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Developer Tools · head to head

Dagger vs Rollup

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
Rollup logo

Rollup

Web Development

JavaScript module bundler built for libraries

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • 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.; Rollup slower than the Go and Rust bundlers that followed it, since it is written in JavaScript
  • They diverge on capability: Dagger covers Pipelines as code, Rollup covers Tree shaking.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Dagger and Rollup actually diverge.

Attributes where Dagger and Rollup differ
AttributeDaggerRollup
Pricing modelPer month per team for Dagger CloudOpen source, no licence fee
PlatformsLinux, macOS, Windows, Self-hostedLinux, macOS, Windows
CategoryDeveloper ToolsWeb Development

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 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 Rollup

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

Rollup

  • Publishing a JavaScript library in several module formatsnot Dagger
  • Builds where output size and cleanliness matter more than build speednot Dagger
  • Producing ES module output for consumers who will bundle it themselvesnot 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.

Rollup

  • Slower than the Go and Rust bundlers that followed it, since it is written in JavaScript
  • Application concerns like dev servers and hot reloading are not its job, so app builds need Vite on top
  • Configuration for non-trivial applications gets verbose compared with tools that assume more

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

Rollup

Free
  • RollupFree
    • Full functionality
    • Commercial use permitted
    • Community support

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 Rollup if

  • You need tree shaking.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, macOS, Windows.
  • You also want clean output.
Rollup review

Questions people ask

Is Dagger or Rollup better?
Neither clearly leads. Dagger starts at Free and Rollup at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Dagger or Rollup?
Dagger starts at Free and Rollup at Free.
Does Dagger or Rollup run on more platforms?
Dagger runs on Linux, macOS, Windows, Self-hosted. Rollup runs on Linux, macOS, Windows.
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 Rollup is typically brought in for.
What can Dagger do that Rollup cannot?
Dagger covers Pipelines as code, Local and CI parity, Content-addressed caching, Dagger Functions and modules. Rollup covers Tree shaking, Clean output, Multiple output formats, Plugin API.

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.

Rollup: Is Rollup free?

Yes, open source under the MIT licence.

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.

Rollup: Rollup or webpack?

Rollup is the usual choice for libraries thanks to cleaner output and better tree shaking. webpack remains stronger for complex applications with heavy asset handling.

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.

Rollup: Do I need Rollup if I use Vite?

Not directly. Vite uses Rollup for production builds, so you already benefit from it.

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.

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