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Cybersecurity · head to head

Aikido vs Earthly

Aikido logo

Aikido

Cybersecurity

Unified security platform automating vulnerability detection and fixing across development

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Full reviewWebsite
Earthly logo

Earthly

Developer Tools

Engineering guardrails for the AI era

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Aikido free plan includes fair-usage limits on repos and container images; Earthly pricing model not published; requires sales contact
  • They diverge on capability: Aikido covers Static Application Security Testing (SAST), Earthly covers Policy as code.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 29 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Aikido and Earthly actually diverge.

Attributes where Aikido and Earthly differ
AttributeAikidoEarthly
Pricing modelSubscription with free tierNo pricing published on website
PlatformsWeb, CI/CD, IDEWeb, CLI
CategoryCybersecurityDeveloper Tools
Founded20222020

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), user rating (Not yet rated).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Aikido

  • Static Application Security Testing (SAST)
  • Software Composition Analysis (SCA)
  • AutoFix
  • Secrets detection
  • Cloud Security Posture Management
  • AI-powered penetration testing
  • Device protection
  • False positive reduction

Only in Earthly

  • Policy as code
  • Multi-stage enforcement
  • AI agent governance
  • Repository-wide policies
  • Incident response automation
  • Compliance management
  • Earthfiles build tool
  • Satellites

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Aikido

  • Developer-friendly security integrated into PR workflowsnot Earthly
  • Automated vulnerability remediation with context-aware alertsnot Earthly
  • Consolidation of fragmented security tools across development lifecyclenot Earthly
  • Cloud infrastructure security posture monitoringnot Earthly
  • Supply chain attack prevention and malware detectionnot Earthly

Earthly

  • Enforcing engineering standards across AI and human developersnot Aikido
  • Automating incident response procedures across all repositoriesnot Aikido
  • Embedding compliance requirements into development workflowsnot Aikido
  • Standardizing build processes with Earthfilesnot Aikido

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Aikido

  • Free plan includes fair-usage limits on repos and container images
  • Pricing increases significantly with user and repository scale
  • Advanced features like penetration testing and VM scanning limited to higher tiers
  • Device protection limited to Development environments only
  • Requires multiple plan tiers for full platform coverage

Earthly

  • Pricing model not published; requires sales contact
  • Earthly Lunar is a recent launch (2025) with limited track record
  • Primarily GitHub-focused; limited integration with other platforms
  • No public documentation on pricing or feature tiers

Pricing, plan by plan

Aikido

Free
  • DeveloperFree
    • Up to 2 users
    • Dependency scanning (SCA)
    • SAST and AI SAST
  • Pro$600/month
    • Up to 10 users
    • All Basic features
    • On-premise scanning
  • Advanced$600/month
    • Up to 10 users
    • All Pro features
    • Broker for internal apps
  • Enterprise$null/custom
    • Custom pricing for tailored modules
    • Dedicated account management
    • Custom SLAs

Earthly

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the Earthly review.

Which should you pick?

Choose Aikido if

  • You need static application security testing (sast).
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, CI/CD, IDE.
  • You also want software composition analysis (sca).
Aikido review

Choose Earthly if

  • You need policy as code.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, CLI.
  • You also want multi-stage enforcement.
Earthly review

Questions people ask

Is Aikido or Earthly better?
Neither clearly leads. Aikido starts at Free and Earthly at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Aikido or Earthly?
Aikido starts at Free and Earthly at Free.
Does Aikido or Earthly run on more platforms?
Aikido runs on Web, CI/CD, IDE. Earthly runs on Web, CLI.
Can I use Aikido for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Aikido best used for?
Aikido is most often used for developer-friendly security integrated into pr workflows, automated vulnerability remediation with context-aware alerts, consolidation of fragmented security tools across development lifecycle, cloud infrastructure security posture monitoring. Of those, developer-friendly security integrated into pr workflows and automated vulnerability remediation with context-aware alerts are not what Earthly is typically brought in for.
What can Aikido do that Earthly cannot?
Aikido covers Static Application Security Testing (SAST), Software Composition Analysis (SCA), AutoFix, Secrets detection. Earthly covers Policy as code, Multi-stage enforcement, AI agent governance, Repository-wide policies.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Aikido: What is included in Aikido's free Developer plan?

The free Developer plan includes up to 2 users with SAST, SCA, secrets detection, cloud scanning, and license risk detection. Fair-usage limits apply: 10 repos, 2 container images, 1 domain, and 1 cloud account.

Source
Earthly: What is the difference between Earthfiles and Earthly Lunar?

Earthfiles is an open-source build tool that reached 12,000 GitHub stars and is used by companies like NVIDIA, Intel, and Databricks. Earthly Lunar is a separate governance platform launched in 2025 for enforcing standards across development workflows.

Source
Aikido: What is AutoFix and how does it work?

AutoFix is Aikido's automated vulnerability remediation feature that identifies vulnerabilities and suggests or applies specific code fixes automatically, reducing manual remediation effort.

Source
Earthly: How does Earthly Lunar enforce standards?

Lunar converts engineering standards, compliance requirements, and processes documented in AGENTS.md files, wikis, and incident postmortems into enforceable guardrails that apply consistently across repositories and development stages.

Source
Aikido: How many false positives does Aikido reduce?

Aikido reduces false positives by 99%, using AI-powered context awareness to filter noise and focus on vulnerabilities that present real business risk.

Source
Earthly: What is the pricing for Earthly Lunar?

Pricing is not published on the website. Interested customers should contact Earthly's sales team for current pricing and feature tiers.

Source
Aikido: What integrations does Aikido support?

Aikido integrates with Jira, Linear, Slack, Teams, GitHub, GitLab, and other popular development tools to fit into existing workflows.

Source
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