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Cybersecurity · head to head

Chainguard vs Garden

Chainguard logo

Chainguard

Cybersecurity

Secure-by-default open source software with hardened container images and libraries

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: Chainguard containers Catalog at 19,000 USD/year expensive for teams under 10 people; 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: Chainguard covers Hardened container images, Garden covers Action graph.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Chainguard and Garden actually diverge.

Attributes where Chainguard and Garden differ
AttributeChainguardGarden
Pricing modelLicensing by artifact type and team sizeOpen source, no licence fee
PlatformsCloud, Container, VMLinux, macOS, Windows, Kubernetes
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 Chainguard

  • Hardened container images
  • CVE remediation SLA
  • SLSA L2/L3 builds
  • Sigstore signatures
  • SBOM generation
  • Language libraries
  • VM images
  • Artifact scanning

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.

Chainguard

  • Deploying hardened container images with minimal attack surfacenot Garden
  • Meeting supply chain security requirements for regulated industriesnot Garden
  • Reducing CVE exposure with contractual remediation guaranteesnot Garden
  • Building secure language packages with automatic backportsnot Garden
  • Verifying artifact provenance with Sigstore signaturesnot Garden

Garden

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

Where each one falls short

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

Chainguard

  • Containers Catalog at 19,000 USD/year expensive for teams under 10 people
  • Per-image pricing for containers requires custom quotes with no transparency
  • Free tier limited to 5 container images for testing
  • Libraries pricing by ecosystem and developer count lacks transparent per-developer cost
  • VM image catalog pricing opacity makes cost estimation difficult

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

Chainguard

Free
  • Free TierFree
    • Five container images to test and deploy
  • Containers Per-Image$undefined/custom
    • Licensed by quantity and type
    • Base images, application images, AI/ML images, FIPS variants
    • Custom pricing per image
  • Containers Catalog$19000/year
    • For 10-person engineering teams
    • 2,000+ container images
    • Contractual CVE remediation SLAs
  • Libraries Licensing$undefined/custom
    • Licensed by ecosystem (Python, Java, JavaScript)
    • Licensed by developer count
    • Unlimited pulls with no metering

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 Chainguard if

  • You need hardened container images.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Cloud, Container, VM.
  • You also want cve remediation sla.
Chainguard 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 Chainguard or Garden better?
Neither clearly leads. Chainguard 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, Chainguard or Garden?
Chainguard starts at Free and Garden at Free.
Does Chainguard or Garden run on more platforms?
Chainguard runs on Cloud, Container, VM. Garden runs on Linux, macOS, Windows, Kubernetes.
Can I use Chainguard for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Chainguard best used for?
Chainguard is most often used for deploying hardened container images with minimal attack surface, meeting supply chain security requirements for regulated industries, reducing cve exposure with contractual remediation guarantees, building secure language packages with automatic backports. Of those, deploying hardened container images with minimal attack surface and meeting supply chain security requirements for regulated industries are not what Garden is typically brought in for.
What can Chainguard do that Garden cannot?
Chainguard covers Hardened container images, CVE remediation SLA, SLSA L2/L3 builds, Sigstore signatures. Garden covers Action graph, Shared result caching, Remote Kubernetes environments, In-cluster builds.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Chainguard: How much is the Chainguard Containers Catalog?

The Containers Catalog is 19,000 USD per year for 10-person engineering teams, providing access to 2,000+ hardened container images.

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.

Chainguard: What SLAs does Chainguard offer?

Chainguard provides contractual CVE remediation SLAs: 7 days for critical vulnerabilities, 14 days for high/medium/low severity, all with priority support.

Source
Garden: Do I need Kubernetes?

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

Chainguard: Can I try Chainguard before purchasing?

Yes. The free tier includes five container images for testing and deployment, allowing hands-on evaluation.

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.

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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