whichdevtool?
Menu
StacksDirectory Pricing changes Glossary
VPS and cloud servers App hosting and PaaS Managed databases Transactional email APIs Email marketing and newsletters Domain registrars CDN, DNS and edge security Monitoring, uptime and error tracking Auth and identity Frontend and full-stack frameworks Backend frameworks UI component libraries AI model APIs File and object storage Payments and billing Background jobs, queues and workflows ORMs and database toolkits

Postgres-backed job queue for Go · by River (Brandur Leach and Blake Gentry)

River

Open-source job queue for Go backed by PostgreSQL or SQLite, with transactional enqueueing, periodic and unique jobs and a web UI; River Pro adds workflows and concurrency limits.

Visit riverqueue.com ↗ Alternatives Open source Open source Self-hostable
River homepage
§1

Overview

River is a job processing system for Go created in late 2023 by Brandur Leach and Blake Gentry. Jobs are defined as typed Go structs with a worker, stored in PostgreSQL (or SQLite), and enqueued transactionally: a job exists only if its transaction commits, which removes a class of consistency bugs common with external queues.

The open-source library includes multiple queues with per-queue worker limits, retries, periodic jobs, unique jobs and River UI, a web interface for inspecting and managing jobs. It is licensed under the Mozilla Public License 2.0.

River Pro, a private Go module on subscription from $125, adds workflows with per-task dependencies and retries, batching, strictly ordered sequences, global concurrency limits with partitioning, dead-letter queues, durable periodic jobs, encrypted and ephemeral jobs, plus email support for up to 20 developers. Enterprise adds unlimited seats, Slack support and access to a SOC 2 report.

§2

Pricing and plans

Plan Price What you get
Open Source Free Reliable jobs, web UI, multiple queues, periodic and unique jobs; no support
Pro $125 Workflows, batching, sequences, concurrency limits, DLQ, encrypted jobs; email support; up to 20 developer seats
Enterprise Custom Unlimited seats, Slack support, SOC 2 report access, invoice/PO

River Pro is sold as monthly or annual subscriptions; the page shows $125 with a 'Save $300' annual option, and the billing period of the $125 figure was not stated explicitly in the text read (it appears to be the monthly price). Pro workflows have unlimited executions. The open-source library is MPL 2.0.

Source: riverqueue.com/pro · prices as published, excluding tax.

§3

What it does

Transactional enqueueing
Jobs are inserted in your transaction and only become visible after commit.
Typed jobs
Job arguments and workers are Go structs with a stable kind string.
Periodic and unique jobs
Scheduled recurring jobs and uniqueness constraints in the free version.
River UI
Web interface to inspect, retry and manage jobs and workflows.
Pro workflows
Break tasks into dependent, individually retryable steps with unlimited executions.
Pro concurrency limits
Global concurrency limits with granular partitioning, plus sequences for strict ordering.
§4

Strengths and limitations

Strengths

  • Idiomatic, typed Go API
  • Uses the database you already run, including SQLite
  • Transactional consistency between data and jobs
  • Web UI included free

Limitations

  • Go only
  • Workflows, concurrency limits and dead-letter queues are Pro-only
  • Open-source edition comes with no support
  • Job load shares your application database
§5

Who it suits

Good for

  • Go services on PostgreSQL
  • Jobs that must be consistent with database writes
  • Teams wanting to avoid Redis

Look elsewhere if

  • Non-Go codebases
  • Workloads that need free global concurrency limits or DLQs
§6

Alternatives to River

Tool From Free option Stages
Oban SQL-backed job processing library for Elixir (and Python)
$135/mo Open source
BullMQ Redis-based job queue library
$139/mo Open source
DBOS Postgres-backed durable workflow library
$99/mo Open source
Sidekiq Redis-based background job library for Ruby
$99/mo Open source
Inngest Durable execution and event-driven workflow platform
$99/mo Free tier
Faktory Language-agnostic background job server
$299/mo Open source

All background jobs, queues and workflows →

§7

Questions

Is River free?

Yes, River is open source under MPL 2.0; River Pro is a paid module.

What database does River need?

PostgreSQL, with SQLite also supported.

Does River have a dashboard?

Yes, River UI is a free web interface for jobs.

What does River Pro add?

Workflows, batching, sequences, concurrency limits, dead-letter queues, durable periodic jobs, encrypted jobs and email support.

Sources read for this page