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Developer Tools · head to head

Dagger vs Yoti

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
Yoti logo

Yoti

Cybersecurity

Reusable digital identity, facial age estimation and identity verification

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.; Yoti age estimation returns a probabilistic range rather than a verified date of birth, so it only works with a safety buffer above the legal threshold and cannot prove an exact age.
  • They diverge on capability: Dagger covers Pipelines as code, Yoti covers Facial age estimation.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Dagger and Yoti actually diverge.

Attributes where Dagger and Yoti differ
AttributeDaggerYoti
Starting priceFreeOn request
Pricing modelPer month per team for Dagger Cloudquote
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsLinux, macOS, Windows, Self-hostedWeb, iOS, Android, 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 Yoti

  • Facial age estimation
  • Reusable digital ID
  • Identity verification
  • UK right to work and rent
  • Digital ID for retail
  • Selective disclosure

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

Yoti

  • A social platform meeting UK Online Safety Act age assurance duties without collecting identity documents from teenagersnot Dagger
  • A supermarket removing staff interventions at self-checkout for age-restricted purchasesnot Dagger
  • A UK employer running digital right-to-work checks under the certified trust framework rather than inspecting passportsnot Dagger
  • A gambling operator needing an age gate with high completion rates before the account funding stepnot 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.

Yoti

  • Age estimation returns a probabilistic range rather than a verified date of birth, so it only works with a safety buffer above the legal threshold and cannot prove an exact age.
  • Estimation accuracy varies by demographic and reported error margins widen at the age bands that matter most for eighteen-year thresholds, which pushes borderline users into a document fallback you still have to pay for.
  • Pricing is not published, so buyers cannot compare the cost of an estimation check against a document check without going through sales.
  • Regulatory acceptance of facial estimation differs by jurisdiction, so a method that satisfies Ofcom may not satisfy a regulator elsewhere and multi-market platforms need more than one approach.
  • The reusable digital identity app depends on consumer adoption, which is meaningful in the UK and thin elsewhere, limiting the reusability benefit outside its home market.

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

Yoti

On request
  • Yoti Age and Identity Services$undefined/year
    • Per-check pricing quoted by volume and method
    • Age estimation, document verification and digital ID priced differently
    • Right to work and right to rent checks quoted separately

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 Yoti if

  • You need facial age estimation.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android, API.
  • You also want reusable digital id.
Yoti review

Questions people ask

Is Dagger or Yoti better?
Neither clearly leads. Dagger starts at Free and Yoti at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Dagger or Yoti?
Dagger has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Dagger and On request for Yoti.
Does Dagger or Yoti run on more platforms?
Dagger runs on Linux, macOS, Windows, Self-hosted. Yoti runs on Web, iOS, Android, API.
Can I use Dagger for free?
Yes. Dagger has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Yoti 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 Yoti is typically brought in for.
What can Dagger do that Yoti cannot?
Dagger covers Pipelines as code, Local and CI parity, Content-addressed caching, Dagger Functions and modules. Yoti covers Facial age estimation, Reusable digital ID, Identity verification, UK right to work and rent.

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.

Yoti: Does age estimation store my face?

The image is used to produce an estimate and then deleted rather than retained, which is the specific property that makes it usable for age assurance on minors.

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.

Yoti: Is it accepted for UK Online Safety Act compliance?

Facial age estimation is one of the methods regulators have accepted as highly effective age assurance. Confirm the current position with your own counsel for your content category.

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.

Yoti: Can it prove someone is exactly 21?

No. It gives a range. If you need a precise age you need a document or database check, which Yoti also sells.

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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