Hatchet vs Inngest: Which is Better in 2026?
Choosing between Hatchet and Inngest? Both are popular background jobs & workflows tools. Below we compare them on pricing, free tiers, features, and pros & cons so you can pick the right fit for your stack.
Hatchet is for: Teams orchestrating background tasks and AI agent workflows who want an open-source engine that runs on Postgres.
Inngest is for: TypeScript, Python and Go teams who want durable multi-step functions and event-driven jobs without running queue infrastructure.
Quick verdict
There’s no single winner; pick on your constraint. Choose Hatchet if you want an open-source task engine you can self-host on the Postgres you already run. Choose Inngest if you want multi-step functions where each step retries and keeps its state, without running queues or workers.
Hatchet vs Inngest — Side by Side
| Hatchet | Inngest | |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Background Jobs & Workflows | Background Jobs & Workflows |
| What it is | Task orchestration engine | Hosted durable workflow platform |
| Languages | Python, TypeScript, Go, Ruby | TypeScript, Python, Go, Kotlin |
| What it runs on | Hatchet Cloud or self-hosted on Postgres | Inngest Cloud or self-hosted; steps run in your app |
| How you pay | Per task run and event; no plan fee | Monthly plan plus per-execution overage |
| Free access | 1M task runs a month with a card on file | 50,000 executions a month |
| Pricing | Free | Free · paid from $99/mo |
| Starting price | Free tier available | Free tier available |
| Free tier | ||
| Rating | 4.4 | 4.6 |
| Best for | Background Jobs & Workflows — Postgres-backed, AI task orchestration, open source | Background Jobs & Workflows — durable functions, event-driven jobs, serverless apps |
Pros & Cons
- Simple Postgres-based architecture
- Easy to self-host
- Built for AI task orchestration
- Fine-grained concurrency control
- Younger project, smaller community
- Fewer integrations than incumbents
- No infrastructure to run
- Durable multi-step workflows
- Event-driven + cron in one model
- Great local dev experience
- Execution-based pricing can add up at scale
- Newer ecosystem than Celery/Sidekiq
Key Features Compared
Hatchet
- Open source under the MIT license; self-hosting needs only PostgreSQL for basic use
- Hatchet Cloud is pay-as-you-go with no plan fee
- With a card on file: 1M task runs and 1M events a month included, then $30 per 1M task runs and $5 per 1M events
- Card-on-file plan includes 100 workers, 50 users and 7-day retention
- Without a card, lower limits apply and tasks are dropped once a free limit is reached
- SDKs for Python, TypeScript, Go and Ruby
Inngest
- Free: 50,000 executions a month, 5 concurrent steps, 5 seats and 24-hour trace history; work pauses at the quota
- Pro from $99 a month with 1M executions, 100 concurrent steps and 7-day trace history
- Pro overage: $50 per extra 1M executions
- Business from $499 a month with 10M executions and 14-day trace history; Enterprise custom
- Self-hosting supported since the 1.0 release, on SQLite by default or your own Postgres and Redis
- SDKs for TypeScript, Python, Go and Kotlin
Choose Hatchet if…
- You want an open-source task engine you can self-host on the Postgres you already run.
- You need concurrency and rate limits per tenant or per key.
- You want managed hosting with no monthly plan fee.
Choose Inngest if…
- You want multi-step functions where each step retries and keeps its state, without running queues or workers.
- You trigger background work from events and cron schedules in the same codebase.
- You deploy to serverless platforms and want jobs to run inside your existing app.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Hatchet better than Inngest?⌄
There’s no single winner; pick on your constraint. Choose Hatchet if you want an open-source task engine you can self-host on the Postgres you already run. Choose Inngest if you want multi-step functions where each step retries and keeps its state, without running queues or workers.
What is the difference between Hatchet and Inngest?⌄
What it is — Hatchet: Task orchestration engine. Inngest: Hosted durable workflow platform. Languages — Hatchet: Python, TypeScript, Go, Ruby. Inngest: TypeScript, Python, Go, Kotlin. What it runs on — Hatchet: Hatchet Cloud or self-hosted on Postgres. Inngest: Inngest Cloud or self-hosted; steps run in your app. How you pay — Hatchet: Per task run and event; no plan fee. Inngest: Monthly plan plus per-execution overage. Free access — Hatchet: 1M task runs a month with a card on file. Inngest: 50,000 executions a month.
Hatchet vs Inngest: which is cheaper?⌄
Hatchet pricing: Free. Inngest pricing: Free · paid from $99/mo. Confirm current pricing on each tool's official site, as plans change.
Which is rated higher, Hatchet or Inngest?⌄
In our catalog, Hatchet rates 4.4 out of 5 and Inngest rates 4.6 out of 5, so Inngest has a slight edge on reviews.
When should I skip both Hatchet and Inngest?⌄
Skip Hatchet if you want a library rather than a separate engine. Graphile Worker and River run inside your app on Postgres. Skip Inngest if your jobs are simple and you already run Redis. BullMQ runs on your own Redis with no per-execution bill.
Sources · tool facts checked November 2026
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