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Cybersecurity · head to head

Arnica vs Dagger

Arnica logo

Arnica

Cybersecurity

AI-native application security platform detecting and fixing vulnerabilities across the SDLC

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Full reviewWebsite
Dagger logo

Dagger

Developer Tools

Programmable CI/CD engine that runs your pipeline as containers on any runner

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Arnica per-identity pricing ($25-$50/person/year) requires tracking active developers; Dagger dagger is not a CI provider, so you keep paying for GitHub Actions or GitLab runners underneath it; the Dagger Cloud subscription is an addition to your CI bill, not a replacement for it.
  • They diverge on capability: Arnica covers AI SAST, Dagger covers Pipelines as code.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Arnica and Dagger actually diverge.

Attributes where Arnica and Dagger differ
AttributeArnicaDagger
Pricing modelPer-identity subscription with annual discountPer month per team for Dagger Cloud
PlatformsWeb, GitHub, IDELinux, macOS, Windows, Self-hosted
CategoryCybersecurityDeveloper Tools

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 Arnica

  • AI SAST
  • Software Composition Analysis
  • Secrets detection
  • IaC scanning
  • Container scanning
  • SBOM generation
  • Agentic rules
  • Pipelineless integration

Only in Dagger

  • Pipelines as code
  • Local and CI parity
  • Content-addressed caching
  • Dagger Functions and modules
  • CI-provider agnostic
  • Dagger Cloud traces
  • GitHub Checks integration
  • Container-native execution

What people use each for

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

Arnica

  • Detecting AI-generated vulnerabilities in Copilot and Cursor suggestionsnot Dagger
  • Finding hardcoded secrets before they reach productionnot Dagger
  • Mapping container vulnerabilities back to source codenot Dagger
  • Generating SBOM for supply chain compliance requirementsnot Dagger
  • Scanning infrastructure-as-code for misconfiguration risksnot Dagger

Dagger

  • A platform team maintaining near-identical build YAML across forty repositories that wants one versioned module every repository calls insteadnot Arnica
  • An engineering organisation migrating off a CI provider that does not want to rewrite every pipeline as part of the migrationnot Arnica
  • A team whose engineers waste hours pushing commits to debug CI-only failures and needs to reproduce the exact run locallynot Arnica
  • A monorepo where most commits touch a small subset of services and cache-accurate step skipping cuts build minutes materiallynot Arnica

Where each one falls short

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

Arnica

  • Per-identity pricing ($25-$50/person/year) requires tracking active developers
  • Overage identity tracking via 90-day PR activity can be unpredictable
  • Free plan limited to weekly updates, requiring upgrade for real-time scanning
  • Advanced add-ons (Image Scanning, AI SAST, Agentic Rules Enforcer) pricing not published
  • On-premises deployment limited to Enterprise tier

Dagger

  • Dagger is not a CI provider, so you keep paying for GitHub Actions or GitLab runners underneath it; the Dagger Cloud subscription is an addition to your CI bill, not a replacement for it.
  • Writing pipelines in Go or TypeScript raises the barrier to entry: a release engineer who could edit a YAML step now needs to read code, and the people who can fix a broken build shrink to those comfortable with the SDK.
  • The engine runs as a container on the runner and needs a persistent cache volume to deliver its main benefit, so ephemeral CI runners give you correctness without the speed, and provisioning durable cache storage is extra platform work.
  • The Team plan caps at ten users and ten million events per month; an organisation of any size crosses that quickly and moves to Enterprise pricing that is not published, so cost at scale is unknowable up front.
  • The module ecosystem is young and thinly maintained relative to the marketplace of a mature CI provider, so integrations that exist as a one-line Action often have to be written yourself as a Dagger function.

Pricing, plan by plan

Arnica

Free
  • FreeFree
    • No credit card required
    • 14-day trial available
    • Weekly risk identification updates
  • Core Business$360/year
    • Monthly billing option at $30/identity/month
    • Annual billing at $25/identity/month (17% discount)
    • Real-time risk scanning and notifications
  • Core Enterprise$720/year
    • Monthly billing option at $60/identity/month
    • Annual billing at $50/identity/month (17% discount)
    • All Core Business features

Dagger

Free
  • IndividualFree
    • One user
    • One million events per month
    • Workflow logs and function call traces
  • Team$50/month
    • Up to ten users
    • Ten million events per month
    • Module insights and module catalogue
  • Enterprise$undefined/year
    • Custom user and event limits
    • SSO
    • Managed single-tenant deployment

Which should you pick?

Choose Arnica if

  • You need ai sast.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, GitHub, IDE.
  • You also want software composition analysis.
Arnica review

Choose Dagger if

  • You need pipelines as code.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, macOS, Windows, Self-hosted.
  • You also want local and ci parity.
Dagger review

Questions people ask

Is Arnica or Dagger better?
Neither clearly leads. Arnica starts at Free and Dagger at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Arnica or Dagger?
Arnica starts at Free and Dagger at Free.
Does Arnica or Dagger run on more platforms?
Arnica runs on Web, GitHub, IDE. Dagger runs on Linux, macOS, Windows, Self-hosted.
Can I use Arnica for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Arnica best used for?
Arnica is most often used for detecting ai-generated vulnerabilities in copilot and cursor suggestions, finding hardcoded secrets before they reach production, mapping container vulnerabilities back to source code, generating sbom for supply chain compliance requirements. Of those, detecting ai-generated vulnerabilities in copilot and cursor suggestions and finding hardcoded secrets before they reach production are not what Dagger is typically brought in for.
What can Arnica do that Dagger cannot?
Arnica covers AI SAST, Software Composition Analysis, Secrets detection, IaC scanning. Dagger covers Pipelines as code, Local and CI parity, Content-addressed caching, Dagger Functions and modules.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Arnica: How are identities defined in Arnica pricing?

Identities are any users and other contributing entities that contributed code and/or had PR activity during the last 90 days. This ensures billing matches active developers.

Source
Dagger: Does Dagger replace GitHub Actions?

No. Dagger runs inside GitHub Actions or any other CI. It replaces the YAML that describes your pipeline steps, not the trigger and runner layer.

Arnica: What is the annual discount?

Annual prepayment offers approximately 17% savings versus monthly billing. Core Business annual is $300/identity versus $360 for monthly.

Source
Dagger: Is the engine open source?

Yes, the Dagger engine and SDKs are open source and free. Dagger Cloud, the observability product, is what costs money.

Arnica: Can I cancel or downgrade Arnica anytime?

Yes. Subscriptions can be cancelled or downgraded at any time. Overage identities receive automatic protection with true-up invoicing.

Source
Dagger: What is an event in the pricing?

Dagger Cloud meters pipeline telemetry events. One million per month is free; the Team plan at 50 USD per month allows ten million.

Dagger: Can I run the same pipeline on my laptop?

Yes, that is the main reason teams adopt it. The dagger CLI executes the identical graph locally, so CI-only failures become reproducible.

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