River
River is a background job queue for Go applications, backed by PostgreSQL or SQLite.
What River is
River is a background job queue for Go applications, backed by PostgreSQL or SQLite. It supports transaction-safe enqueueing: a job added inside a database transaction waits until that transaction completes before running. Core features include isolated queues, unique and prioritized jobs, recurring cron jobs, snoozing, automatic retries, transactional completion, and test helpers. A web interface provides queue pause and resume controls, error reporting, and telemetry integrations. River UI is optional, self-hosted, and adds no external service dependencies. The free Open Source plan includes reliable background jobs and the web UI, but excludes workflows, concurrency limits, and support. River Pro adds reusable workflows with individually retryable tasks, batching, concurrency limits, ordered job sequences, and email support. It costs $125 a month for up to 20 developers. Enterprise pricing is custom and includes email and Slack support, unlimited developers, and access to a SOC 2 report. PostgreSQL is the primary database target; SQLite support is experimental.
Good
- Jobs in a transaction wait for it to complete.
- Includes recurring jobs, retries, and prioritization.
- Optional UI is self-hosted without external dependencies.
- Telemetry integrations support compatible providers.
- Free Open Source plan is available.
Watch out
- Designed for Go applications.
- SQLite support is experimental.
- Open Source plan lacks workflows and concurrency limits.
- Pro costs $125 a month.
Who it suits
River is aimed at developers building Go applications that need background job processing with database-backed transactional safety. Teams needing workflows, concurrency limits, or commercial support can consider its paid plans.
Verdict
River covers common queue operations and adds transaction-aware enqueueing for Go applications. The free plan may suffice for core queueing; workflows, concurrency controls, and support require a paid plan.
Plans and prices
From River's own pricing page, checked 30 Sep 2026.
| Plan | Price | What it gives you |
|---|---|---|
| Open Source | Free | Reliable background jobs · Intuitive web UI · No workflows · No concurrency limits · No support · Free |
| Pro | $125 a month | All open source features · Workflows · Batching · Concurrency limits · Email support · Credit card billing · Up to 20 developers · per month; monthly or annual subscriptions are offered, and the page shows “Save $300” |
| Enterprise | Priced on request | All open source features · Workflows · Batching · Concurrency limits · Email and Slack support · Credit card or invoice/PO · Unlimited developers · Access to SOC 2 report · Custom; contact [email protected] |
The facts
Each one read from River's own pages, with the date it was checked.
What it does
- Commercial support
- The Pro plan includes email support, while Enterprise includes email and Slack support.checked 30 Sep 2026
- Core features
- Core features include multiple isolated queues, unique jobs, prioritization, recurring cron jobs, snoozing, transactional job completion, and test helpers.checked 30 Sep 2026
- Database support
- River documents PostgreSQL as its primary database target and SQLite as experimental support.checked 30 Sep 2026
- Integrations
- River's OpenTelemetry plugin supports telemetry through compatible providers such as DataDog and Sentry rather than vendor-specific River packages.checked 30 Sep 2026
- Language and typing
- River is designed for Go and uses generics to provide strongly typed structured worker arguments.checked 30 Sep 2026
- Operations
- The product lists a web interface, queue pause and resume, automatic retries, error reporting, and telemetry integrations.checked 30 Sep 2026
- Product
- River provides atomic, transaction-safe background job queueing for Go applications, backed by PostgreSQL or SQLite.checked 30 Sep 2026
- Pro features
- The Pro feature comparison includes batching, dead letter queues, durable periodic jobs, encrypted jobs, and ephemeral jobs.checked 30 Sep 2026
- Pro limits
- River Pro includes globally partitioned concurrency limits and job sequences that execute in strict order.checked 30 Sep 2026
- Pro workflows
- River Pro workflows break complex tasks into discrete, reusable tasks that can be retried individually.checked 30 Sep 2026
- Security
- River Pro includes an encrypted jobs feature, and Enterprise subscribers can access River's SOC 2 report.checked 30 Sep 2026
- Self-hosting
- River UI is an optional self-hosted interface, and the product says it adds no external service dependencies.checked 30 Sep 2026
- Transactional enqueueing
- River documents that jobs inserted within a transaction do not run before that transaction completes.checked 30 Sep 2026
The company
- Company
- The site identifies the company as River Software, LLC and names Blake Gentry and Brandur Leach on its About page.checked 30 Sep 2026
Alternatives to River
- 1
Inngest
Free planOpen sourceWebAPILinuxmacOS8.3From $99 a month - 2
Hangfire
Free planOpen sourceWebAPILinuxSelf-hosted8.0From $500 a year - 3
Graphile Worker
Free planOpen sourceAPILinuxmacOSSelf-hosted7.9From $25 a month - 4
Gearman
Free planOpen sourceAPILinuxmacOSSelf-hosted7.3Free plan - 5
Google Tasks
Free planAndroidiOSWeb7.0Free plan - 6
IronWorker
Free planWebAPILinuxSelf-hosted6.9From $169 a month