# Restate alternative: node-flow vs Restate

> node-flow vs Restate — JSON-defined orchestration with polling workers in any language, compared with Restate's durable handlers and virtual objects.

Source: https://node-flow.dev/docs/alternatives/restate

**node-flow is a Restate alternative when you want orchestration rather than
durable RPC.** Restate is a durable-execution server: your services register
handlers, Restate proxies calls to them and journals each step so a handler
resumes where it stopped. node-flow keeps the process as a JSON DAG and leases
each step to a worker — the engine, not a handler, owns control flow.

## node-flow vs Restate at a glance

|                                         | node-flow                                                       | Restate                                                 |
| --------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------- |
| Workflow is…                            | A JSON DAG                                                      | Code in durable handlers, workflows and virtual objects |
| How work reaches your code              | Workers poll and lease                                          | Restate pushes invocations to your service              |
| Languages                               | Any, over HTTP                                                  | Languages with a Restate SDK                            |
| Storage                                 | PostgreSQL 18 — queryable with SQL, backed up like any database | Restate's own embedded log and state store              |
| Visual DAG, editor and operator actions | Yes                                                             | Run inspection in Restate's UI and CLI                  |
| Human approvals                         | `HUMAN` task with inbox                                         | Awakeables / durable promises plus your own UI          |
| Conductor API                           | Yes                                                             | No                                                      |

## Choose which

**Choose Restate** for low-latency durable RPC between services you own —
exactly-once-style handlers, keyed virtual objects, sagas written as code.

**Choose node-flow** when the process should be a readable, versioned
document; when steps are run by many teams' workers in many languages; and when
you want all state in a Postgres database your team already knows how to run.

## Frequently asked questions

### How is node-flow different from Restate?

Restate makes service handlers durable by journaling their steps. node-flow is an orchestrator: a JSON workflow definition drives execution, and workers in any language poll for the steps they own. All state lives in PostgreSQL.

## Next

* [What node-flow is](/docs/guide)
* [Temporal alternative](/docs/alternatives/temporal)