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Developer Tools · head to head

Dagger vs March Networks

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
March Networks logo

March Networks

Cybersecurity

Banking and retail video with transaction overlay, sold by a Canadian firm that changed from Chinese to Taiwanese ownership

From
On request
Free plan
No
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Dagger has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: 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.; March Networks the ownership history is a live compliance question: Chinese-owned via Infinova from 2011, with a PRC government entity as controlling shareholder by January 2020, before the December 2021 sale to Delta Electronics of Taiwan, and any US federal or contractor buyer should expect to document that chain during a procurement review.
  • They diverge on capability: Dagger covers Pipelines as code, March Networks covers Command Enterprise.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Dagger and March Networks actually diverge.

Attributes where Dagger and March Networks differ
AttributeDaggerMarch Networks
Starting priceFreeOn request
Pricing modelPer month per team for Dagger Cloudquote
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsLinux, macOS, Windows, Self-hostedWindows, Web, iOS, Android
CategoryDeveloper ToolsCybersecurity

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 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 March Networks

  • Command Enterprise
  • Searchlight
  • Hybrid recording
  • X-Series hybrid NVRs
  • Health monitoring
  • ATM and teller integration
  • Retail loss prevention analytics
  • Evidence export

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 March Networks
  • An engineering organisation migrating off a CI provider that does not want to rewrite every pipeline as part of the migrationnot March Networks
  • A team whose engineers waste hours pushing commits to debug CI-only failures and needs to reproduce the exact run locallynot March Networks
  • A monorepo where most commits touch a small subset of services and cache-accurate step skipping cuts build minutes materiallynot March Networks

March Networks

  • A bank investigating a disputed ATM withdrawal who needs the clip for that transaction, not two hours of timelinenot Dagger
  • A credit union refreshing 200 branches in phases where analogue and IP cameras must coexist on one recordernot Dagger
  • A restaurant chain overlaying till exceptions on video across hundreds of locationsnot Dagger
  • A transit operator needing video retrieval from vehicles and stations without shipping terabytes over the networknot 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.

March Networks

  • The ownership history is a live compliance question: Chinese-owned via Infinova from 2011, with a PRC government entity as controlling shareholder by January 2020, before the December 2021 sale to Delta Electronics of Taiwan, and any US federal or contractor buyer should expect to document that chain during a procurement review.
  • NDAA compliance is stated at the product level and rests on American system-on-chip processors in the majority of cameras and in specific recorder lines, which means it must be confirmed per model rather than assumed across the catalogue.
  • The platform is engineered around banking and retail workflows, so buyers outside those verticals pay for transaction integration they will never use and get a less developed general security experience than from a Genetec or Milestone.
  • No pricing is published and everything is quoted through integrators, so a multi-hundred-site estate cannot be budgeted without a design exercise and there is no benchmark against which to test a quote.
  • Hybrid recording means a recorder in every branch, which is hardware to install, monitor, service and eventually replace at every location, and that refresh cycle is a recurring capital event that cloud rivals avoid entirely.

Pricing, plan by plan

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

March Networks

On request
  • Command Enterprise and Searchlight$undefined/year
    • Per-recorder and per-channel licensing quoted through integrators
    • Searchlight business intelligence licensed separately
    • X-Series hybrid recorders purchased per site

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 March Networks if

  • You need command enterprise.
  • You work on Windows, Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want searchlight.
March Networks review

Questions people ask

Is Dagger or March Networks better?
Neither clearly leads. Dagger starts at Free and March Networks at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Dagger or March Networks?
Dagger has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Dagger and On request for March Networks.
Does Dagger or March Networks run on more platforms?
Dagger runs on Linux, macOS, Windows, Self-hosted. March Networks runs on Windows, Web, iOS, Android.
Can I use Dagger for free?
Yes. Dagger has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. March Networks starts at On request.
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 March Networks is typically brought in for.
What can Dagger do that March Networks cannot?
Dagger covers Pipelines as code, Local and CI parity, Content-addressed caching, Dagger Functions and modules. March Networks covers Command Enterprise, Searchlight, Hybrid recording, X-Series hybrid NVRs.

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.

March Networks: Who owns March Networks?

Delta Electronics of Taiwan, which acquired it in December 2021 for 114 million US dollars. Before that it was owned by Chinese manufacturer Infinova, which by January 2020 had a PRC government entity as controlling shareholder.

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.

March Networks: Is March Networks NDAA compliant?

The company states it is, citing American system-on-chip processors in the majority of its cameras and in its Command Recording Server bundles and X-Series hybrid NVRs. Verify per model, and expect the ownership history to be raised in a federal procurement review.

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.

March Networks: What is Searchlight?

The layer that overlays ATM, teller and point of sale transaction data on video so investigators search by transaction rather than by time.

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.

March Networks: Is video stored in the cloud?

No, it is hybrid. Video is recorded on a recorder at each site and only required clips move centrally, which is why it suits large branch estates on modest connections.

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