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Developer Tools · head to head

Restate vs Strikingly

Restate logo

Restate

Developer Tools

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

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Strikingly logo

Strikingly

Web Development

One-page website builder for small businesses and creators

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.; Strikingly strikingly is optimized for single-page sites and is not well suited to building large, multi-section websites.
  • They diverge on capability: Restate covers Durable execution, Strikingly covers Drag-and-drop editor.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Restate and Strikingly actually diverge.

Attributes where Restate and Strikingly differ
AttributeRestateStrikingly
Pricing modelPer month by durable action countfreemium
PlatformsLinux, macOS, Webweb
CategoryDeveloper ToolsWeb Development
FoundedUnknown2012

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 Strikingly

  • Drag-and-drop editor
  • Simple Store
  • Blogging
  • Forms and live chat
  • Traffic analytics
  • Social feed integration
  • HTTPS/SSL

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

Strikingly

  • Personal portfolio or resume sitenot Restate
  • Single-product or small online storenot Restate
  • Event or landing pagenot Restate
  • Small business brochure sitenot 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.

Strikingly

  • Strikingly is optimized for single-page sites and is not well suited to building large, multi-section websites.
  • Transaction fees of 2-5% apply to store sales on lower-tier plans in addition to payment processor fees.
  • Design customization is limited compared to code-based site builders, since sites are built from fixed templates.
  • The free plan does not support a custom domain, limiting its use for professional or commercial sites.

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

Strikingly

Free
  • Limited$8/month
    • 2 sites
    • 1 GB storage per site
    • Up to 5 pages
  • Pro$16/month
    • 3 sites
    • 20 GB storage per site
    • Up to 100 pages
  • VIP$49/month
    • 5 sites
    • 100 GB storage per site
    • Up to 500 products

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 Strikingly if

  • You need drag-and-drop editor.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on web.
  • You also want simple store.

Questions people ask

Is Restate or Strikingly better?
Neither clearly leads. Restate starts at Free and Strikingly at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Restate or Strikingly?
Restate starts at Free and Strikingly at Free.
Does Restate or Strikingly run on more platforms?
Restate runs on Linux, macOS, Web. Strikingly 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 Strikingly is typically brought in for.
What can Restate do that Strikingly cannot?
Restate covers Durable execution, Virtual objects, Single binary runtime, Multi-language SDKs. Strikingly covers Drag-and-drop editor, Simple Store, Blogging, Forms and live chat.

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.

Strikingly: Does Strikingly have a free plan?

Strikingly offers a free tier for getting started, with paid plans beginning at $8/month (billed yearly) adding a custom domain, more storage, and lower transaction fees on store sales.

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.

Strikingly: Does Strikingly charge transaction fees on store sales?

Yes. The Limited plan charges a 5% transaction fee, the Pro plan charges 2%, and the VIP plan removes the transaction fee entirely, in addition to any payment processor fees.

Source
Restate: Is there a free tier?

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

Strikingly: What payment methods can I use to sell products?

Strikingly's built-in Simple Store supports accepting payments through PayPal and Stripe.

Source
Restate: Which languages are supported?

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

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