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| Pricing | Free | Paid |
| Capabilities | 14 decomposed | 13 decomposed |
| Times Matched | 0 | 0 |
Hatchet executes complex multi-step workflows defined as directed acyclic graphs (DAGs) stored in the v1_dag table, with built-in hierarchical concurrency management that enforces resource limits at workflow, step, and action levels. The system uses a state machine approach for task lifecycle management (v1_task table) with automatic persistence, enabling workflows to survive service restarts and coordinate dependencies across distributed workers via gRPC streaming.
Unique: Implements hierarchical concurrency control (workflow-level, step-level, action-level semaphores) with fairness scheduling specifically optimized for LLM rate limiting, rather than generic task queue concurrency. Uses PostgreSQL partitioning for v1_task table to scale task state management without sharding application logic.
vs alternatives: More sophisticated than Celery/RQ for concurrency fairness; lighter than Airflow/Prefect by eliminating scheduler overhead through event-driven task assignment via gRPC streaming.
Hatchet triggers workflow runs in response to external events using a CEL (Common Expression Language) expression matcher stored in v1_filter and v1_match tables. When an event is published to the system, the dispatcher evaluates CEL expressions against event payloads to determine which workflows should be triggered, enabling complex conditional logic without hardcoding trigger rules. This architecture decouples event producers from workflow definitions.
Unique: Uses CEL (Common Expression Language) for event matching instead of regex or hardcoded rules, enabling Turing-complete conditional logic while remaining sandboxed and safe. Stores filter definitions in v1_filter table, allowing triggers to be updated without redeploying workers.
vs alternatives: More expressive than webhook path-based routing; simpler than building custom event processors with Kafka Streams or Flink.
Hatchet scales horizontally by running multiple dispatcher instances, each managing a subset of worker connections based on worker affinity or hash-based sharding. Workers register with a specific dispatcher instance, and the system routes task assignments to the appropriate dispatcher based on worker availability. The architecture supports adding/removing dispatcher instances without downtime, with workers automatically reconnecting to available dispatchers on failure.
Unique: Implements dispatcher sharding with worker affinity-based routing, allowing horizontal scaling of task assignment throughput without central bottleneck. Workers register with specific dispatcher instances and automatically reconnect on failure.
vs alternatives: More scalable than single-dispatcher architecture; simpler than Kafka-based task distribution but requires careful sharding configuration.
Hatchet includes built-in observability through structured logging (api/v1/server/middleware/telemetry/telemetry.go) and metrics export to OpenTelemetry-compatible backends. The system logs task execution events, worker lifecycle events, and API requests with structured fields (tenant_id, workflow_id, task_id) for easy filtering and correlation. Metrics include task latency, success rates, worker utilization, and dispatcher throughput, exported via OpenTelemetry SDK.
Unique: Implements structured logging with correlation IDs (tenant_id, workflow_id, task_id) and OpenTelemetry metrics export, enabling end-to-end tracing across dispatcher, workers, and API. Logs are JSON-formatted for easy parsing by log aggregation platforms.
vs alternatives: More comprehensive than basic logging; simpler than custom instrumentation but requires external observability platform for full value.
Hatchet supports PostgreSQL PGMQ as a built-in message queue alternative to RabbitMQ, eliminating the need for a separate message broker in simpler deployments. PGMQ uses PostgreSQL tables for queue storage, with the same API as RabbitMQ but without external dependencies. This is suitable for deployments where PostgreSQL is already required and operational complexity should be minimized.
Unique: Provides PostgreSQL PGMQ as a built-in message queue alternative to RabbitMQ, eliminating external broker dependencies for simpler deployments. Uses PostgreSQL tables for queue storage with the same API as RabbitMQ.
vs alternatives: Simpler than RabbitMQ for small deployments; lower throughput but fewer operational dependencies.
Hatchet stores workflow definitions with versioning, allowing multiple versions of a workflow to coexist. Each workflow run is bound to a specific workflow version, ensuring that historical runs can be replayed or analyzed against the exact workflow definition that executed them. The system maintains immutable run history in the v1_workflow_run table, preventing accidental modification of historical data.
Unique: Implements workflow versioning with immutable run history, binding each run to a specific workflow version. Enables safe workflow updates without affecting in-flight runs and maintains audit trail of all workflow changes.
vs alternatives: More robust than unversioned workflows; simpler than full workflow state machine versioning in Temporal.
