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Dagger vs VIVOTEK VAST Security Station

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
VIVOTEK VAST Security Station logo

VIVOTEK VAST Security Station

Cybersecurity

Camera-vendor video management software with a free 32-channel tier for VIVOTEK devices

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for it.; VIVOTEK VAST Security Station vAST 2 has entered end of maintenance with technical support and software files withdrawn, yet distributors still list VAST 2 licences, so a buyer can be quoted unsupported software without realising it.
  • They diverge on capability: Dagger covers Pipelines as code, VIVOTEK VAST Security Station covers VSS Lite free tier.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Dagger and VIVOTEK VAST Security Station actually diverge.

Attributes where Dagger and VIVOTEK VAST Security Station differ
AttributeDaggerVIVOTEK VAST Security Station
Starting priceFreeOn request
Pricing modelPer month per team for Dagger CloudOne-time purchase per camera channel
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 VIVOTEK VAST Security Station

  • VSS Lite free tier
  • Per-channel licensing
  • Third-party camera support
  • Failover and TV matrix
  • Vision object analytics
  • Embedded NVR licensing
  • NDAA and TAA compliance

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

VIVOTEK VAST Security Station

  • A school or small public building with fewer than 32 VIVOTEK cameras that needs a VMS at no licence costnot Dagger
  • A United States public sector site that must meet NDAA and TAA procurement restrictionsnot Dagger
  • An existing VAST 2 site that needs to migrate before the software falls further out of maintenancenot Dagger
  • A mid-sized site standardising on VIVOTEK hardware with a handful of third-party cameras to absorbnot 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.

VIVOTEK VAST Security Station

  • VAST 2 has entered end of maintenance with technical support and software files withdrawn, yet distributors still list VAST 2 licences, so a buyer can be quoted unsupported software without realising it.
  • The free Lite tier is hard capped at 32 cameras and VIVOTEK devices only, so a site that grows to 33 cameras or adds one third-party camera moves straight to paid Standard licensing.
  • VSS Professional includes no camera licences at all, so the edition that large deployments need starts from a higher effective price than the tier comparison suggests.
  • It is a camera manufacturer's VMS, so the third-party device list, analytics ecosystem and integration catalogue are all narrower than an independent platform like Milestone or Salient.
  • No pricing is published for Standard or Professional channels; everything runs through distribution, which makes budgeting a phased expansion difficult without repeated quotes.

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

VIVOTEK VAST Security Station

On request
  • VSS LiteFree
    • Free of charge
    • Up to 32 VIVOTEK cameras per server
    • No third-party camera support
  • VSS Standard$undefined/one-time
    • Up to 256 cameras per server
    • Eight camera licences included for VIVOTEK or third-party devices
    • Additional channel licences purchased individually
  • VSS Professional$undefined/one-time
    • Large scale deployments with failover and TV matrix
    • No camera licences included at all
    • Every channel purchased or upgraded from Standard

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 VIVOTEK VAST Security Station if

  • You need vss lite free tier.
  • You work on Windows, Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want per-channel licensing.
VIVOTEK VAST Security Station review

Questions people ask

Is Dagger or VIVOTEK VAST Security Station better?
Neither clearly leads. Dagger starts at Free and VIVOTEK VAST Security Station at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Dagger or VIVOTEK VAST Security Station?
Dagger has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Dagger and On request for VIVOTEK VAST Security Station.
Does Dagger or VIVOTEK VAST Security Station run on more platforms?
Dagger runs on Linux, macOS, Windows, Self-hosted. VIVOTEK VAST Security Station 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. VIVOTEK VAST Security Station 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 VIVOTEK VAST Security Station is typically brought in for.
What can Dagger do that VIVOTEK VAST Security Station cannot?
Dagger covers Pipelines as code, Local and CI parity, Content-addressed caching, Dagger Functions and modules. VIVOTEK VAST Security Station covers VSS Lite free tier, Per-channel licensing, Third-party camera support, Failover and TV matrix.

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.

VIVOTEK VAST Security Station: Should I still buy VAST 2?

No. VAST 2 has entered end of maintenance with support and software files withdrawn. VSS is the current product, and any VAST 2 licence still on a distributor price list should be questioned.

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.

VIVOTEK VAST Security Station: Is VSS Lite really free?

Yes, for up to 32 VIVOTEK cameras per server. It does not support third-party cameras and cannot exceed 32 channels.

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.

VIVOTEK VAST Security Station: How many licences come with Standard?

Eight camera licences, usable for VIVOTEK or third-party devices. Professional includes none.

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.

VIVOTEK VAST Security Station: Is VIVOTEK NDAA compliant?

VIVOTEK publishes an NDAA and TAA compliant product list, which is why it appears in United States public sector specifications where Section 889 excludes several other manufacturers.

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