Cybersecurity · head to head
Microsoft Defender vs Restate
Microsoft Defender
Cybersecurity
Always-on protection for you and your family's data and devices
- From
- $12/month
- Free plan
- No
Restate
Developer Tools
Durable execution engine in Rust with a free tier and low-latency workflows
- From
- Free
- Free plan
- Yes
The short version
- Only Restate has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
- Each has a real cost: Microsoft Defender defender Suite requires existing Microsoft 365 E3 or equivalent base licensing; 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.
- Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Microsoft Defender and Restate actually diverge.
| Attribute | Microsoft Defender | Restate |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | $12/month | Free |
| Pricing model | subscription | Per month by durable action count |
| Free tier | No | Yes |
| Platforms | Web | Linux, macOS, Web |
| Category | Cybersecurity | Developer Tools |
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 Microsoft Defender
Nothing recorded that Restate does not also cover.
Only in Restate
- Durable execution
- Virtual objects
- Single binary runtime
- Multi-language SDKs
- Workflows and sagas
- Restate Cloud
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
Microsoft Defender
- Endpoint security and threat protectionnot Restate
- Identity and access securitynot Restate
- Email threat protectionnot Restate
- SaaS application security monitoringnot Restate
Restate
- Payment or order flows where a crash between two external API calls must not double-charge or lose the ordernot Microsoft Defender
- AI agent loops that call tools over minutes or hours and must survive a deployment mid-runnot Microsoft Defender
- Replacing hand-rolled retry, idempotency key and outbox code across a set of microservicesnot Microsoft Defender
- A small team that wants durable workflows without operating a Temporal cluster and its databasenot Microsoft Defender
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
Microsoft Defender
- Defender Suite requires existing Microsoft 365 E3 or equivalent base licensing
- Some Defender products use pay-as-you-go pricing with variable costs
- Prices vary based on Microsoft agreements, requiring sales contact for custom quotes
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
Microsoft Defender
$12/month- Microsoft Defender Suite$12/month
- Endpoint protection
- Identity threat detection
- Email security
- Microsoft 365 E5 with Defender$60/month
- Includes Defender Suite
- Microsoft Teams included
- Comprehensive security and compliance
- Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management Add-on$2/month
- Vulnerability scanning and management
- One-month free trial available
- Annual commitment required
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 Microsoft Defender if
Nothing in the data separates Microsoft Defender from Restate on the points above - pick on price and on how each one feels to use.
Choose Restate if
- You need durable execution.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Linux, macOS, Web.
- You also want virtual objects.
Questions people ask
- Is Microsoft Defender or Restate better?
- Neither clearly leads. Microsoft Defender starts at $12/month and Restate at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Microsoft Defender or Restate?
- Restate has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $12/month for Microsoft Defender and Free for Restate.
- Does Microsoft Defender or Restate run on more platforms?
- Microsoft Defender runs on Web. Restate runs on Linux, macOS, Web.
- Can I use Restate for free?
- Yes. Restate has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Microsoft Defender starts at $12/month.
- What is Microsoft Defender best used for?
- Microsoft Defender is most often used for endpoint security and threat protection, identity and access security, email threat protection, saas application security monitoring. Of those, endpoint security and threat protection and identity and access security are not what Restate is typically brought in for.
- What can Microsoft Defender do that Restate cannot?
- Restate covers Durable execution, Virtual objects, Single binary runtime, Multi-language SDKs.
Answered from the vendors’ own pages
Microsoft Defender: How much does Microsoft Defender Suite cost?
Microsoft Defender Suite costs $12/user/month (paid yearly), but requires existing Microsoft 365 E3 or equivalent base licensing. It includes endpoint protection, identity threat detection, email security, and SaaS application monitoring.
SourceRestate: 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.
Microsoft Defender: What add-ons are available for Microsoft Defender?
Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management Add-on costs $2/user/month with annual commitment and includes a one-month free trial. Additional pay-as-you-go products include External Attack Surface Management, Cloud Security Posture Management, and Sentinel.
SourceRestate: 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.
Microsoft Defender: Is Defender included in Microsoft 365 E5?
Yes, Microsoft Defender Suite is included in Microsoft 365 E5 at $60/user/month (paid yearly with Teams). Prices may vary based on Microsoft agreements, requiring contact with Sales for customized quotes.
SourceRestate: Is there a free tier?
Yes, fifty thousand durable actions a month on Restate Cloud with no card required.
Restate: Which languages are supported?
TypeScript, Java, Kotlin, Go, Python and Rust.
Related pages
More on Microsoft Defender
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