Hatchet's dispatcher service (dispatcher_v1.go) maintains persistent gRPC streaming connections to workers, pushing task assignments in real-time rather than workers polling a queue. The dispatcher monitors worker heartbeats and automatically reassigns tasks from dead workers, implementing a pull-based model where workers declare availability and the dispatcher matches them to queued tasks. This architecture reduces latency and enables fair scheduling across heterogeneous worker pools.
Unique: Uses persistent gRPC streaming for push-based task assignment instead of pull-based polling, with automatic heartbeat-based failure detection and task reassignment. Dispatcher maintains worker registration state and matches tasks to workers based on declared availability, enabling fair scheduling without explicit queue management.
vs alternatives: Lower latency than Redis/RabbitMQ polling-based queues; more sophisticated failure detection than simple timeout-based reassignment.
Hatchet persists task state in the v1_task table with built-in retry logic that automatically re-executes failed tasks using exponential backoff (configurable base and max multiplier). Each task has a timeout enforced at the dispatcher level; if a task exceeds its timeout, the dispatcher marks it as failed and triggers the retry mechanism. The system tracks retry count and can enforce a maximum retry limit, with all retry history persisted for debugging.
Unique: Implements dispatcher-enforced timeouts combined with automatic exponential backoff retry, with full retry history persisted in v1_task table. Decouples retry logic from worker implementation, ensuring consistent behavior across heterogeneous worker pools.
vs alternatives: More sophisticated than simple retry loops in application code; less flexible than Temporal's activity retry policies but simpler to operate.
+6 more capabilities
LangChain provides a Chain abstraction that sequences LLM calls, prompt templates, and tool invocations into directed acyclic graphs (DAGs). Chains support sequential execution (SequentialChain), conditional branching (RouterChain), and parallel execution patterns. The framework uses a Runnable interface that standardizes input/output contracts across all chain components, enabling composition via pipe operators and method chaining. This allows developers to build complex multi-step workflows without managing state manually.
Unique: Uses a unified Runnable interface across all components (LLMs, tools, retrievers, parsers) enabling composability via pipe operators, unlike frameworks that require separate orchestration layers for different component types. Supports both sync and async execution with identical code paths.
vs alternatives: More flexible than simple prompt chaining (like OpenAI's function calling alone) because it abstracts orchestration logic, making chains reusable and testable; simpler than full workflow engines (Airflow, Prefect) because it's optimized for LLM-specific patterns rather than general data pipelines.
LangChain's PromptTemplate class provides structured prompt engineering with variable placeholders, automatic validation, and support for few-shot learning patterns. Templates use Jinja2-style syntax for variable substitution and support dynamic example selection via ExampleSelector. The framework includes specialized templates (ChatPromptTemplate for multi-turn conversations, FewShotPromptTemplate for in-context learning) that handle formatting differences across LLM types. This enables prompt reusability, version control, and systematic experimentation without string concatenation.
Unique: Provides first-class abstractions for few-shot learning (FewShotPromptTemplate) with pluggable ExampleSelector strategies, enabling dynamic example selection based on input similarity without requiring developers to implement selection logic. Separates system prompts, conversation history, and user input in ChatPromptTemplate, making multi-turn conversations composable.
Hatchet scores higher at 58/100 vs LangChain at 41/100. Hatchet also has a free tier, making it more accessible.
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vs alternatives: More structured than manual string formatting because it validates variable names and supports semantic example selection; more specialized than generic templating engines (Jinja2) because it understands LLM-specific patterns like chat message roles and few-shot formatting.
LangChain abstracts function calling across LLM providers by converting Python functions or Pydantic models into provider-specific schemas (OpenAI function_call, Anthropic tool_use, etc.). The framework automatically generates schemas, handles argument parsing, and routes calls to the correct provider. Developers define functions once and LangChain handles provider-specific formatting. This enables tool use without learning each provider's function calling API.
Unique: Automatically converts Python functions and Pydantic models into provider-specific function calling schemas (OpenAI, Anthropic, Cohere, etc.) and handles parsing and routing transparently. Developers define tools once and LangChain handles provider-specific formatting and execution.
vs alternatives: More portable than using provider SDKs directly because function definitions are provider-agnostic; more automated than manual schema management because schemas are generated from function signatures.
