Cybersecurity · head to head
Cosign vs RAD Studio
Cosign
Cybersecurity
Signs and verifies container images and artifacts, with or without managing keys
- From
- Free
- Free plan
- Yes
RAD Studio
Developer Tools
Cross-platform native app development with Delphi and C++Builder
- From
- $2000/perpetual
- Free plan
- No
The short version
- Only Cosign has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
- Each has a real cost: Cosign keyless signing inherits every weakness of the identity provider behind it. Sigstore’s own threat model states that if an identity provider is compromised, Sigstore will issue certificates to those identities, so a compromised account produces perfectly valid signatures.; RAD Studio professional edition costs $2,000 for the perpetual license plus $599 for year one maintenance, totaling $2,599 before tax
- Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Cosign and RAD Studio actually diverge.
| Attribute | Cosign | RAD Studio |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | Free | $2000/perpetual |
| Pricing model | Open source, no licence fee | one-time |
| Free tier | Yes | No |
| Platforms | macOS, Linux, Windows, Docker | Web |
| Category | Cybersecurity | Developer Tools |
Identical on both: 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 Cosign
- Keyless signing
- Key and KMS signing
- Registry-native storage
- In-toto attestations
- Offline verification
- Trusted root and signing config
Only in RAD Studio
Nothing recorded that Cosign does not also cover.
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
Cosign
- Signing container images in a build pipeline without managing long-lived private keysnot RAD Studio
- Attaching a signed bill of materials to a release so consumers can verify its provenancenot RAD Studio
- Meeting a customer or regulatory requirement for signed artifactsnot RAD Studio
- Verifying third-party images before they enter an internal registrynot RAD Studio
RAD Studio
- Building Windows desktop applications with VCL componentsnot Cosign
- Creating iOS and Android apps from shared Delphi codebasenot Cosign
- Connecting to Oracle databases through FireDAC connectivitynot Cosign
- Building REST web services that run on Linux serversnot Cosign
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
Cosign
- Keyless signing inherits every weakness of the identity provider behind it. Sigstore’s own threat model states that if an identity provider is compromised, Sigstore will issue certificates to those identities, so a compromised account produces perfectly valid signatures.
- A signature proves who signed, never whether they should have. The documentation is explicit that Sigstore cannot determine authorisation, so every consumer must write and maintain their own identity and issuer policy or verification means nothing.
- Nothing is enforced without an admission controller. Signing changes what you can prove, not what runs, and the official policy controller has a small maintainer base for a component sitting in a cluster admission path.
- Upgrades break pipelines. Version 3 changed defaults, version 4 is announced as removing legacy functionality and roughly half the command line flags, and two official client libraries still lacked support for the new log format as of mid 2026.
- Signatures do not expire. An artifact signed before a maintainer account was compromised and one signed after are indistinguishable unless somebody is actively monitoring the transparency log, and almost nobody is.
RAD Studio
- Professional edition costs $2,000 for the perpetual license plus $599 for year one maintenance, totaling $2,599 before tax
- Enterprise edition steps up to $3,400 license plus $1,199 maintenance, and Architect edition to $4,416 license plus $2,183 maintenance
- The perpetual license only entitles the buyer to updates for one year; continued access to new updates and upgrades requires an annually renewable Update Subscription
Pricing, plan by plan
Cosign
Free- CosignFree
- Apache-2.0
- Public Sigstore infrastructure free to use
- No usage limits published
RAD Studio
$2000/perpetual- Professional Edition$2000/perpetual
- Perpetual License
- First year maintenance $599
- Total $2,599 + Tax
- Enterprise Edition$3400/perpetual
- Perpetual License
- First year maintenance $1,199
- Total $4,599 + Tax
- Architect Edition$4416/perpetual
- Perpetual License
- First year maintenance $2,183
- Total $6,599 + Tax
Which should you pick?
Choose Cosign if
- You need keyless signing.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on macOS, Linux, Windows, Docker.
- You also want key and kms signing.
Choose RAD Studio if
Nothing in the data separates RAD Studio from Cosign on the points above - pick on price and on how each one feels to use.
Questions people ask
- Is Cosign or RAD Studio better?
- Neither clearly leads. Cosign starts at Free and RAD Studio at $2000/perpetual, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Cosign or RAD Studio?
- Cosign has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Cosign and $2000/perpetual for RAD Studio.
- Does Cosign or RAD Studio run on more platforms?
- Cosign runs on macOS, Linux, Windows, Docker. RAD Studio runs on Web.
- Can I use Cosign for free?
- Yes. Cosign has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. RAD Studio starts at $2000/perpetual.
- What is Cosign best used for?
- Cosign is most often used for signing container images in a build pipeline without managing long-lived private keys, attaching a signed bill of materials to a release so consumers can verify its provenance, meeting a customer or regulatory requirement for signed artifacts, verifying third-party images before they enter an internal registry. Of those, signing container images in a build pipeline without managing long-lived private keys and attaching a signed bill of materials to a release so consumers can verify its provenance are not what RAD Studio is typically brought in for.
- What can Cosign do that RAD Studio cannot?
- Cosign covers Keyless signing, Key and KMS signing, Registry-native storage, In-toto attestations.
Answered from the vendors’ own pages
Cosign: Does Cosign tell me if an image is vulnerable?
No. It has no vulnerability knowledge whatsoever. It can carry an SBOM as a signed attestation but never reads it. Pair it with a scanner.
RAD Studio: How much does RAD Studio cost?
RAD Studio uses perpetual licensing: Professional Edition $2,000 perpetual license + $599 first year maintenance ($2,599 total + tax). Enterprise Edition $3,400 license + $1,199 maintenance ($4,599 total + tax). Architect Edition $4,416 license + $2,183 maintenance ($6,599 total + tax).
SourceCosign: Is signing alone enough?
No. Verification is a command somebody runs. Without an admission controller enforcing it, an unsigned image still runs.
RAD Studio: What is the difference between RAD Studio editions?
Professional Edition ($2,599 total + tax) targets individual developers. Enterprise Edition ($4,599 total + tax) adds multi-tier app capabilities. Architect Edition ($6,599 total + tax) includes advanced database and cloud features. All three include perpetual licenses.
SourceCosign: What does a bare cosign verify actually prove?
Very little. Without a pinned certificate identity and OIDC issuer, it accepts a valid signature from any identity at all.
RAD Studio: Does RAD Studio offer Kai AI integration and discounts?
Yes, adding Kai AI to any edition provides discounts: 25% off Professional ($2,136 + tax), 30% off Enterprise ($3,394 + tax), and 40% off Architect ($4,109 + tax). This promotion is active through August 31, 2026.
SourceCosign: What is the risk of keyless signing?
Your OIDC provider becomes the root of trust. Compromise of that account yields genuine, verifiable signatures, so account security is the control that matters.
Cosign: Should we expect breaking changes?
Yes. Version 4 is announced to remove roughly half the flags, and a post-quantum migration is named as a further breaking change after that.
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