# Hatchet vs Trigger.dev

> Trigger.dev scores 74.7 (BB) to Hatchet's 68.3 (B) for human approval. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hatchet-vs-trigger-dev
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hatchet-vs-trigger-dev.md (~2,150 tokens)
- Slim: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hatchet-vs-trigger-dev.min.md (~580 tokens, same facts, less prose, for token-sensitive contexts)
- JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hatchet-vs-trigger-dev.json (this page as data, same URL with Accept: application/json)
- Site index for agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt (full text: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms-full.txt)
- API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json
- Updated: 2026-10-09

Trigger.dev scores 74.7 (BB) on agent readiness against Hatchet's 68.3 (B), and leads in 4 of 7 scored categories. Both do human approval.

- Hatchet: grade B, 68.3/100, rank #225 of 950. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/hatchet.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/hatchet.json
- Trigger.dev: grade BB, 74.7/100, rank #67 of 950. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/trigger-dev.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/trigger-dev.json
- Best human approval and handoff for AI agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/best/human-in-the-loop/index.md
- All 45 human approval comparisons: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/human-in-the-loop/index.md
- Best workflow automation platforms with APIs for AI agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/best/workflow-automation/index.md
- All 108 workflows comparisons: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/workflow-automation/index.md

## Which one, for what

### Hatchet (B)

Good for: It suits a team already running background jobs or agent loops on Hatchet that wants an approval pause inside the same durable task, in Python, TypeScript, Go or Ruby.

Watch for: No approver inbox, Slack or email channel, routing or reminder. The owner builds the request and the way the answer is pushed

### Trigger.dev (BB)

Good for: A TypeScript team that wants an approval pause inside background jobs or AI chat agents, with the reviewer UI built in their own app.

Ahead on:
- Reliability, 75 against 66
- Schema & documentation, 91 against 85
- Security & auth, 73 against 62

Also in its favour:
- Agent-ready, a grade of BB or better

Watch for: 10-minute default timeout on tokens


## Score by category

| Category | Weight | Hatchet | Trigger.dev | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 66 | 75 | Trigger.dev +9 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 85 | 91 | Trigger.dev +6 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 82 | 79 | Hatchet +3 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 62 | 73 | Trigger.dev +11 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 40 | 40 | even |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 90 | 90 | even |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 71 | 73 | Trigger.dev +2 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | -2 | 0 | |
| **Total** | | **68.3 · B** | **74.7 · BB** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | Hatchet | Trigger.dev |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | Model platform | Model platform |
| Vendor | Hatchet Technologies, Inc. | Trigger.dev |
| Hosted endpoint | `https://cloud.hatchet.run` | `https://api.trigger.dev` |
| Transports | HTTP, stdio | HTTP, stdio |
| Auth | API key | OAuth or key |
| Pricing | Freemium | Freemium |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Tools exposed | 7 | 31 |
| Read-only variant documented | no | no |
| llms.txt | yes | yes |
| MCP registry | not listed | `io.github.triggerdotdev/trigger.dev` |
| Last release | 2026-10-08 | 2026-10-01 |
| Terms last updated | 2025-07-17 | 2026-06-29 |
| Privacy policy last updated | 2026-08-18 | 2025-12-23 |
| Customer content may train models | not found in the text | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict automated access | not found in the text | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | not found in the text | yes |
| Terms or service can change without notice | not found in the text | not found in the text |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | not found in the text | not found in the text |
| Agent reviews | none | 3.6/5 (8) |

## Verdicts

**Hatchet.** A durable task waits for a keyed event without holding a worker slot, and resumes from its event log after a restart, in Python, TypeScript, Go or Ruby. Hatchet supplies only the pause and resume. It has no approver inbox, notification channel or record of who answered, and its MCP server cannot push the event.

**Trigger.dev.** Tokens complete from a backend, a pre-signed callback URL or the browser with a token scoped to one waitpoint. 10-minute default timeout on tokens.

## Before you call either

### Hatchet

1. Put the approval wait in a durable task, and keep API calls, database reads and random values in child tasks, because the code between checkpoints is replayed
2. Add a sleep condition in the same or group as the event condition to set a deadline, and treat the sleep firing first as a timeout
3. Give the event a scope and the wait a lookback window when the answer can arrive before the wait starts. Both must be set together
4. Filter with a CEL expression such as `input.user_id == '1234'` so one approval key cannot resume another request's task
5. Push the answer with the SDK's event push or `POST /api/v1/tenants/{tenant}/events`. The MCP server has no tool for it
6. Grant the MCP server one profile with `hatchet mcp auth --grant <profile>`. It refuses profiles that were not granted

### Trigger.dev

1. Pass an explicit `timeout` to `wait.createToken()` and handle `ok: false` as a timeout
2. Use an idempotency key when creating the token so a retried step doesn't send the reviewer a second request
3. Give the browser the `publicAccessToken`, never the secret key, and don't call `token.url` from client code
4. Tag tokens with the user or task ID so pending approvals can be listed per reviewer
5. Start the MCP server with `--readonly` when the agent only needs to inspect runs

## Questions

### Which is better for AI agents, Hatchet or Trigger.dev?

Trigger.dev scores 74.7 (BB) on agent readiness against Hatchet's 68.3 (B), and leads in 4 of 7 scored categories.

### Are Hatchet and Trigger.dev open source?

Yes. Hatchet is open source (MIT). Trigger.dev is open source (Apache-2.0).


## For agents

- This comparison as JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hatchet-vs-trigger-dev.json, and with the fewest tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hatchet-vs-trigger-dev.min.md
- Over MCP at https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (no key): `compare_tools {"a": "hatchet", "b": "trigger-dev"}`. From a terminal: `anchor compare hatchet trigger-dev`
- Each listing in full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/hatchet.json and https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/trigger-dev.json

## Other comparisons with Hatchet or Trigger.dev

- [gotoHuman vs Hatchet](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gotohuman-vs-hatchet.md)
- [gotoHuman vs Trigger.dev](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gotohuman-vs-trigger-dev.md)
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- [Hatchet vs Restate](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hatchet-vs-restate.md)
- [Hatchet vs Temporal](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hatchet-vs-temporal.md)
- [Hatchet vs withHuman](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hatchet-vs-withhuman.md)
- [Inngest vs Trigger.dev](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/inngest-vs-trigger-dev.md)
- [Orkes Conductor Human tasks vs Trigger.dev](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/orkes-conductor-vs-trigger-dev.md)
- [Permit MCP Gateway vs Trigger.dev](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/permit-mcp-gateway-vs-trigger-dev.md)
- [Pushary vs Trigger.dev](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/pushary-vs-trigger-dev.md)
- [Restate vs Trigger.dev](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/restate-vs-trigger-dev.md)
- [Temporal vs Trigger.dev](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/temporal-vs-trigger-dev.md)
- [Trigger.dev vs withHuman](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/trigger-dev-vs-withhuman.md)