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Technology · head to head

Raycast vs Restate

Raycast logo

Raycast

Technology

Blazingly fast, totally extendable launcher

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: Raycast the free plan includes 50 Raycast AI messages, 5 notes and 3 months of clipboard history; 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: Raycast covers Application launcher, Restate covers Durable execution.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Raycast and Restate actually diverge.

Attributes where Raycast and Restate differ
AttributeRaycastRestate
Pricing modelfreemiumPer month by durable action count
PlatformsMacosLinux, macOS, Web
CategoryTechnologyDeveloper Tools
Founded2020Unknown

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 Raycast

  • Application launcher
  • File search
  • Clipboard history
  • Snippets
  • Window management
  • Calculator
  • System commands
  • Extension ecosystem

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.

Raycast

  • App launchingnot Restate
  • Quick calculationsnot Restate
  • File navigationnot Restate
  • Snippet expansionnot Restate
  • Workflow automationnot Restate

Restate

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

Where each one falls short

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

Raycast

  • The free plan includes 50 Raycast AI messages, 5 notes and 3 months of clipboard history
  • Advanced AI models are sold only as an add-on to the paid Pro plan at a further $8 per month on top of the $10 subscription
  • Free team workspaces cap sharing at 30 snippets, 30 quicklinks and 5 commands across all extensions
  • Teams Pro is $15 per user per month, billed per seat rather than per workspace

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

Raycast

Free
  • FreeFree
    • Core features: Clipboard History, Quicklinks, Calculator, Snippets, Window Management
    • Thousands of community extensions
    • 3-month clipboard history
  • Pro$10/month
    • Raycast AI with advanced models
    • Unlimited clipboard history
    • Unlimited notes
  • Pro Annual$8/month
    • Same as Pro plan
    • Annual billing saves 20% compared to monthly
  • Teams FreeFree
    • No cost per user
    • Shared extensions, snippets, and quicklinks

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 Raycast if

  • You need application launcher.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Macos.
  • You also want file search.
Raycast 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 Raycast or Restate better?
Neither clearly leads. Raycast 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, Raycast or Restate?
Raycast starts at Free and Restate at Free.
Does Raycast or Restate run on more platforms?
Raycast runs on Macos. Restate runs on Linux, macOS, Web.
Can I use Raycast for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Raycast best used for?
Raycast is most often used for app launching, quick calculations, file navigation, snippet expansion. Of those, app launching and quick calculations are not what Restate is typically brought in for.
What can Raycast do that Restate cannot?
Raycast covers Application launcher, File search, Clipboard history, Snippets. Restate covers Durable execution, Virtual objects, Single binary runtime, Multi-language SDKs.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Raycast: Does Raycast offer a free plan?

Yes. Raycast has a free plan with core features including clipboard history, quicklinks, calculator, snippets, window management, and access to thousands of community extensions.

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.

Raycast: How much does Raycast Pro cost?

Raycast Pro costs $10 per month or $8 per month when billed annually, saving 20% with yearly subscription.

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.

Raycast: Does Raycast offer team plans?

Yes. Teams Free tier is available at no cost per user with shared extensions and snippets. Teams Pro costs $15 per user per month with unlimited team members.

Source
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.

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