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Hatchet

Modern task queue and workflow orchestration built on PostgreSQL

freemiumupdated Aug 16, 2026

Hatchet is an open-source task queue and workflow orchestration platform designed as a modern alternative to Celery and BullMQ. Built on PostgreSQL for durability, it handles background jobs, AI agent workflows, RAG pipelines, and GPU task scheduling with TypeScript and Python SDKs. YC W24 batch with 7,400+ GitHub stars, MIT licensed. Supports fan-out, rate limiting, retries, and real-time observability through a web dashboard.

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Hatchet rethinks task queues for the AI era. While Celery and BullMQ were designed for simple job processing, Hatchet handles the complex patterns that AI workloads demand: long-running agent loops, fan-out to multiple specialized models, rate limiting per API provider, and durable state that survives worker crashes. The PostgreSQL foundation means no Redis dependency and built-in ACID guarantees for task state.

Workflows are defined as code using TypeScript or Python SDKs with step-based composition. Each step can have its own retry policy, timeout, and concurrency limit. The platform supports cron scheduling, event-driven triggers, and webhook-based execution. The web dashboard provides real-time visibility into queue depths, worker health, step-level traces, and error rates — essential for debugging complex AI pipelines in production.

Hatchet is MIT licensed with 7,400+ GitHub stars and backing from Y Combinator's W24 batch. Self-hosting via Docker or Kubernetes is fully supported, with Hatchet Cloud offering managed hosting with usage-based pricing. The project is particularly popular for RAG pipeline orchestration, multi-step LLM workflows, and GPU task scheduling where workloads are bursty and need intelligent queue management.

Pricing

Free self-hosted (MIT); Hatchet Cloud usage-based

Platforms

TypeScript/Python SDKs, Docker, Kubernetes, Cloud managed

Categories

Tags

Use Cases

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Trigger.dev

Open-source background jobs and AI workflows for TypeScript

Trigger.dev is an open-source platform for building and deploying background jobs, AI agents, and long-running workflows in TypeScript. It eliminates serverless timeouts with durable task execution, automatic retries, queue-based concurrency control, and elastic scaling. Used by 30,000+ developers at companies like MagicSchool and Icon.com, it processes hundreds of millions of agent runs monthly. Backed by a $16M Series A led by Dalton Caldwell's Standard Capital fund.

freemiumOpen Source
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Inngest

Durable workflow orchestration for serverless and edge

Inngest is a workflow orchestration platform that replaces queues, state management, and scheduling with durable step functions. Write functions in TypeScript, Python, or Go that survive failures, sleep for days between steps, and retry only failed steps. SDKs integrate natively with Next.js, Vercel, and serverless platforms. Free tier includes 50,000 runs/month. Used by Resend, Mintlify, and Ocoya for background jobs, AI orchestration, and event-driven workflows.

freemium
Temporal logo

Temporal

Durable execution for fault-tolerant workflows

Temporal is an open-source durable execution platform that ensures application code runs to completion regardless of failures or outages. It captures workflow state at every step, enabling seamless recovery without custom retry logic. With SDKs for Go, Java, Python, TypeScript, and .NET, Temporal powers mission-critical orchestration at Netflix, Nvidia, and other enterprises. Valued at $5B, it replaces fragile cron jobs, state machines, and saga patterns with resilient workflow-as-code.

freemiumOpen Source
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Restate

Durable execution engine for workflows and AI agents

Restate is a durable execution engine that provides reliable workflow orchestration for AI agents and backend services. It runs as a single binary with no external dependencies, delivering sub-50ms latency and 94K+ actions per second. Supports TypeScript, Python, Go, Java, and Kotlin SDKs with built-in retries, sagas, and virtual object state. MIT licensed with 3,700+ GitHub stars.

freemiumOpen Source

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Used in Stacks

Comparisons

Hatchet vs Temporal — PostgreSQL-Based Task Queue vs Distributed Workflow Engine

Hatchet and Temporal both provide durable task execution but target different architectural preferences. Hatchet is a YC-backed modern task queue built on PostgreSQL with TypeScript and Python SDKs. Temporal is the enterprise standard for distributed workflows with Go, Java, TypeScript, and Python support. This comparison helps backend teams choose between PostgreSQL simplicity and distributed system power.

HatchetTemporal

FAQ

What is Hatchet?

Hatchet is an open-source task queue and workflow orchestration platform designed as a modern alternative to Celery and BullMQ. Built on PostgreSQL for durability, it handles background jobs, AI agent workflows, RAG pipelines, and GPU task scheduling with TypeScript and Python SDKs. YC W24 batch with 7,400+ GitHub stars, MIT licensed. Supports fan-out, rate limiting, retries, and real-time observability through a web dashboard.

Is Hatchet free?

Hatchet offers a free tier alongside paid plans. Free self-hosted (MIT); Hatchet Cloud usage-based

What are the best Hatchet alternatives?

The top editor-verified Hatchet alternatives are Trigger.dev, Inngest, Temporal, and more.

How does Hatchet score in our review?

Our hands-on review scores Hatchet 80/100 overall, based on speed, privacy, and developer-experience testing.