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Business Intelligence · head to head

Phocas vs Restate

Phocas logo

Phocas

Business Intelligence

Pre-built BI and FP&A for wholesale distributors and manufacturers running mid-market ERPs

From
On request
Free plan
No
Visit PhocasFull review
Restate logo

Restate

Developer Tools

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

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Visit RestateFull review

The short version

  • Restate starts at $300/mo; Phocas prices on request.
  • Only Phocas lists ERP connectors; only Restate lists durable execution.
  • Prices and features on this page were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Phocas and Restate actually diverge.

Attributes where Phocas and Restate differ
AttributePhocasRestate
Starting priceOn requestFree
Pricing modelQuotePer month by durable action count
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWeb, iOS, AndroidLinux, macOS, Web
CategoryBusiness IntelligenceDeveloper Tools

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 Phocas

  • ERP connectors
  • Pre-built distribution content
  • Grid-first analysis
  • Financial statements
  • Budgets and forecasts
  • Rebates module
  • Alerts and subscriptions
  • Mobile apps

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.

Phocas

  • A wholesale distributor on Prophet 21 whose sales reps need per-customer margin and stock availability without waiting on a report writernot Restate
  • A manufacturer that wants budgeting on the same data as its sales analysis rather than in a separate spreadsheetnot Restate
  • A multi-branch retailer comparing branch and product performance daily without an internal BI teamnot Restate
  • A private equity owner standardising reporting across several acquired distributors on different ERPsnot Restate

Restate

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

Where each one falls short

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

Phocas

  • The value is the pre-built vertical content, so a company outside distribution, manufacturing or retail pays premium prices for dashboards it must build itself anyway
  • If your ERP is not on the maintained connector list you fall back to generic database extraction and lose the fast time to value that justifies the price
  • The visualisation library is thin next to Power BI or Tableau, and analysts who want fine control over chart design will find it constraining
  • Pricing is quoted per user and never published, and buyers routinely report large gaps between initial and renewal quotes with limited comparison leverage
  • Modules are licensed separately, so a customer who bought Analytics and later wants Financial Statements or Rebates faces a new negotiation rather than an upgrade

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

Phocas

On request
  • PhocasOn request
    • Annual subscription quoted by user count and modules
    • Analytics, Financial Statements, Budgets and Rebates licensed separately
    • One-off implementation and ERP connector setup fee

Restate

Free
  • FreeFree
    • Fifty thousand durable actions per month
    • No credit card required
    • Community support
  • Starter$300/mo
    • Twenty million actions per month
    • Two hundred actions per second, bursting to one thousand
    • Twenty GB storage
  • Pro$1,000/mo
    • Fifty million actions per month
    • Five hundred actions per second, bursting to two thousand
    • Fifty GB storage
  • EnterpriseOn request
    • Negotiated volume
    • Twenty-four seven P0 support
    • 99.99 per cent SLA

Which should you pick?

Choose Phocas if

  • You need erp connectors.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want pre-built distribution content.
Phocas 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 Phocas or Restate better?
Neither clearly leads. Phocas starts at On request and Restate at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Phocas or Restate?
Restate has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at On request for Phocas and Free for Restate.
Does Phocas or Restate run on more platforms?
Phocas runs on Web, iOS, Android. 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. Phocas starts at On request.
What is Phocas best used for?
Phocas is most often used for a wholesale distributor on prophet 21 whose sales reps need per-customer margin and stock availability without waiting on a report writer, a manufacturer that wants budgeting on the same data as its sales analysis rather than in a separate spreadsheet, a multi-branch retailer comparing branch and product performance daily without an internal bi team, a private equity owner standardising reporting across several acquired distributors on different erps. Of those, a wholesale distributor on prophet 21 whose sales reps need per-customer margin and stock availability without waiting on a report writer and a manufacturer that wants budgeting on the same data as its sales analysis rather than in a separate spreadsheet are not what Restate is typically brought in for.
What can Phocas do that Restate cannot?
Phocas covers ERP connectors, Pre-built distribution content, Grid-first analysis, Financial statements. Restate covers Durable execution, Virtual objects, Single binary runtime, Multi-language SDKs.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Phocas: What does Phocas cost?

Nothing is published. It is quoted annually by user count and module, with a separate implementation fee, and varies by region.

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.

Phocas: Is it worth it over Power BI?

Only if you are in its target verticals on a supported ERP. Power BI is far cheaper per seat but you supply the data model.

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.

Phocas: Does it replace my ERP reporting?

It replaces day-to-day analysis and sales reporting. Transactional and statutory reporting stays in the ERP.

Restate: Is there a free tier?

Yes, fifty thousand durable actions a month on Restate Cloud with no card required.

Phocas: Can it do budgeting?

Yes, through a separately licensed Financial Statements and Budgets module on the same warehouse.

Restate: Which languages are supported?

TypeScript, Java, Kotlin, Go, Python and Rust.

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