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Restate vs SolidJS

Restate logo

Restate

Developer Tools

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

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
SolidJS logo

SolidJS

Web Development

Reactive JavaScript framework with no virtual DOM

From
Free
Free plan
Yes

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.; SolidJS much smaller ecosystem than React, so many problems have no off-the-shelf library
  • They diverge on capability: Restate covers Durable execution, SolidJS covers No virtual DOM.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Restate and SolidJS actually diverge.

Attributes where Restate and SolidJS differ
AttributeRestateSolidJS
Pricing modelPer month by durable action countOpen source, no licence fee
PlatformsLinux, macOS, WebWeb
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 SolidJS

  • No virtual DOM
  • Components run once
  • JSX syntax
  • Small bundles

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 SolidJS
  • AI agent loops that call tools over minutes or hours and must survive a deployment mid-runnot SolidJS
  • Replacing hand-rolled retry, idempotency key and outbox code across a set of microservicesnot SolidJS
  • A small team that wants durable workflows without operating a Temporal cluster and its databasenot SolidJS

SolidJS

  • Interfaces where update performance is the binding constraintnot Restate
  • Teams comfortable with React syntax who want finer-grained reactivitynot Restate
  • Applications where bundle size directly affects the businessnot 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.

SolidJS

  • Much smaller ecosystem than React, so many problems have no off-the-shelf library
  • The React-like syntax is misleading: components run once, and React habits produce subtle bugs
  • Smaller hiring pool and fewer learning resources than the mainstream frameworks

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

SolidJS

Free
  • SolidJSFree
    • Full library
    • Commercial use permitted
    • No usage limits

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.

Choose SolidJS if

  • You need no virtual dom.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You also want components run once.

Questions people ask

Is Restate or SolidJS better?
Neither clearly leads. Restate starts at Free and SolidJS at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Restate or SolidJS?
Restate starts at Free and SolidJS at Free.
Does Restate or SolidJS run on more platforms?
Restate runs on Linux, macOS, Web. SolidJS runs on Web.
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 SolidJS is typically brought in for.
What can Restate do that SolidJS cannot?
Restate covers Durable execution, Virtual objects, Single binary runtime, Multi-language SDKs. SolidJS covers No virtual DOM, Components run once, JSX syntax, Small bundles.

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.

SolidJS: Is SolidJS 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.

SolidJS: Is SolidJS just React without the virtual DOM?

The syntax is similar but the model is not. Solid components run once and reactivity is fine-grained, so patterns that are correct in React can be wrong in Solid.

Restate: Is there a free tier?

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

SolidJS: Why is SolidJS fast?

It compiles away much of the framework and updates individual DOM nodes directly, rather than re-rendering components and diffing a virtual DOM.

Restate: Which languages are supported?

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

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