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Developer Tools · head to head

Restate vs Windmill

Restate logo

Restate

Developer Tools

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

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Windmill logo

Windmill

Automation Integration

Open-source developer platform for building scripts, workflows, and internal apps

From
Free
Rated
-
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.; Windmill free self-hosted tier caps SSO users at 10 and workspaces at 3, requiring Enterprise for larger teams.
  • They diverge on capability: Restate covers Durable execution, Windmill covers Script-to-workflow engine.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Restate and Windmill actually diverge.

Attributes where Restate and Windmill differ
AttributeRestateWindmill
Pricing modelPer month by durable action countopen-source
PlatformsLinux, macOS, Webweb, api, linux, windows, mac
CategoryDeveloper ToolsAutomation Integration

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 Windmill

  • Script-to-workflow engine
  • Auto-generated UIs
  • Self-hosted deployment
  • Git sync
  • SSO support
  • Audit logs

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

Windmill

  • Turning ad-hoc scripts into scheduled jobs and APIsnot Restate
  • Building internal tools from existing Python/TypeScript codenot Restate
  • Self-hosted automation for engineering teamsnot Restate
  • Orchestrating multi-language workflowsnot 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.

Windmill

  • Free self-hosted tier caps SSO users at 10 and workspaces at 3, requiring Enterprise for larger teams.
  • Compute unit and seat-based pricing (developer vs. operator seats, worker compute units) adds pricing complexity beyond a flat monthly fee.
  • Email triggers are capped at 100/day on the free tier, limiting event-driven use cases without upgrading.
  • Smaller ecosystem of pre-built integrations compared to more established automation tools like n8n.

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

Windmill

Free
  • Free / Open-sourceFree
    • Unlimited executions
    • Self-hosted deployment
    • Max 10 users with SSO
  • Enterprise$120/month
    • Unlimited executions and workspaces
    • Uncapped SSO seats
    • 24/7 priority support (3-hour response)

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 Windmill if

  • You need script-to-workflow engine.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on web, api, linux, windows, mac.
  • You also want auto-generated uis.
Windmill review

Questions people ask

Is Restate or Windmill better?
Neither clearly leads. Restate starts at Free and Windmill at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Restate or Windmill?
Restate starts at Free and Windmill at Free.
Does Restate or Windmill run on more platforms?
Restate runs on Linux, macOS, Web. Windmill runs on web, api, linux, windows, mac.
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 Windmill is typically brought in for.
What can Restate do that Windmill cannot?
Restate covers Durable execution, Virtual objects, Single binary runtime, Multi-language SDKs. Windmill covers Script-to-workflow engine, Auto-generated UIs, Self-hosted deployment, Git sync.

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.

Windmill: What does Windmill cost?

Windmill's Free and Open-source edition is $0/month for self-hosted use with unlimited executions, while Enterprise starts at $120/month with unlimited workspaces and uncapped SSO seats, priced further by developer/operator seats and compute units.

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.

Windmill: Is there a free plan and what are its limits?

The free self-hosted plan supports unlimited executions but caps SSO at 10 users, workspaces at 3, groups/permissions at 4, and email triggers at 100 per day.

Source
Restate: Is there a free tier?

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

Windmill: How is usage metered on Windmill Enterprise?

Enterprise usage is metered through seats (developer seats at $20/month, operator seats at $10/month) and compute units, e.g. $100/month for 2 standard-worker compute units.

Source
Restate: Which languages are supported?

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

Windmill: What happens to a self-hosted Windmill deployment if the company shuts down?

The pricing page addresses this directly as an FAQ topic, noting that self-hosted applications built on the open-source edition can continue running independently of Windmill the company.

Source
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