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Developer Tools · head to head

Refact vs Restate

Refact logo

Refact

Developer Tools

Autonomous AI coding agent for development tasks

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Restate logo

Restate

Developer Tools

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

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Refact requires configuration for optimal performance; 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: Refact covers Autonomous agent workflows, Restate covers Durable execution.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Refact and Restate actually diverge.

Attributes where Refact and Restate differ
AttributeRefactRestate
Pricing modelFreemium with paid tiersPer month by durable action count
PlatformsVS Code, WebLinux, macOS, Web
Founded2023Unknown

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Developer 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 Refact

  • Autonomous agent workflows
  • IDE chat
  • Real-time code completions
  • GitHub integration
  • Database integration
  • On-premise deployment
  • Multi-LLM support
  • 25+ language support

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.

Refact

  • Autonomous code generation for development tasksnot Restate
  • End-to-end bug fixes and refactoringnot Restate
  • Multi-language software development accelerationnot Restate
  • Enterprise development with data privacy requirementsnot Restate

Restate

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

Where each one falls short

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

Refact

  • Requires configuration for optimal performance
  • On-premise deployment adds operational complexity
  • Free tier limited by daily agent request quota
  • Coin system adds complexity to cost calculation

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

Refact

Free
  • FreeFree
    • Limited daily agent usage
    • Unlimited completions
    • 2,000 coins for agent and chat
  • Pro$10/month
    • 40 daily agent requests
    • 64k context window
    • 10,000 coins monthly
  • Enterprise$undefined/custom
    • On-premise deployment
    • Custom coin allocation
    • Fine-tuning support

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 Refact if

  • You need autonomous agent workflows.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on VS Code, Web.
  • You also want ide chat.
Refact 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 Refact or Restate better?
Neither clearly leads. Refact 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, Refact or Restate?
Refact starts at Free and Restate at Free.
Does Refact or Restate run on more platforms?
Refact runs on VS Code, Web. Restate runs on Linux, macOS, Web.
Can I use Refact for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Refact best used for?
Refact is most often used for autonomous code generation for development tasks, end-to-end bug fixes and refactoring, multi-language software development acceleration, enterprise development with data privacy requirements. Of those, autonomous code generation for development tasks and end-to-end bug fixes and refactoring are not what Restate is typically brought in for.
What can Refact do that Restate cannot?
Refact covers Autonomous agent workflows, IDE chat, Real-time code completions, GitHub integration. Restate covers Durable execution, Virtual objects, Single binary runtime, Multi-language SDKs.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Refact: How many programming languages does Refact support?

Refact supports 25+ programming languages including Python, JavaScript, Go, Rust, Java, C++, and many others.

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.

Refact: Can I deploy Refact on-premises?

Yes. Refact offers on-premise deployment options for organizations requiring complete data control and privacy.

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.

Refact: What LLMs does Refact support?

Refact works with multiple LLMs including Claude, GPT-4, and open-source models, giving you flexibility in model selection.

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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