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Cybersecurity · head to head

Aikido vs Garden

Aikido logo

Aikido

Cybersecurity

Unified security platform automating vulnerability detection and fixing across development

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Full reviewWebsite
Garden logo

Garden

Developer Tools

Kubernetes development and testing automation with shared caching, now owned by Incredibuild

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; Garden incredibuild acquired Garden in November 2024 and the pricing page now redirects to documentation, so there is no public commercial offer and no published roadmap for a team betting a platform on it.
  • They diverge on capability: Aikido covers Static Application Security Testing (SAST), Garden covers Action graph.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Aikido and Garden actually diverge.

Attributes where Aikido and Garden differ
AttributeAikidoGarden
Pricing modelSubscription with free tierOpen source, no licence fee
PlatformsWeb, CI/CD, IDELinux, macOS, Windows, Kubernetes
CategoryCybersecurityDeveloper Tools
Founded2022Unknown

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 Garden

  • Action graph
  • Shared result caching
  • Remote Kubernetes environments
  • In-cluster builds
  • Same config everywhere
  • Hot reload sync
  • Helm and Kustomize support
  • Templating

What people use each for

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

Aikido

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

Garden

  • A platform team whose integration test suite takes longer than the coffee break and needs caching to cut the loopnot Aikido
  • An organisation with thirty or more services on Kubernetes where docker-compose no longer approximates productionnot Aikido
  • Giving every developer an ephemeral namespace instead of queuing for one shared staging environmentnot Aikido
  • Running the identical build and test definition locally and in CI so failures reproduce on a laptopnot 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

Garden

  • Incredibuild acquired Garden in November 2024 and the pricing page now redirects to documentation, so there is no public commercial offer and no published roadmap for a team betting a platform on it.
  • It is tightly bound to Kubernetes, so teams running on ECS, Nomad, plain VMs or serverless get little from it and would need a different tool entirely.
  • The YAML action graph is a real configuration surface: a large monorepo needs someone to own and maintain Garden config as a first-class artefact, which is a standing platform-engineering cost.
  • Shared remote environments mean every developer needs cluster access and a cost allocation model, so cloud spend rises and namespace sprawl becomes a thing you have to police.
  • Caching correctness depends on declaring dependencies accurately; an under-declared action will serve a stale cached pass and hide a genuine test failure, which is a hard class of bug to notice.

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

Garden

Free
  • Garden open sourceFree
    • Apache 2.0 licensed CLI
    • Full action graph and caching
    • Self-managed clusters
  • Commercial tier$undefined/year
    • Hosted caching and team features
    • Support and onboarding
    • Pricing no longer published since the Incredibuild acquisition

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 Garden if

  • You need action graph.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, macOS, Windows, Kubernetes.
  • You also want shared result caching.
Garden review

Questions people ask

Is Aikido or Garden better?
Neither clearly leads. Aikido starts at Free and Garden at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Aikido or Garden?
Aikido starts at Free and Garden at Free.
Does Aikido or Garden run on more platforms?
Aikido runs on Web, CI/CD, IDE. Garden runs on Linux, macOS, Windows, Kubernetes.
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 Garden is typically brought in for.
What can Aikido do that Garden cannot?
Aikido covers Static Application Security Testing (SAST), Software Composition Analysis (SCA), AutoFix, Secrets detection. Garden covers Action graph, Shared result caching, Remote Kubernetes environments, In-cluster builds.

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
Garden: Is Garden still maintained?

The open source project remains on GitHub under Incredibuild ownership, but the commercial pricing page redirects to the docs and there is no public paid offer.

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
Garden: Do I need Kubernetes?

Effectively yes. Garden is built around Kubernetes environments and offers little to teams on other runtimes.

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
Garden: Does it replace my CI system?

No. It runs inside GitHub Actions, GitLab CI or similar and speeds up what those pipelines execute.

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
Garden: What is the actual saving?

It comes from skipping builds and tests whose inputs have not changed, so the benefit scales with how many services you have and how often only a few change.

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