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Automation Integration · head to head

Inngest vs Restate

Inngest logo

Inngest

Automation Integration

Unbreakable Agents. Invisible Infra.

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: Inngest hobby plans pause execution once free quota exhausted; upgrade required to continue; 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 Inngest and Restate actually diverge.

Attributes where Inngest and Restate differ
AttributeInngestRestate
Pricing modelfreemiumPer month by durable action count
PlatformsWebLinux, macOS, Web
CategoryAutomation IntegrationDeveloper Tools

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 Inngest

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.

Inngest

  • Handling unpredictable LLM behavior with fine-grained error controlnot Restate
  • Retrying failed workflow steps independently without restartingnot Restate
  • Rate limiting per-tenant usage on shared infrastructurenot Restate
  • Processing thousands of webhooks per event with replay capabilitynot Restate
  • Persisting state across serverless function invocationsnot Restate

Restate

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

Where each one falls short

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

Inngest

  • Hobby plans pause execution once free quota exhausted; upgrade required to continue
  • Pro plan overages carry tiered metering: additional concurrent steps at $25 per 25, span data at $3/GB, scores at $1.50 per 1K, events at $0.50 per 1M

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

Inngest

Free
  • HobbyFree
    • 50k executions/month
    • 5 concurrent steps
    • 500 MB span data
  • Pro$99/month starting
    • 1M executions included, pay-as-you-go up to 20M
    • 100+ concurrent steps
    • 5 GB span data ingested
  • Enterprise$null/custom
    • customizable metrics
    • 90-day trace retention
    • SAML, RBAC, audit trails

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 Inngest if

  • You want to start without paying.
Inngest 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 Inngest or Restate better?
Neither clearly leads. Inngest 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, Inngest or Restate?
Inngest starts at Free and Restate at Free.
Does Inngest or Restate run on more platforms?
Inngest runs on Web. Restate runs on Linux, macOS, Web.
Can I use Inngest for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Inngest best used for?
Inngest is most often used for handling unpredictable llm behavior with fine-grained error control, retrying failed workflow steps independently without restarting, rate limiting per-tenant usage on shared infrastructure, processing thousands of webhooks per event with replay capability. Of those, handling unpredictable llm behavior with fine-grained error control and retrying failed workflow steps independently without restarting are not what Restate is typically brought in for.
What can Inngest do that Restate cannot?
Restate covers Durable execution, Virtual objects, Single binary runtime, Multi-language SDKs.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Inngest: How much does Inngest cost?

Inngest offers a free Hobby plan with 50k executions per month and up to 3 users. Pro plans start at $99 per month with 1M executions included and support for up to 15 users. Additional Pro users cost $10 each. Enterprise plans require custom pricing.

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.

Inngest: Is there a free version of Inngest?

Yes, the Hobby plan is completely free and includes 50k executions per month, 5 concurrent steps, 500 MB span data ingested, 10K scores, 500k events ingested, and support for up to 3 users. Plan changes pause execution once the free quota is exhausted.

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.

Inngest: What are the overage costs on Inngest Pro?

Inngest Pro includes 1M executions with additional executions at $0.50 per 1M up to 20M. Span data overages cost $3 per GB, scores at $1.50 per 1K, and events at $0.50 per 1M. Additional concurrent steps cost $25 per 25 steps beyond the included 100+.

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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