The Restate Insider’s Guide
Everything we know about Restate in one document: what it costs, its grades, getting a refund, getting help and what else to look at. Read it here, or keep a copy.
Restate
The Insider’s Guide
Durable execution runtime for backends and AI agents
Every plan, grade, refund rule and rival among automation tools, read from Restate’s own pages.
Made by Restate · checked Nov 13, 2026 · toolgpa.com
Contents
- 01WelcomeWhat it is, who it suits, its grades and the ten things to know first
- 02What it costsEvery plan, the free plan, ways to pay less and how prices have moved
- 03What it doesIts main features, where it runs, what it works with and who makes it
- 04Where it standsIts grades against its category, and whether to keep it or make your own
- 05The alternativesThe tools it is most often weighed against, side by side
- 06Quick answersThe questions people ask about it, each answered in a line or two
- 07About ToolGPAWho made this guide, what else is on the site, and how to cite it
ToolGPA put this guide together from Restate’s own pages, its app-store listings and our grades. Every fact in it is on Restate’s page too, where it is kept up to date. Checked Nov 13, 2026.
Part 01 · Overview
Welcome
What it is, who it suits, its grades and the ten things to know first
2.0
GPA, above 26 of the 134 other automation tools we grade
Restate is a durable execution runtime that keeps functions, workflows and agent loops running across failures by journaling each step. It is open source and can be run on your own servers, or used as Restate Cloud, a managed service billed by durable actions, with a bring-your-own-cloud option.
To get you started, here are 9 things to know about Restate, taken from its own pages and our grades.
It's a code-level service for backend developers.
- 1
Best for durable workflows that survive crashes
Restate is durable execution for backend code, priced by durable actions.
- 2
Paid plans start at $75 a month
As its pricing page puts it: $75 per month for 5M actions.
- 3
There is a free plan
100k durable actions a month with community support, no credit card required.
- 4
It runs on Web
Web.
- 5
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.
- 6
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.
- 7
Bring your own cloud
BYOC runs the managed service inside your own cloud account and VPC, so data stays in your infrastructure.
- 8
A 2.0 GPA, above 26 of 134
That is against the other automation tools we grade, on value, the free plan, features, ease of use and platforms.
- 9
Keep it
To replace Restate 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.
Restate at a glance
- Pricing
- Free plan, from $75 per month for 5M actions
- Free plan
- Yes
- Free trial
- None stated
- Runs on
- Web
- Made by
- Restate
- Category
- Automation
- Our grade
- 2.0 GPA, fair
The report card
Best for durable workflows that survive crashes
Restate is durable execution for backend code, priced by durable actions. The free plan gives 100,000 actions a month and 1 day of history with no overage option; Starter is $75 for 5 million, and multi-AZ and HIPAA are extra.
| Subject | Grade | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | C | Starter 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 | B | Free plan: 100k durable actions a month, no card, though only 1 day of history and no overage option. |
| Features | C | Durable workflows and agents. Throughput is rate-limited per plan; multi-AZ redundancy and a HIPAA BAA cost extra. |
| Ease of use | D | No store rating on record. It's a code-level service for backend developers. |
| Platforms and integrations | C | Web console on the listing, with no integrations named. |
An A is worth 4 points, a B 3, a C 2, a D 1 and an F nothing. The GPA is the average of the five.
Who Restate is for
- 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
Who it is not for
- 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
Good to know
Good for
- Backend teams that need workflows and agents to survive crashes and restarts
- Teams that want to start free and self-host the open source server
Worth knowing
- 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.
Part 02 · Pricing
What it costs
Every plan, the free plan, ways to pay less and how prices have moved
$75
A month to start. There is a free plan too
Restate has a free plan. Paid plans start at $75 per month for 5M actions.
The page doesn't say whether billing is monthly or annual.
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.
Enterprise
Custom
Custom volume, up to hundreds of thousands of actions per second, 99.99% SLA, 24/7 P0 support, legal review.
