Camunda vs Restate (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Camunda grades higher than Restate: 2.2 against 2.0 out of 4.0.
Checked Nov 12, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 · graded Nov 12, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
Camunda grades higher on features and platforms. Restate grades higher on the free plan. They get the same grade on value for money and ease of use.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Camunda
BPMN process orchestration, self-hosted or as a cloud service
Restate
Durable execution runtime for backends and AI agents
Which one is for you
Pick Camunda if
- Fits if your team writes process logic and wants BPMN in a standard format
- Works for developers who start on the free local edition
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you want a published price, as production plans are sold through sales
- Not for you if you need the free edition in production, as it is for non-production use
- Watch out: after 30 days the SaaS account can model but not run processes
- Too heavy for a quick no-code job, as it expects engineers
Pick Restate if
- Fits if you're a backend team who need workflows to survive restarts
- Works for people who want to start free and self-host the open source server
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you don't write backend code
- Tight if you pass 100k actions a month, because the free plan has no overage
- Pricey if you want multi-AZ or a HIPAA BAA, extra at $200 to $500 and $300
- Watch out: the page doesn't say if the monthly prices are annual billing
How we grade them
| 2.2GPACamundaFair | 2.0GPARestateFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | CNo production prices are published, and both production options go through sales. It sits in the middle. | CStarter is $75 a month for 5M actions, Business $300 for 20M and Premium $1,000 for 50M. The page doesn't say whether billing is monthly or annual. |
| Free plan and trial | CSelf-Managed is free for local and non-production use only. The SaaS trial lasts 30 days, then a free account can model but not run processes. | BFree plan: 100k durable actions a month, no card, though only 1 day of history and no overage option. |
| Features | BBPMN and DMN modeling, a process engine, connectors, Operate and Tasklist, reporting and document processing. Nothing in the listing shows a gap in the core work. | CDurable workflows and agents. Throughput is rate-limited per plan; multi-AZ redundancy and a HIPAA BAA cost extra. |
| Ease of use | DProcess models need BPMN skills, and the free edition means hosting it yourself. | DNo store rating on record. It's a code-level service for backend developers. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb tools with connectors to SAP, ServiceNow and Microsoft Teams. No desktop or phone app. | CWeb console on the listing, with no integrations named. |
| Best for | BPMN process orchestration for engineers | durable workflows that survive crashes |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Camunda and Restate. How we grade
Where they differ
- Restate is open source, according to its own site.
- Camunda also covers dashboards.
At a glance
| Camunda | Restate | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | Not published | $75 per month for 5M actions |
| Free plan | Self-Managed is free for local development and non-production use; production needs an Enterprise license. | 100k durable actions a month with community support, no credit card required. |
| Free trial | 30-day free trial of Camunda SaaS with full process execution, then a free account limited to modeling. | None listed |
| Web | ||
| Made by | Camunda | Restate |
| Price read from | camunda.com | restate.dev |
| Checked | Nov 12, 2026 | Nov 13, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Camunda
- No production prices are published; both production options are sold through sales.
- The free Self-Managed edition is for development and non-production use only.
- After the 30-day SaaS trial, a free account keeps modeling but cannot execute processes.
- SaaS Console and Modeler are hosted in the EU, and clusters can be created in other regions.
Restate
- Throughput is rate-limited per plan, with burst headroom, and actions past the allotment are billed as overage.
- Multi-AZ redundancy and a HIPAA BAA cost extra: $200 to $500 and $300 respectively.
- The Free plan has no overage option and keeps only 1 day of history.
- The pricing page does not say whether the monthly prices are billed monthly or annually.
Key features
Camunda
- BPMN and DMN modeling
- Process models in BPMN and decision models in DMN, built in a Desktop Modeler or a collaborative Web Modeler with version history and Git Sync.
- Process engine and connectors
- The Zeebe engine runs BPMN processes and the decision engine runs DMN, with connectors and an integration framework and SDK.
- Operate and Tasklist
- Operate inspects running processes and decisions, and Tasklist handles human tasks with form integration.
- Optimize reporting
- Custom process reports, dashboards and KPI-based monitoring and alerts are listed under Optimize.
- Intelligent document processing
- IDP and RPA, plus SAP and ServiceNow integrations, appear in the feature comparison; IDP is listed for the hosted SaaS edition.
Restate
- Durable actions
- The unit of billing is a durable action: a call, completion, step, sleep, awakeable, RPC, promise or state access. Each started 64KiB of payload adds one.
- Virtual objects
- Stateful virtual objects keep their data in Restate, with storage included per plan and extra billed at $0.50 per GB a month.
- Bring your own cloud
- BYOC runs the managed service inside your own cloud account and VPC, so data stays in your infrastructure.
- Self-hosting
- The Restate server is open source under a license that allows production use, and can be run for free.
- Security options
- A HIPAA BAA is available for $300 on the higher plans, and SAML SSO and SCIM are listed for the top tiers.
Plans
Camunda
Development (Self-Managed)$0
Build and test on your own machine, with no license, for non-production use only. You host it yourself.
Production (Self-Managed)Custom
Enterprise license to run in production on your own infrastructure, with 24x7 support and SLAs. Sold through sales.
Camunda SaaSCustom
Fully hosted by Camunda with the full orchestration platform and 24x7 support. Bought through sales or started with a trial.
Restate
Free$0
100k actions a month, 10 actions per second, 1 GB virtual object storage, 1-day history, community support.
Starter$75
per month for 5M actions; billing basis not stated
50 actions per second, 5 GB storage, 3-day history, 99.9% SLA. Extra actions $25 per million.
Business$300
per month for 20M actions; billing basis not stated
200 actions per second, 20 GB storage, 7-day history, email support. Extra actions $25 per million.
Premium$1,000
per month for 50M actions; billing basis not stated
500 actions per second, 50 GB storage, 30-day history, dedicated Slack channel. Extra actions $15 per million.
EnterpriseCustom
Custom volume, up to hundreds of thousands of actions per second, 99.99% SLA, 24/7 P0 support, legal review.
Ways to pay less
Camunda
No public discounts listed.
Restate
- Startups
Startup and high-volume discounts on request
The pricing FAQ says higher tiers include volume discounts and that startups should get in touch to ask about discounts.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Camunda or Restate?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Camunda publishes no starting price, and Restate starts at $75 per month for 5M actions.
Which has a free plan, Camunda or Restate?
As of Nov 13, 2026, both Camunda and Restate have a free plan.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.