Inngest vs Trigger.dev
A comparison of Inngest and Trigger.dev built from values read directly from each provider's own documentation, with the source recorded against every figure.
The short answer
- Pick Inngest if
- Multi-step workflows that need durable execution and retries between steps, rather than a bare queue you write a consumer for.
- Pick Trigger.dev if
- Teams that want background jobs written as normal code with the bill expressed as compute credits rather than a per-message meter.
5 sourced criteria separate them:
- Entry paid plan
- Inngest: $99/month for Pro, described as a starting price with usage above the included allowance billed on top.
- Trigger.dev: $10/month for Hobby, which includes $10 of credits; Pro is $50/month including $50 of credits.
- Pricing model
- Inngest: Per execution, where a step counts the same as a run, plus separate meters for events ingested, span data, scores and realtime connections. The pricing page ships a calculator because the execution count is not the run count.
- Trigger.dev: A monthly plan fee that is also a credit balance — the fee buys compute rather than sitting on top of it — with concurrency, preview branches, dashboards and schedules each priced as separate add-ons beyond the plan's allowance.
- Included per month
- Inngest: 50,000 executions a month on the free Hobby plan and 1,000,000 on Pro, pay-as-you-go to 20M. An execution is one function run or one step, so a run with two steps counts as three.
- Trigger.dev: Credits rather than a message or execution count: $5 a month free, $10 included on Hobby and $50 on Pro, spent against compute.
- Message retention
- Inngest: Queue depth rather than a time window: 100,000 queued items on the free plan and 1,000,000 or more on Pro. Trace retention is 7 days on Pro and 90 on Enterprise.
- Trigger.dev: Log retention of 1 day on the free plan, 7 days on Hobby and 30 days on Pro, with the query period matching.
- Concurrency
- Inngest: 5 concurrent steps on the free plan, 100 or more on Pro, custom on Enterprise.
- Trigger.dev: 20 concurrent runs on the free plan, 50 on Hobby, and more on Pro at $10 a month per additional 50.
Pick the criteria you care about. The chart counts how many of them lean toward each provider — the same read as scanning the bars below, just totalled for the ones you chose.
Inngest 0
Trigger.dev 0
At a glance.
| Criterion | Inngest | Trigger.dev |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | ||
| Free tier | Yes | Yes |
| Entry paid plan | $99/month for Pro, described as a starting price with usage above the included allowance billed on top. | $10/month for Hobby, which includes $10 of credits; Pro is $50/month including $50 of credits. |
| Pricing model | Per execution, where a step counts the same as a run, plus separate meters for events ingested, span data, scores and realtime connections. The pricing page ships a calculator because the execution count is not the run count. | A monthly plan fee that is also a credit balance — the fee buys compute rather than sitting on top of it — with concurrency, preview branches, dashboards and schedules each priced as separate add-ons beyond the plan's allowance. |
| Queues | ||
| Included per month | 50,000 executions a month on the free Hobby plan and 1,000,000 on Pro, pay-as-you-go to 20M. An execution is one function run or one step, so a run with two steps counts as three. | Credits rather than a message or execution count: $5 a month free, $10 included on Hobby and $50 on Pro, spent against compute. |
| Message retention | Queue depth rather than a time window: 100,000 queued items on the free plan and 1,000,000 or more on Pro. Trace retention is 7 days on Pro and 90 on Enterprise. | Log retention of 1 day on the free plan, 7 days on Hobby and 30 days on Pro, with the query period matching. |
| Concurrency | 5 concurrent steps on the free plan, 100 or more on Pro, custom on Enterprise. | 20 concurrent runs on the free plan, 50 on Hobby, and more on Pro at $10 a month per additional 50. |
Where they differ.
Entry paid plan
- Inngest
- $99/month for Pro, described as a starting price with usage above the included allowance billed on top.
- Trigger.dev
- $10/month for Hobby, which includes $10 of credits; Pro is $50/month including $50 of credits.
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- Pricing — Inngest ↗
“Pro [...] Starting at $99/mo [...] 1M executions included Pay as you go up to 20M”
Read 2026-09-06 · official pricing
- Pricing — Trigger.dev ↗
“Hobby $10/month [...] $10 / month credits included [...] Pro $50/month [...] $50 / month credits included”
Read 2026-09-06 · official pricing
Pricing model
- Inngest
- Per execution, where a step counts the same as a run, plus separate meters for events ingested, span data, scores and realtime connections. The pricing page ships a calculator because the execution count is not the run count.