The free plan
100k durable actions a month with community support, no credit card required.
Read from restate.dev on Nov 13, 2026.
Ways to pay less
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.
Stated on restate.dev
Part 03 · Features
What it does
Its main features, where it runs, what it works with and who makes it
1
Place it runs: Web
Durable execution runtime for backends and AI agents. Here is what it does, as its own site describes it, and what it covers: open source, self-hostable, workflow automation, AI agents.
Throughput is rate-limited per plan; multi-AZ redundancy and a HIPAA BAA cost extra.
- 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.
Where it runs
- Web
What it works with
Its own pages name no integrations.
Restate is made by Restate.
Part 04 · Standing
Where it stands
Its grades against its category, and whether to keep it or make your own
26/134
Other automation tools it is graded above
Restate's GPA of 2.0 is higher than 26 of the 134 other automation tools we grade, and level with 27.
It stands best on free plan and trial (B, above 100 of 134) and worst on ease of use (D, above 0).
Its paid plans start at $75 a month, against a middle price of $22.17 for the category: 50 of the 65 others that charge start lower.
On features, ease of use and platforms it scores 1.7 out of 4. 57 tools score higher and cost less.
Each grade against the category
Every bar is all 135 automation tools we grade, cut by the letter each got. Restate’s own letter is outlined.
- CValue for moneyAbove 22 of 134
- BFree plan and trialAbove 100 of 134
- CFeaturesAbove 2 of 134
- DEase of useAbove 0 of 134
- CPlatforms and integrationsAbove 8 of 134
Price against what you get
Each dot is one of 80 automation tools. Further left costs less; higher up scores better on features, ease of use and platforms. Restate is the marked dot.
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
Keep it, or make your own?
Whether this is something you could build for yourself with an AI app builder, and what you would give up.
Keep it
To replace Restate 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.
That makes this kind of software worth paying for, not this one in particular: 81 of the 134 other automation tools grade higher. It costs $900 a year. Restate is open source, so there is a third way: take its code and run it yourself.
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 a company asks for before it lets staff use something: single sign-on, SCIM and HIPAA.
What this rests on. Restate’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.
Part 05 · Alternatives
The alternatives
The tools it is most often weighed against, side by side
Hatchet, Inngest, Trigger.dev, Camunda and Prefect
The 5 tools Restate is most often weighed against, with where each one differs from it.
- 2.2GPA
Hatchet
Free plan · from $0
Open-source task queue and durable workflow engine.
- Hatchet also covers job scheduling.
- 2.4GPA
Inngest
Free plan · from $99/mo
Durable execution for background jobs, event-driven apps and agents.
- Restate is self-hostable, according to its own site.
- 2.2GPA
Trigger.dev
Free plan · from $10/mo
Open-source platform for long-running background tasks and AI agents.
- 2.2GPA
Camunda
Free plan
BPMN process orchestration, self-hosted or as a cloud service.
- Restate is open source, according to its own site.
- Camunda also covers dashboards.
- 2.4GPA
Prefect
Free plan · from $100/mo
Python workflow orchestration with an open-source core and a cloud.
Part 06 · Questions
Quick answers
The questions people ask about it, each answered in a line or two
12
Questions, each answered in a line or two
The short version of everything above, for when you only need the answer. Each one is told in full in its part of the guide.
Is Restate free?
Restate has a free plan. 100k durable actions a month with community support, no credit card required.
How much does Restate cost?
Restate lists 5 plans. Free: $0.
What platforms does Restate work on?
Restate is available on Web.
Does Restate offer any discounts?
Restate publicly lists the following: Startup and high-volume discounts on request.
Does Restate have an Android app?
No Android app was listed when its pages were read on Nov 13, 2026. Restate is listed for Web.
Does Restate have an iPhone app?
No iPhone app was listed when its pages were read on Nov 13, 2026. Restate is listed for Web.
Is Restate open source?
Yes. Restate is open source, according to its own site.
Who makes Restate?
