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Developer Tools · head to head

Restate vs Rollup

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
Rollup logo

Rollup

Web Development

JavaScript module bundler built for libraries

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: 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.; Rollup slower than the Go and Rust bundlers that followed it, since it is written in JavaScript
  • They diverge on capability: Restate covers Durable execution, Rollup covers Tree shaking.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Restate and Rollup actually diverge.

Attributes where Restate and Rollup differ
AttributeRestateRollup
Pricing modelPer month by durable action countOpen source, no licence fee
PlatformsLinux, macOS, WebLinux, macOS, Windows
CategoryDeveloper ToolsWeb Development

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 Restate

  • Durable execution
  • Virtual objects
  • Single binary runtime
  • Multi-language SDKs
  • Workflows and sagas
  • Restate Cloud

Only in Rollup

  • Tree shaking
  • Clean output
  • Multiple output formats
  • Plugin API

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Restate

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

Rollup

  • Publishing a JavaScript library in several module formatsnot Restate
  • Builds where output size and cleanliness matter more than build speednot Restate
  • Producing ES module output for consumers who will bundle it themselvesnot Restate

Where each one falls short

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

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.

Rollup

  • Slower than the Go and Rust bundlers that followed it, since it is written in JavaScript
  • Application concerns like dev servers and hot reloading are not its job, so app builds need Vite on top
  • Configuration for non-trivial applications gets verbose compared with tools that assume more

Pricing, plan by plan

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

Rollup

Free
  • RollupFree
    • Full functionality
    • Commercial use permitted
    • Community support

Which should you pick?

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

Choose Rollup if

  • You need tree shaking.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, macOS, Windows.
  • You also want clean output.
Rollup review

Questions people ask

Is Restate or Rollup better?
Neither clearly leads. Restate starts at Free and Rollup at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Restate or Rollup?
Restate starts at Free and Rollup at Free.
Does Restate or Rollup run on more platforms?
Restate runs on Linux, macOS, Web. Rollup runs on Linux, macOS, Windows.
Can I use Restate for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Restate best used for?
Restate is most often used for payment or order flows where a crash between two external api calls must not double-charge or lose the order, ai agent loops that call tools over minutes or hours and must survive a deployment mid-run, replacing hand-rolled retry, idempotency key and outbox code across a set of microservices, a small team that wants durable workflows without operating a temporal cluster and its database. Of those, payment or order flows where a crash between two external api calls must not double-charge or lose the order and ai agent loops that call tools over minutes or hours and must survive a deployment mid-run are not what Rollup is typically brought in for.
What can Restate do that Rollup cannot?
Restate covers Durable execution, Virtual objects, Single binary runtime, Multi-language SDKs. Rollup covers Tree shaking, Clean output, Multiple output formats, Plugin API.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

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.

Rollup: Is Rollup free?

Yes, open source under the MIT licence.

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.

Rollup: Rollup or webpack?

Rollup is the usual choice for libraries thanks to cleaner output and better tree shaking. webpack remains stronger for complex applications with heavy asset handling.

Restate: Is there a free tier?

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

Rollup: Do I need Rollup if I use Vite?

Not directly. Vite uses Rollup for production builds, so you already benefit from it.

Restate: Which languages are supported?

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

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