- Trigger.dev
- A monthly plan fee that is also a credit balance — the fee buys compute rather than sitting on top of it — with concurrency, preview branches, dashboards and schedules each priced as separate add-ons beyond the plan's allowance.
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- Pricing — Inngest ↗
“TOTAL EXECUTIONS PER MONTH (30,000 runs × 2 steps per run) + 30,000 runs = 90,000 executions [...] 500 MB span data ingested [...] 10K scores [...] 500k events ingested [...] 50 realtime connections”
Read 2026-09-06 · official pricing
- Pricing — Trigger.dev ↗
“$10 / month credits included [...] Then $10/month per 50 [...] Then $20/month per seat [...] Then $10/month per branch [...] Then $10/month per 1,000”
Read 2026-09-06 · official pricing
Included per month
- Inngest
- 50,000 executions a month on the free Hobby plan and 1,000,000 on Pro, pay-as-you-go to 20M. An execution is one function run or one step, so a run with two steps counts as three.
- Trigger.dev
- Credits rather than a message or execution count: $5 a month free, $10 included on Hobby and $50 on Pro, spent against compute.
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- Pricing — Inngest ↗
“50k executions [...] 1M executions included Pay as you go up to 20M [...] (30,000 runs × 2 steps per run) + 30,000 runs = 90,000 executions [...] A single durable function run or step execution”
Read 2026-09-06 · official pricing
- Pricing — Trigger.dev ↗
“$5 / month free credits [...] $10 / month credits included [...] $50 / month credits included”
Read 2026-09-06 · official pricing
Message retention
- Inngest
- Queue depth rather than a time window: 100,000 queued items on the free plan and 1,000,000 or more on Pro. Trace retention is 7 days on Pro and 90 on Enterprise.
- Trigger.dev
- Log retention of 1 day on the free plan, 7 days on Hobby and 30 days on Pro, with the query period matching.
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- Pricing — Inngest ↗
“100k queue depth [...] 1M+ queue depth [...] Granular tracing, metrics, alerts + 7 day trace retention [...] Advanced tracing, metrics, alerts + 90 day trace retention”
Read 2026-09-06 · official pricing
- Pricing — Trigger.dev ↗
“1 day log retention 1 day query period [...] 7 day log retention 7 days query period [...] 30 day log retention”
Read 2026-09-06 · official pricing
Concurrency
5 concurrent steps on the free plan, 100 or more on Pro, custom on Enterprise.
20 concurrent runs on the free plan, 50 on Hobby, and more on Pro at $10 a month per additional 50.
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- Pricing — Inngest ↗
“5 concurrent steps [...] 100+ concurrent steps [...] Custom concurrent steps”
Read 2026-09-06 · official pricing
- Pricing — Trigger.dev ↗
“20 concurrent runs [...] 50 concurrent runs [...] Then $10/month per 50”
Read 2026-09-06 · official pricing
Which should you choose?
Choose Inngest if…
Multi-step workflows that need durable execution and retries between steps, rather than a bare queue you write a consumer for.
Editorial · Palash Bagchi · approved
Choose Trigger.dev if…
Teams that want background jobs written as normal code with the bill expressed as compute credits rather than a per-message meter.
Editorial · Palash Bagchi · approved
Consider something else if…
- Inngest: Every step is a billable execution, so a three-step workflow costs three times what the run count implies, and the free plan allows five concurrent steps.
- Trigger.dev: Concurrency is the axis that forces an upgrade — 20 simultaneous runs on free, 50 on Hobby, then $10 a month per additional 50.
Questions this comparison answers.
Entry paid plan: Inngest or Trigger.dev?
Inngest: $99/month for Pro, described as a starting price with usage above the included allowance billed on top.
Trigger.dev: $10/month for Hobby, which includes $10 of credits; Pro is $50/month including $50 of credits.
Should I choose Inngest or Trigger.dev?
Pick Inngest if Multi-step workflows that need durable execution and retries between steps, rather than a bare queue you write a consumer for.
Pick Trigger.dev if Teams that want background jobs written as normal code with the bill expressed as compute credits rather than a per-message meter.