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Developer Tools · head to head

Dagger vs WorkOS

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
WorkOS logo

WorkOS

Cybersecurity

Developer platform for enterprise-ready authentication and identity.

From
$125/one-time per connection
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.; WorkOS authKit free tier limited to 1 million monthly active users; additional millions cost $2,500/month
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Dagger and WorkOS actually diverge.

Attributes where Dagger and WorkOS differ
AttributeDaggerWorkOS
Starting priceFree$125/one-time per connection
Pricing modelPer month per team for Dagger Cloudusage-based
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsLinux, macOS, Windows, Self-hostedWeb, API
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 WorkOS

Nothing recorded that Dagger does not also cover.

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

WorkOS

  • SaaS applications needing rapid enterprise SSO deploymentnot Dagger
  • Companies selling to mid-market and enterprise customersnot Dagger
  • Applications requiring SCIM directory sync with corporate identity systemsnot Dagger
  • Product teams needing audit logs for compliance (SOC 2, ISO 27001)not Dagger
  • Platforms with multiple identity provider requirementsnot 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.

WorkOS

  • AuthKit free tier limited to 1 million monthly active users; additional millions cost $2,500/month
  • Per-connection pricing for SSO and Directory Sync ($125–$50 each) scales poorly for enterprises with many identity providers
  • Audit logs require separate subscription at $125/month per SIEM connection or $99/month per 1 million events
  • Radar fraud protection billed separately at $100/month per 50,000 additional checks beyond 1,000 free checks
  • Custom domain feature requires $99/month subscription
  • Requires annual commitment for SLA and support guarantees; pay-as-you-go tier lacks uptime guarantee

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

WorkOS

$125/one-time per connection
  • Pay as You Go$undefined/variable
    • Per-connection pricing from $125 to $50 with volume discounts
    • Up to 60% discount at scale
    • Quick deployment
  • Annual Credits$undefined/variable
    • Custom pricing with volume discounts
    • 99.99% uptime SLA
    • Guided migration

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 WorkOS if

  • You work on Web, API.
WorkOS review

Questions people ask

Is Dagger or WorkOS better?
Neither clearly leads. Dagger starts at Free and WorkOS at $125/one-time per connection, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Dagger or WorkOS?
Dagger has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Dagger and $125/one-time per connection for WorkOS.
Does Dagger or WorkOS run on more platforms?
Dagger runs on Linux, macOS, Windows, Self-hosted. WorkOS runs on Web, API.
Can I use Dagger for free?
Yes. Dagger has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. WorkOS starts at $125/one-time per connection.
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 WorkOS is typically brought in for.
What can Dagger do that WorkOS cannot?
Dagger covers Pipelines as code, Local and CI parity, Content-addressed caching, Dagger Functions and modules.

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.

WorkOS: How quickly can I implement WorkOS SSO?

Developers can implement single sign-on in minutes instead of months. Multiple customers report setting up SSO in less than a week, with WorkOS handling the complexity of SAML and OIDC protocols.

Source
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.

WorkOS: What SDKs does WorkOS provide?

WorkOS offers SDKs for Node.js, Python, Ruby, Go, PHP, Java, and .NET.

Source
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.

WorkOS: Does WorkOS support SCIM provisioning?

Yes. WorkOS supports SCIM provisioning integration with systems like Okta and Entra ID for automated user management.

Source
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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