Softwr

Web Development · head to head

MySQL vs Restate

MySQL logo

MySQL

Web Development

The world's most popular open source database

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Full reviewWebsite
Restate logo

Restate

Developer Tools

Durable execution engine in Rust with a free tier and low-latency workflows

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: MySQL hot online backup is not in the free Community Server; MySQL Enterprise Backup is a paid Enterprise Edition component; 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.
  • They diverge on capability: MySQL covers ACID compliance, Restate covers Durable execution.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which MySQL and Restate actually diverge.

Attributes where MySQL and Restate differ
AttributeMySQLRestate
Pricing modelfreemiumPer month by durable action count
PlatformsWindows, Macos, Linux, UnixLinux, macOS, Web
CategoryWeb DevelopmentDeveloper Tools
Founded1995Unknown

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 MySQL

  • ACID compliance
  • SQL support
  • Multi-version concurrency control
  • Replication
  • Partitioning
  • Stored procedures
  • Triggers
  • Views

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.

MySQL

  • Web application backendnot Restate
  • E-commerce platformsnot Restate
  • Content management systemsnot Restate
  • Data warehousingnot Restate
  • Business applicationsnot Restate

Restate

  • Payment or order flows where a crash between two external API calls must not double-charge or lose the ordernot MySQL
  • AI agent loops that call tools over minutes or hours and must survive a deployment mid-runnot MySQL
  • Replacing hand-rolled retry, idempotency key and outbox code across a set of microservicesnot MySQL
  • A small team that wants durable workflows without operating a Temporal cluster and its databasenot MySQL

Where each one falls short

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

MySQL

  • Hot online backup is not in the free Community Server; MySQL Enterprise Backup is a paid Enterprise Edition component
  • Transparent Data Encryption, data masking and de-identification are Enterprise Edition only
  • MySQL Enterprise Firewall, which guards against SQL injection, and MySQL Enterprise Audit are both paid components
  • External authentication against PAM or Windows Active Directory requires MySQL Enterprise Authentication
  • The thread pool ships as MySQL Enterprise Scalability rather than in the community build

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

MySQL

Free
  • Community EditionFree
    • Open source license
    • Full SQL support
    • InnoDB storage engine
  • Standard Edition$2000/year
    • Commercial license
    • Oracle Premier Support
    • MySQL Enterprise backup
  • Enterprise Edition$5000/year
    • Advanced security
    • MySQL Enterprise Monitor
    • High Availability

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 MySQL if

  • You need acid compliance.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Windows, Macos, Linux, Unix.
  • You also want sql support.
MySQL review

Choose Restate if

  • You need durable execution.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, macOS, Web.
  • You also want virtual objects.
Restate review

Questions people ask

Is MySQL or Restate better?
Neither clearly leads. MySQL starts at Free and Restate at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, MySQL or Restate?
MySQL starts at Free and Restate at Free.
Does MySQL or Restate run on more platforms?
MySQL runs on Windows, Macos, Linux, Unix. Restate runs on Linux, macOS, Web.
Can I use MySQL for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is MySQL best used for?
MySQL is most often used for web application backend, e-commerce platforms, content management systems, data warehousing. Of those, web application backend and e-commerce platforms are not what Restate is typically brought in for.
What can MySQL do that Restate cannot?
MySQL covers ACID compliance, SQL support, Multi-version concurrency control, Replication. Restate covers Durable execution, Virtual objects, Single binary runtime, Multi-language SDKs.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

MySQL: Does MySQL cost money?

MySQL is primarily open-source and free to use. Commercial editions and support services are available but pricing is not published on the main website.

Source
Restate: 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.

MySQL: How do I get MySQL pricing information?

For MySQL commercial editions and support pricing, customers can contact MySQL sales directly at +1-866-221-0634 or navigate to individual product pages.

Source
Restate: 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.

Restate: 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.

Share

Related pages

More on MySQL

More on Restate

Keep looking

Other head to heads