Apache OpenWhisk vs Restate
Apache OpenWhisk
openwhisk.apache.org
Restate
restate.devSide by side
| Figure | Apache OpenWhisk | Restate |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | — | $75/mo |
| Free plan | — | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | — | Yes |
| Windows | Yes | — |
| macOS | Yes | — |
| Linux | Yes | — |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 0 | 3 |
| Spec score · Serverless Platforms | 7.9 (#8) | 7.9 (#10) |
| Integrations | Packages include integrations for Kafka, Cloudant, push notifications, Slack, RSS feeds, GitHub, JIRA, and custom data services. | Listed integrations include Vercel AI SDK, OpenAI Agents SDK, Google ADK, Google Gemini, Pydantic AI, and LangChain. |
| Support | The developer mailing list is for project design and development, not technical support; the project points users to documentation and community channels for help. | The cloud page offers a contact sales option and a request access link for BYOC. |
Plans
In their own words
Apache OpenWhisk
Apache OpenWhisk has no write-up on Specifiction yet; its figures are above.
Restate
Restate is a durable execution runtime for building resilient services, workflows, and AI agents. It records progress during execution and resumes after failures without discarding completed work. Its building blocks include durable functions, workflows, Virtual Objects, queues, durable RPC, timers, signals, and flow control. The interface exposes execution journals and controls to cancel, kill, restart, or pause executions. Restate runs as a self-hosted single binary, managed Restate Cloud, or BYOC in a customer cloud account. Listed SDKs include TypeScript, Python, Java, Go, Kotlin, Rust, and Ruby. Integrations include Vercel AI SDK, OpenAI Agents SDK, Google ADK, Google Gemini, Pydantic AI, and LangChain. The homepage reports under 10ms P99 latency overhead under load for durable actions. The Free plan is free for 50k durable actions monthly with no credit card. Restate Cloud starts at $75 a month.