LangChain supports streaming LLM output at token granularity, enabling real-time user feedback as tokens are generated. The framework provides streaming iterators and async generators that yield tokens as they arrive from the LLM. Streaming is integrated into chains and agents, so developers can stream output from complex workflows without special handling. This enables responsive user experiences where output appears in real-time rather than waiting for full completion.
Unique: Integrates streaming at the framework level so chains and agents can stream output transparently without special handling. Provides both sync and async streaming iterators and handles provider-specific streaming formats uniformly.
vs alternatives: More integrated than provider-specific streaming APIs because streaming works across chains and agents; more responsive than buffering full output because tokens appear in real-time.
LangChain provides async/await support throughout the framework, enabling concurrent execution of LLM calls, chains, and agents. All major components (LLMs, chains, retrievers, agents) have async variants (e.g., arun() alongside run()). The framework uses asyncio for Python and native async/await for Node.js. This enables high-concurrency applications that can handle multiple requests simultaneously without blocking. Async execution is transparent; developers write the same code as sync but use async/await syntax.
Unique: Provides async/await support throughout the framework with parallel async implementations of all major components. Enables transparent concurrent execution without requiring developers to manage thread pools or explicit parallelization.
vs alternatives: More integrated than manual async management because async is built into the framework; more scalable than sync-only implementations because it enables handling multiple concurrent requests.
LangChain abstracts LLM APIs behind a common BaseLanguageModel interface, supporting OpenAI, Anthropic, Cohere, Hugging Face, Ollama, and 20+ other providers. The abstraction handles provider-specific details: token counting, streaming, function calling schemas, and cost tracking. Developers write LLM-agnostic code and swap providers via configuration. The framework includes built-in retry logic, rate limiting, and fallback chains for reliability. This enables portability and cost optimization without rewriting application logic.
Unique: Implements a unified BaseLanguageModel interface that abstracts away provider differences in token counting, streaming protocols, and function calling schemas. Includes built-in retry policies, rate limiting, and cost tracking at the framework level rather than requiring developers to implement these separately for each provider.
vs alternatives: More portable than using provider SDKs directly because swapping providers requires only configuration changes; more comprehensive than simple wrapper libraries because it handles streaming, retries, and cost tracking uniformly across 20+ providers.
LangChain provides a Retriever abstraction that enables RAG by connecting LLMs to external knowledge sources. The framework supports multiple retrieval strategies: vector similarity search (via VectorStore), BM25 keyword search, hybrid search, and custom retrievers. Documents are chunked, embedded, and stored in vector databases (Pinecone, Weaviate, Chroma, FAISS, etc.). The RetrievalQA chain automatically retrieves relevant documents and passes them as context to the LLM. This enables LLMs to answer questions grounded in custom data without fine-tuning.
Unique: Provides a unified Retriever interface that abstracts different retrieval strategies (vector, keyword, hybrid, custom) and integrates seamlessly with LLM chains via RetrievalQA. Includes built-in document loaders for 50+ formats (PDF, HTML, Markdown, code files) and automatic chunking strategies, reducing boilerplate for document ingestion.
vs alternatives: More integrated than building RAG from scratch because document loading, chunking, embedding, and retrieval are unified in one framework; more flexible than specialized RAG platforms (Pinecone, Weaviate) because it supports multiple vector stores and custom retrieval logic.
LangChain's Agent abstraction enables autonomous task execution by combining LLMs with tools (functions, APIs, retrievers). The agent uses an action-observation loop: the LLM decides which tool to call based on the task, executes the tool, observes the result, and repeats until the task is complete. Agents support multiple reasoning strategies: ReAct (reasoning + acting), chain-of-thought, and tool-use patterns. The framework handles tool schema generation, argument parsing, and error recovery. This enables building autonomous systems that can decompose complex tasks without explicit step-by-step instructions.
Unique: Implements a generalized Agent interface that supports multiple reasoning strategies (ReAct, chain-of-thought, tool-use) and automatically handles tool schema generation, argument parsing, and error recovery. The action-observation loop is abstracted, allowing developers to focus on defining tools rather than implementing agent logic.
vs alternatives: More flexible than simple function calling (OpenAI's tool_choice) because it implements multi-step reasoning and tool sequencing; more accessible than building agents from scratch because it handles schema generation, parsing, and error recovery automatically.
+5 more capabilities