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Developer Tools · head to head

Depot vs Garden

Depot logo

Depot

Developer Tools

Cloud-based builds and CI runs 55x faster with less cost

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Garden logo

Garden

Developer Tools

Kubernetes development and testing automation with shared caching, now owned by Incredibuild

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Depot developer plan minute limits may be insufficient for active development; Garden incredibuild acquired Garden in November 2024 and the pricing page now redirects to documentation, so there is no public commercial offer and no published roadmap for a team betting a platform on it.
  • They diverge on capability: Depot covers Depot CI, Garden covers Action graph.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Depot and Garden actually diverge.

Attributes where Depot and Garden differ
AttributeDepotGarden
Pricing modelUnknownOpen source, no licence fee
PlatformsCloud, GitHub, CLILinux, macOS, Windows, Kubernetes
Founded2022Unknown

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Developer Tools).

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 Depot

  • Depot CI
  • Container builds
  • GitHub Actions runners
  • Distributed caching
  • Build API
  • Depot Registry
  • Cross-platform builds
  • SSH debugging

Only in Garden

  • Action graph
  • Shared result caching
  • Remote Kubernetes environments
  • In-cluster builds
  • Same config everywhere
  • Hot reload sync
  • Helm and Kustomize support
  • Templating

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Depot

  • Accelerating Docker builds for container-based developmentnot Garden
  • Replacing GitHub Actions runners with faster infrastructurenot Garden
  • Distributing cache across Monorepo buildsnot Garden
  • Debugging failed CI builds interactively with SSHnot Garden

Garden

  • A platform team whose integration test suite takes longer than the coffee break and needs caching to cut the loopnot Depot
  • An organisation with thirty or more services on Kubernetes where docker-compose no longer approximates productionnot Depot
  • Giving every developer an ephemeral namespace instead of queuing for one shared staging environmentnot Depot
  • Running the identical build and test definition locally and in CI so failures reproduce on a laptopnot Depot

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Depot

  • Developer plan minute limits may be insufficient for active development
  • Startup plan at $200/mo is expensive for smaller teams
  • Business plan requires custom pricing consultation
  • macOS M2 runners not available on Developer plan

Garden

  • Incredibuild acquired Garden in November 2024 and the pricing page now redirects to documentation, so there is no public commercial offer and no published roadmap for a team betting a platform on it.
  • It is tightly bound to Kubernetes, so teams running on ECS, Nomad, plain VMs or serverless get little from it and would need a different tool entirely.
  • The YAML action graph is a real configuration surface: a large monorepo needs someone to own and maintain Garden config as a first-class artefact, which is a standing platform-engineering cost.
  • Shared remote environments mean every developer needs cluster access and a cost allocation model, so cloud spend rises and namespace sprawl becomes a thing you have to police.
  • Caching correctness depends on declaring dependencies accurately; an under-declared action will serve a stale cached pass and hide a genuine test failure, which is a hard class of bug to notice.

Pricing, plan by plan

Depot

Free
  • Developer$20/month
    • 1 user
    • 500 Docker build minutes per month
    • 2,000 Depot CI minutes per month
  • Startup$200/month
    • Unlimited users
    • 5,000 Docker build minutes per month
    • 20,000 Depot CI minutes per month
  • Business$undefined/custom
    • Custom pricing
    • Unlimited users
    • Custom monthly compute

Garden

Free
  • Garden open sourceFree
    • Apache 2.0 licensed CLI
    • Full action graph and caching
    • Self-managed clusters
  • Commercial tier$undefined/year
    • Hosted caching and team features
    • Support and onboarding
    • Pricing no longer published since the Incredibuild acquisition

Which should you pick?

Choose Depot if

  • You need depot ci.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Cloud, GitHub, CLI.
  • You also want container builds.
Depot review

Choose Garden if

  • You need action graph.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, macOS, Windows, Kubernetes.
  • You also want shared result caching.
Garden review

Questions people ask

Is Depot or Garden better?
Neither clearly leads. Depot starts at Free and Garden at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Depot or Garden?
Depot starts at Free and Garden at Free.
Does Depot or Garden run on more platforms?
Depot runs on Cloud, GitHub, CLI. Garden runs on Linux, macOS, Windows, Kubernetes.
Can I use Depot for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Depot best used for?
Depot is most often used for accelerating docker builds for container-based development, replacing github actions runners with faster infrastructure, distributing cache across monorepo builds, debugging failed ci builds interactively with ssh. Of those, accelerating docker builds for container-based development and replacing github actions runners with faster infrastructure are not what Garden is typically brought in for.
What can Depot do that Garden cannot?
Depot covers Depot CI, Container builds, GitHub Actions runners, Distributed caching. Garden covers Action graph, Shared result caching, Remote Kubernetes environments, In-cluster builds.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Depot: How much faster are Depot runners compared to GitHub Actions?

Depot runners offer 30% faster CPUs and 10x faster networking than standard GitHub-hosted runners, enabling builds to complete significantly faster.

Source
Garden: Is Garden still maintained?

The open source project remains on GitHub under Incredibuild ownership, but the commercial pricing page redirects to the docs and there is no public paid offer.

Depot: What is included in the Developer plan?

Developer plan ($20/month) includes 500 Docker build minutes, 2,000 Depot CI minutes, 2,000 GitHub Actions minutes, 25 GB storage, unlimited concurrency, and community support.

Source
Garden: Do I need Kubernetes?

Effectively yes. Garden is built around Kubernetes environments and offers little to teams on other runtimes.

Depot: Can I use Depot with my own AWS account?

Yes, Depot Managed allows deployment within customer AWS accounts. This is available to interested customers; contact sales for details.

Source
Garden: Does it replace my CI system?

No. It runs inside GitHub Actions, GitLab CI or similar and speeds up what those pipelines execute.

Garden: What is the actual saving?

It comes from skipping builds and tests whose inputs have not changed, so the benefit scales with how many services you have and how often only a few change.

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