Softwr

Developer Tools · head to head

Dagger vs EMQX

Dagger logo

Dagger

Developer Tools

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

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Visit DaggerFull review
EMQX logo

EMQX

Databases

Erlang MQTT broker for large IoT fleets, relicensed to BSL with production free use limited to one node

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Visit EMQXFull review

The short version

  • Free plans on both; paid from $50/mo and $234/mo.
  • Only Dagger lists pipelines as code; only EMQX lists erlang clustering.
  • Prices and features on this page were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Dagger and EMQX actually diverge.

Attributes where Dagger and EMQX differ
AttributeDaggerEMQX
Pricing modelPer month per team for Dagger CloudPer month by connection and session volume
PlatformsLinux, macOS, Windows, Self-hostedLinux, Self-hosted, Web, macOS
CategoryDeveloper ToolsDatabases

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes).

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 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

Only in EMQX

  • Erlang clustering
  • MQTT 5.0 and QUIC
  • Rule engine
  • Data integration sinks
  • Session persistence
  • Multi protocol gateways
  • Authentication and authorisation
  • Dashboard and REST API

What people use each for

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

Dagger

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

EMQX

  • A connected vehicle platform needing millions of persistent MQTT sessions with QUIC for handover across mobile networksnot Dagger
  • An industrial operator routing sensor telemetry straight into TimescaleDB or Kafka without writing a consumer servicenot Dagger
  • An IoT product team that has outgrown a single Mosquitto instance and needs clustering and shared subscriptionsnot Dagger
  • A smart building deployment mixing MQTT, CoAP and LwM2M devices on one brokernot Dagger

Where each one falls short

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

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

EMQX

  • The move to Business Source Licence 1.1 at version 5.9 in May 2025 limits free production use to a single node, so the clustering that justifies choosing EMQX now requires a paid subscription from the second node onward
  • The relicensing arrived in a minor release, which caught users who had pinned to 5.x expecting Apache 2.0 terms and forced legal review of existing deployments
  • Running an Erlang/OTP cluster well requires operational knowledge most teams do not have, and diagnosing distribution, mnesia or memory issues means learning a runtime you use for nothing else
  • Enterprise pricing is quoted rather than published for the self-managed edition, so the cost of the clustered configuration you actually need is invisible until you talk to sales
  • The Serverless tier caps at around a thousand connections and shares infrastructure, which makes it a prototyping tier rather than a genuine small production option

Pricing, plan by plan

Dagger

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

EMQX

Free
  • Open Source single nodeFree
    • BSL 1.1 licence since version 5.9
    • Free production use of one node only
    • All former enterprise features visible
  • ServerlessFree
    • Free monthly quota then pay as you go
    • Up to 1,000 connections
    • 8 by 5 support
  • Dedicated Flex$234/mo
    • Single tenant cluster
    • Traffic allowance included
    • 24/7 support
  • Enterprise self-managedOn request
    • Deploy on premises, at the edge or in any cloud
    • Clustering licensed
    • 256 MB maximum message size

Which should you pick?

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

Choose EMQX if

  • You need erlang clustering.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, Self-hosted, Web, macOS.
  • You also want mqtt 5.0 and quic.
EMQX review

Questions people ask

Is Dagger or EMQX better?
Neither clearly leads. Dagger starts at Free and EMQX at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Dagger or EMQX?
Dagger starts at Free and EMQX at Free.
Does Dagger or EMQX run on more platforms?
Dagger runs on Linux, macOS, Windows, Self-hosted. EMQX runs on Linux, Self-hosted, Web, macOS.
Can I use Dagger for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Dagger best used for?
Dagger is most often used for a platform team maintaining near-identical build yaml across forty repositories that wants one versioned module every repository calls instead, an engineering organisation migrating off a ci provider that does not want to rewrite every pipeline as part of the migration, a team whose engineers waste hours pushing commits to debug ci-only failures and needs to reproduce the exact run locally, a monorepo where most commits touch a small subset of services and cache-accurate step skipping cuts build minutes materially. Of those, a platform team maintaining near-identical build yaml across forty repositories that wants one versioned module every repository calls instead and an engineering organisation migrating off a ci provider that does not want to rewrite every pipeline as part of the migration are not what EMQX is typically brought in for.
What can Dagger do that EMQX cannot?
Dagger covers Pipelines as code, Local and CI parity, Content-addressed caching, Dagger Functions and modules. EMQX covers Erlang clustering, MQTT 5.0 and QUIC, Rule engine, Data integration sinks.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

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.

EMQX: Is EMQX still open source?

Not in the OSI sense since version 5.9. It is source-available under Business Source Licence 1.1, reverting to Apache 2.0 four years after each release.

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.

EMQX: Can I run a free cluster?

No. The additional use grant permits free production use of one node; clustering requires a commercial licence.

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.

EMQX: What changed for existing users?

Community and enterprise editions merged, so all features are now visible, but the licence terms tightened in the same minor release.

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.

EMQX: Which version is still Apache 2.0?

Releases before 5.9 remain under Apache 2.0, and each BSL release converts to Apache 2.0 four years after publication.

Share

Related pages

More on Dagger

More on EMQX

Keep looking

Other head to heads