Hatchet review (2026): is the free plan enough?
Open-source task queue and durable workflow engine
Black Friday: is there a Hatchet sale?
Hatchet report card
Fair · out of 4.0 · graded Nov 13, 2026
Best for background task queues for engineering teams
Hatchet runs durable background tasks and workflows, and you pay by runs and events, $0 to start. Without a card on file the free tier is 2,000 task runs and 2,000 events a day with 1 day of retention, failed runs still count, and SSO, RBAC and audit logs are Custom only.
Who Hatchet is for
- Fits if you're replacing a queue like Celery with durable workflows
- Works for engineers who want to start free and self-host later
Who Hatchet is not for
- Skip it if you don't write code, as tasks are defined in an SDK
- Tight if you won't add a card, because the free tier is 2,000 runs a day with 1-day retention
- Watch out: on the free tier, new tasks are dropped past the limit
- Watch out: failed runs count as runs, and SSO and audit logs need Custom
Why Hatchet gets a 2.2
Five grades, each with its reason. The GPA is their average: an A is 4 points, an F is none.
- BValue for moneyStarts at $0, then $30 per million runs and $5 per million events, with 1 million of each free a month when a card is on file.
- BFree plan and trialWith a card on file: 1M runs and 1M events a month free. Without one, 2,000 runs and events a day and 1 day of retention.
- CFeaturesTask queues and workflows. SSO, RBAC, audit logs and a HIPAA BAA are listed only on Custom.
- DEase of useNo store rating on record. You write the tasks in code and run workers.
- CPlatforms and integrationsWeb dashboard only, and no integrations list on the listing.
What these grades rest on. Graded from this listing, whose facts were read from Hatchet's own pages on 13 November 2026. Not based on using the product, and shorter than our full reviews. How we review and grade.
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<a href="https://toolgpa.com/tools/hatchet#review"><img src="https://toolgpa.com/badge/hatchet.svg" alt="Hatchet: 2.2 GPA on ToolGPA" width="196" height="56"></a>Where Hatchet stands among automation tools
Hatchet's GPA of 2.2 is higher than 54 of the 134 other automation tools we grade, and level with 35.
It stands best on value for money (B, above 105 of 134) and worst on ease of use (D, above 0).
Each grade against the category
Every bar is all 135 automation tools we grade, cut by the letter each got. Hatchet’s own letter is outlined.
- BValue for moneyAbove 105 of 134, level with 10
- BFree plan and trialAbove 100 of 134, level with 23
- CFeaturesAbove 2 of 134, level with 83
- DEase of useAbove 0 of 134, level with 26
- CPlatforms and integrationsAbove 8 of 134, level with 30
Keep Hatchet, or make your own?
Keep it
To replace Hatchet you would be making connections to other products, each kept working as those products change. That is not a weekend's work, with an AI app builder or without one.
Hatchet is open source, so there is a third way: take its code and run it yourself.
What you could make
- Job scheduling: an app builder makes this well.
What you could not
- Connections to other products, each kept working as those products change.
- An AI agent, with the models and the safeguards behind it.
What this rests on. Hatchet’s listing: what it does, where it runs, what it plugs into and what it costs. It is a judgement about the kind of software this is. We have not built a replacement for it, and making your own means looking after it too. How we decide, and every tool’s verdict.
What is Hatchet?
Hatchet is a task orchestration platform for background jobs, durable workflows, cron schedules and AI agents. Task runs are retried and can be replayed, with logs and traces in a dashboard. It is MIT licensed and can be self-hosted, or run on Hatchet Cloud, where billing is by runs and events.
Worth knowing
- Without a card on file the free tier is limited to 2,000 task runs and 2,000 events a day, with 1-day retention.
- If a limit is passed on the free tier, new tasks are dropped and creation errors appear.
- Retries are not billed, but failed runs count as runs.
- SSO, RBAC, audit logs and HIPAA BAA are listed only on the Custom plan.
Key features
- Durable execution
- Workflows and agents are checkpointed so work resumes after a failure. A failed task can be retried automatically or replayed by hand.
- Background tasks and cron
- Runs background jobs at scale and creates dynamic cron schedules for recurring workflows.
- Webhooks and events
- Events and webhooks can trigger workflows, and events can satisfy wait conditions inside a running workflow.
- Observability
- Traces, logs, metrics and alerts are available for each run, with 7 days of retention on the paid-card pay-as-you-go tier.
- Self-hosting
- The pricing page says Hatchet is 100% open source under the MIT license, and the Custom plan covers self-hosted and hybrid setups.
Hatchet pricing
As of Nov 13, 2026, Hatchet has a free plan, and paid plans start at $0, then $30 per million runs and $5 per million events.
- Starts at
- $0, then $30 per million runs and $5 per million events
- Free plan
- Pay-as-you-go: 1M runs and 1M events free every month, 100 workers, 10 tenants and 50 users with a card on file.
- Free trial
- None listed
| Plan | Price | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Pay-as-you-go | $0to start, then usage-based | 1M runs and 1M events free each month, then $30 per million runs, $5 per million events and $0.10 per GB of durable streams. |
| Custom | Custom | For 100M+ runs a month: dedicated capacity, SSO, RBAC, audit logs, HIPAA, SLAs, and self-hosted or BYOC support. |
Read from hatchet.run on Nov 13, 2026. Prices change, so confirm with Hatchet before you buy.
Hatchet alternatives
- Hatchet vs Restate
Free plan · from $75/mo
- Hatchet vs Inngest
Free plan · from $99/mo
- Hatchet vs Trigger.dev
Free plan · from $10/mo
- Hatchet vs Prefect
Free plan · from $100/mo
- Hatchet vs Dagster
Free trial · from $10/mo
Common questions
Does Hatchet have an Android app?
No Android app was listed when its pages were read on Nov 13, 2026. Hatchet is listed for Web.
Does Hatchet have an iPhone app?
No iPhone app was listed when its pages were read on Nov 13, 2026. Hatchet is listed for Web.
Is Hatchet open source?
Yes. Hatchet is open source, according to its own site. It can also be run on a server of your own.
Sources for this page
The prices, plans, platforms and features above were read from these pages on Nov 13, 2026.