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Developer Tools · head to head

Bitbucket vs Earthly

Bitbucket logo

Bitbucket

Developer Tools

Git code management for professional teams

From
Free
Rated
-
Earthly logo

Earthly

Developer Tools

Engineering guardrails for the AI era

From
Free
Rated
-

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Bitbucket limited build minutes compared to GitHub Actions - free tier capped at 50 minutes/month vs unlimited on GitHub; Earthly pricing model not published; requires sales contact
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 29 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Bitbucket and Earthly actually diverge.

Attributes where Bitbucket and Earthly differ
AttributeBitbucketEarthly
Pricing modelUnknownNo pricing published on website
PlatformsWeb, Data CenterWeb, CLI
Founded20082020

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

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 Bitbucket

Nothing recorded that Earthly does not also cover.

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.

Bitbucket

  • Hosting Git repositories for a software teamnot Earthly
  • Running CI and deployments with Bitbucket Pipelinesnot Earthly
  • Code review with branch permissions and access controlsnot Earthly
  • Linking commits to Jira issues and updating their status automaticallynot Earthly
  • Security scanning through Snyk and partner integrationsnot Earthly

Earthly

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

Where each one falls short

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

Bitbucket

  • Limited build minutes compared to GitHub Actions - free tier capped at 50 minutes/month vs unlimited on GitHub
  • Reliability issues with frequent outages reported by users
  • No native way to execute Bitbucket Pipeline YAML files locally for testing
  • Smaller ecosystem and community compared to GitHub

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

Bitbucket

Free
  • FreeFree
    • Up to 5 users
    • Unlimited repositories
    • 1 GB storage
  • Standard$3.65/month
    • 2,500 pooled build minutes
    • All Bitbucket features
  • Premium$7.25/month
    • 3,500 build minutes
    • Merge checks
    • IP allowlisting

Earthly

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the Earthly review.

Which should you pick?

Choose Bitbucket if

  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Data Center.

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.

Questions people ask

Is Bitbucket or Earthly better?
Neither clearly leads. Bitbucket 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, Bitbucket or Earthly?
Bitbucket starts at Free and Earthly at Free.
Does Bitbucket or Earthly run on more platforms?
Bitbucket runs on Web, Data Center. Earthly runs on Web, CLI.
Can I use Bitbucket for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Bitbucket best used for?
Bitbucket is most often used for hosting git repositories for a software team, running ci and deployments with bitbucket pipelines, code review with branch permissions and access controls, linking commits to jira issues and updating their status automatically. Of those, hosting git repositories for a software team and running ci and deployments with bitbucket pipelines are not what Earthly is typically brought in for.
What can Bitbucket do that Earthly cannot?
Earthly covers Policy as code, Multi-stage enforcement, AI agent governance, Repository-wide policies.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Bitbucket: Does Bitbucket offer a free tier?

Yes. The Free plan supports up to 5 users with 1 GB of file storage for LFS, 50 build minutes per month, and unlimited public and private repositories. The plan can be upgraded anytime.

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
Bitbucket: Can I self-host Bitbucket?

Yes. Bitbucket Data Center is available for self-hosted deployments starting at $2,300 per year. It provides teams with complete control of their environments and disaster recovery capabilities.

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
Bitbucket: How many build minutes do I get with Bitbucket Pipelines?

Free plan includes 50 build minutes per month. Standard plan ($3.65/user/month) includes 2,500 pooled build minutes. Premium plan ($7.25/user/month) includes 3,500 build minutes. Additional minutes can be purchased in $10 packs for 1,000 minutes.

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
Bitbucket: Does Bitbucket integrate with Jira?

Yes. Bitbucket integrates natively with Jira, allowing you to track associated builds and deployments to Jira work items. It also integrates with Slack, Compass, and VS Code.

Source
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