $99 per month with 1M executions included and support for up to 15 users. Additional Pro users cost $10 each. Enterprise plans require custom pricing.

Source
Temporal: What programming languages does Temporal support?

Temporal provides native SDKs for Go, Java, .NET, PHP, Python, Ruby, Rust, and TypeScript.

Source
Inngest: Is there a free version of Inngest?

Yes, the Hobby plan is completely free and includes 50k executions per month, 5 concurrent steps, 500 MB span data ingested, 10K scores, 500k events ingested, and support for up to 3 users. Plan changes pause execution once the free quota is exhausted.

Source
Temporal: Can I run Temporal on-premises or self-hosted?

Yes. Temporal is available as open-source software under the MIT license, allowing self-hosted deployment. Temporal Cloud is also available as a managed service alternative.

Source
Inngest: What are the overage costs on Inngest Pro?

Inngest Pro includes 1M executions with additional executions at $0.50 per 1M up to 20M. Span data overages cost $3 per GB, scores at $1.50 per 1K, and events at $0.50 per 1M. Additional concurrent steps cost $25 per 25 steps beyond the included 100+.

Source
Temporal: What is included in the free tier?

$1,000 in free credits for new users to explore Temporal Cloud. Self-hosted Temporal is available free with full platform functionality.

Source
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