Restate

What it is for

Restate is a durable-execution runtime: you open an Invocation, and the Business Source License 1.1 is $0 for running your own services (you may not offer Restate as a public multi-tenant platform). Use it when the job is workflows and agents that resume after a crash you start at $0 on your host, not when you need a $20 chat seat.

What makes it unique: the cover is the official Restate Invocations desk (inv_… Succeeded, Greeter greet steps, journal timeline) from the UI still — not a pricing card. The journal itself is ops of Invocations. Restate Cloud is Talk to us on the public page we fetched; do not invent a Cloud dollar.

Key features

• Invocations — a durable call you inspect after it runs (UI still; docs). One journal. Cover steps (greet, sleep, reminder) and Restart as new sit here. The empty Cloud Overview is not this desk.
• Services / handlers — a deployed worker Restate invokes (docs). A deployment, not a journal. Register deployment on Cloud Overview is ops of this.
• Virtual objects — a keyed durable entity with exclusive state (docs). An object, not a handler. Workflows that pin state to a key sit here.
• Awakeables / durable promises — a wait you resume later (docs). A pause, not a service. Cover “Woke up 3m ago” is ops of Invocations, not a second desk.
• Self-host / Cloud — the BSL binary you run vs Restate Cloud (LICENSE; Cloud; pricing). A control plane, not an invocation. $0 is the self-host license. Cloud prints Talk to us.

SDKs and restate-server install are install. AI-agent examples are generate options of Services, not extra desks.

Who it's for

Best fit: teams who will stay on the BSL self-host at $0 while they open a first Invocation journal, then talk to Restate about Cloud because the public pricing page does not print a Cloud tile.

Pricing

Verified 2026-10-23 (Asia/Shanghai) from the Business Source License 1.1 and restate.dev/pricing. The pricing HTML we fetched is a Cloud marketing page plus Talk to us — it does not print a Cloud $ tile (the “$20M” line is a Series A headline, not a product price).

• Self-host (BSL 1.1) — $0. You run restate-server and your handlers. Confirmed by the repo LICENSE (“Business Source License 1.1”). You may not offer a public Restate platform to third parties under that grant.
• Restate Cloud — not offered as a public $ tile on the page we fetched. Do not invent a Cloud dollar. Use Talk to us / the Cloud getting-started path.

Confirm your own VM bill; taxes follow that host.

Limitations / costs

• $0 is the license, not the VM. A busy invocation log still costs CPU.
• BSL is not Apache. You cannot resell Restate as a public multi-tenant platform.
• Cloud has no printed $. Do not copy a press figure onto this page.
• A durable-runtime desk, not a Temporal Cloud seat. For Temporal’s hosted service see Temporal. For event functions see Inngest.

Alternatives

• Temporal — durable workflows when you want Temporal Cloud / the Temporal SDK, not Restate’s invocation journal.
• Inngest — event functions when the job is a hosted function desk, not a Restate virtual object.
• Hatchet — OSS task queue when you want a worker queue, not Restate’s keyed objects.

Official tutorial

Official Restate channel video: Restate: an Introduction (oEmbed author: Restate). First-party product intro; the docs Invocations still is the cover.

Written path: docs.restate.dev plus the UI still.

Website

https://restate.dev

Repository

https://github.com/restatedev/restate

Source

Catalog row curated for AI Tools Nav. Cover is the official Restate Invocations desk from the docs UI still. Dollars checked on the BSL 1.1 LICENSE (self-host $0; Cloud no public $). Tutorial oEmbed author: Restate.

Last verified

2026-10-23 (Asia/Shanghai) editorial check.