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Developer Tools · head to head

Restate vs Stytch

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
Stytch logo

Stytch

Cybersecurity

Identity platform with passwordless auth, passkeys and bot detection.

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.; Stytch free tier limited to 10,000 monthly active users; scaling beyond this requires custom pricing negotiation
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Restate and Stytch actually diverge.

Attributes where Restate and Stytch differ
AttributeRestateStytch
Pricing modelPer month by durable action countfreemium
PlatformsLinux, macOS, WebWeb, API
CategoryDeveloper ToolsCybersecurity

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 Stytch

Nothing recorded that Restate does not also cover.

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

Stytch

  • Applications prioritising passwordless and passkey authenticationnot Restate
  • SaaS platforms requiring AI agent authentication and machine-to-machine flowsnot Restate
  • Companies with emerging identity needs such as bot detection and device intelligencenot Restate
  • Organisations building with Next.js and React requiring modern auth patternsnot Restate
  • Applications needing transparent pricing without surprise tiers or feature gatingnot 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.

Stytch

  • Free tier limited to 10,000 monthly active users; scaling beyond this requires custom pricing negotiation
  • Fraud prevention capabilities billed at $0.005 per fingerprint for usage exceeding 10,000 free checks
  • Additional SSO or SCIM connections beyond the 5 included in free tier cost $125 each
  • Brand customisation and email removal require one-time payment of $99
  • HIPAA and advanced fraud protection only available in Enterprise tier
  • No native UI builder; requires custom frontend development for fully-branded auth flows

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

Stytch

Free
  • FreeFree
    • 10,000 monthly active users and AI agents
    • Unlimited organisations
    • 5 SSO or SCIM connections
  • Scaled$undefined/variable
    • Usage-based pricing for users exceeding 10,000
    • All free tier features
    • Volume discounts available
  • Enterprise$undefined/variable
    • Custom pricing
    • Discounted volume rates
    • Enterprise support SLA

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 Stytch if

  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, API.
Stytch review

Questions people ask

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

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.

Stytch: What is included in Stytch's free tier?

The free tier includes 10,000 monthly active users (human and AI agents), unlimited organisations, 5 SSO or SCIM connections, and 1,000 machine-to-machine tokens with full authentication features.

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.

Stytch: Does Stytch support AI agent authentication?

Yes. Stytch provides native AI agent authentication and authorisation, with support for the Model Context Protocol (MCP) for authenticating AI agents accessing external systems.

Source
Restate: Is there a free tier?

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

Stytch: What fraud prevention features does Stytch offer?

Stytch includes bot detection with 99.99% accuracy, device fingerprinting, invisible CAPTCHA, and zero-day device intelligence built into all tiers.

Source
Restate: Which languages are supported?

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

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