EmitHQ vs Hookdeck

Hookdeck is strong on inbound webhook routing. But the 5 evt/s throughput cap, metered pricing, and $39 → $499 jump create hidden costs that grow with your usage.

The throughput trap

Hookdeck defaults to 5 events/second on all tiers. Scaling throughput is a paid add-on at ~$1 per evt/s. At 50 evt/s, that alone costs more than EmitHQ's Growth tier — which includes 200 evt/s by default.

	EmitHQ	Hookdeck
Free tier	100K events/mo	10K events/mo
First paid tier	$49/mo (500K events)	$39/mo (10K + metered)
Growth tier	$149/mo (2M events)	$499/mo (metered)
Direction	Inbound + Outbound	Inbound (Outpost for outbound)
Default throughput	50 evt/s (Starter)	5 evt/s (all tiers)
Throughput scaling	Included in tier	Paid add-on (~$1/evt/s)
Retry strategy	Configurable, up to 50	Configurable, up to 50
Signing spec	Standard Webhooks	Custom (x-hookdeck-*)
Payload transformations	JSONPath + templates	JavaScript
SDK languages	TypeScript	TypeScript
License	AGPL-3.0 (open source)	Proprietary
Self-hosted option	Yes	No (Outpost only)
Data retention (paid)	14-90 days by tier	7-30 days by tier
Static IPs	Scale tier	Enterprise only

Choose EmitHQ when

You need both inbound and outbound in one platform
Throughput predictability matters — no per-evt/s surcharges
You want Standard Webhooks signing, not a proprietary spec
You want to self-host the server (AGPL-3.0)
$149/mo for 2M events beats $499/mo + metered overages

Choose Hookdeck when

Your primary need is inbound webhook routing and transformation
You need the local dev CLI with multi-user simultaneous connections
You need SOC2 Type II compliance today
Low volume makes metered pricing cheaper than a flat tier
You want Outpost (Apache 2.0) for self-hosted outbound delivery

Start free — 100K events/mo

No credit card required. See full comparison →