Restate is made by a company of the same name.
What are the alternatives to Restate?
The closest alternatives to Restate in our directory are Hatchet, Inngest, Trigger.dev, Camunda and Prefect.
How does Restate compare with other automation tools?
Restate's GPA of 2.0 is higher than 26 of the 134 other automation tools we grade, and level with 27.
Is Restate good value for money?
ToolGPA grades Restate C for value for money. Its paid plans start at $75 a month, against a middle price of $22.17 for the category: 50 of the 65 others that charge start lower.
Could I make my own version of Restate?
To replace Restate you would be making connections to other products, each kept working as those products change.
Where this guide comes from
The prices, plans, platforms and features were read from Restate’s own pages on Nov 13, 2026, and the grades were given on Nov 13, 2026. Graded from this listing, whose facts were read from Restate's own pages on 13 November 2026. Not based on using the product, and shorter than our full reviews.
Every tool we list gets five grades, A to F, each with its reason, and a GPA that averages them. How each is decided is at toolgpa.com/grades. This guide is ToolGPA’s own work; it is not made, paid for or approved by Restate. Prices change, so check restate.dev before you buy.
Part 07 · About
About ToolGPA
Who made this guide, what else is on the site, and how to cite it
7,721
Tools graded, in 95 categories
ToolGPA grades software the way a school report grades a pupil: five subjects, a letter for each with the reason written beside it, and a GPA that averages them. Prices, plans and platforms are read from each maker’s own pages and dated, so you always know how fresh a figure is.
Every grade, review and ranking on ToolGPA is our own judgement. No company can pay for a grade or change one. Every tool on the site has a guide like this one, free to download and pass on. It all lives at toolgpa.com.
7,721
tools graded
95
categories
739
price changes on record
579
apps priced in 12 countries
What else is on toolgpa.com
- Restate, kept up to dateEverything in this guide, with prices and grades as they are todaytoolgpa.com/tools/restate
- How grades are givenThe rules behind every letter and every GPAtoolgpa.com/grades
- Value chartsWhat each tool costs against what it scores, for every categorytoolgpa.com/charts
- CompareAny two tools side by side, plan by plantoolgpa.com/compare
- Price changesEvery price rise and cut on record, each with its sourcetoolgpa.com/price-changes
- Prices by countryWhat apps cost on the App Store in 12 countriestoolgpa.com/prices-by-country
- Pay lessEvery public discount: yearly billing, students, nonprofitstoolgpa.com/save
- Keep or makeWhich tools are worth paying for, and which you could build yourselftoolgpa.com/keep-or-make
Scan for the live page
Prices and grades as they are today
Quoting this guide?
Please name ToolGPA and link to the live page, so readers can check the figures for themselves:
ToolGPA, "Restate: The Insider's Guide", checked Nov 13, 2026. https://toolgpa.com/tools/restate
Know someone choosing between automation tools?
Send them this guide: toolgpa.com/tools/restate/guide
ToolGPA elsewhere: youtube.com/@toolgpa
See our other guides
The best-graded automation tools after Restate, each with an Insider's Guide of its own.
- Automation Insider's GuideEvery one of the 135 automation tools we grade, compared
- Knime Insider's GuideOpen-source visual workflows for data analysis and automation3.2 GPA
- IFTTT Insider's GuideSimple trigger-and-action automations for apps and smart devices3.0 GPA
- Node-RED Insider's GuideOpen-source, flow-based programming tool for event-driven apps3.0 GPA
Choosing software? Every tool graded, every price dated.
Compare tools at toolgpa.com ›Everything in this guide is ToolGPA’s own summary of what Restate’s pages, its app-store listings and public reviews said on the dates shown. Grades are our judgement under the rules at toolgpa.com/grades. Every grade, review and ranking on ToolGPA is our own judgement. No company can pay for a grade or change one. Restate is a trademark of its owner, and this guide is not made, paid for or approved by Restate. Prices and plans change: check restate.dev before you buy.