Developer Tools · head to head
Depot vs Semperis
Depot
Developer Tools
Cloud-based builds and CI runs 55x faster with less cost
- From
- Free
- Free plan
- Yes
Semperis
Cybersecurity
Identity threat detection and Active Directory forest recovery for AD, Entra ID and Okta, from a privately held US vendor.
- From
- On request
- Free plan
- No
The short version
- Only Depot has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
- Each has a real cost: Depot developer plan minute limits may be insufficient for active development; Semperis scope is limited to Active Directory, Entra ID and Okta, so an organisation whose critical identity lives elsewhere gets little from it, and the recovery value declines in direct proportion to how much has already moved off on-premises AD.
- They diverge on capability: Depot covers Depot CI, Semperis covers Active Directory Forest Recovery.
- Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Depot and Semperis actually diverge.
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 Depot
- Depot CI
- Container builds
- GitHub Actions runners
- Distributed caching
- Build API
- Depot Registry
- Cross-platform builds
- SSH debugging
Only in Semperis
- Active Directory Forest Recovery
- Malware-free restore
- Replication-stream monitoring
- Automated rollback
- Attack indicator scoring
- Entra ID and Okta coverage
- Purple Knight
- Forest Druid
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
Depot
- Accelerating Docker builds for container-based developmentnot Semperis
- Replacing GitHub Actions runners with faster infrastructurenot Semperis
- Distributing cache across Monorepo buildsnot Semperis
- Debugging failed CI builds interactively with SSHnot Semperis
Semperis
- An organisation that cannot answer an auditor or insurer asking how long it would take to rebuild Active Directory after a destructive attacknot Depot
- Post-incident recovery where domain controllers are compromised and restoring from system-state backup would reintroduce the attacker's footholdnot Depot
- Continuous detection of privileged group changes and directory-level tampering that domain controller security logs missnot Depot
- Hybrid estates where AD, Entra ID and Okta all matter and no single tool currently shows changes across the threenot 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
Semperis
- Scope is limited to Active Directory, Entra ID and Okta, so an organisation whose critical identity lives elsewhere gets little from it, and the recovery value declines in direct proportion to how much has already moved off on-premises AD.
- The licence buys tooling, not a proven runbook: forest recovery is only worth what your last rehearsal demonstrated, and a plan that has never been executed end to end in a lab is an untested assumption regardless of what was purchased.
- It overlaps with backup and directory management products from Quest, Veeam, Commvault and others, so the buyer must argue internally why a dedicated product is needed alongside a backup contract that already claims to protect Active Directory.
- Running Directory Services Protector well requires someone who understands AD internals, replication metadata and Tier 0 attack paths, and without that person the alerts on privileged changes are either ignored or auto-reverted in ways that break legitimate administration.
- Licensing is driven by identity object counts, so directories carrying years of stale user accounts and service principals pay for objects that should have been deleted, and the cleanup project that would reduce the bill is the one nobody has time for.
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
Semperis
On requestNo published plan breakdown. See the Semperis review.
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.
Choose Semperis if
- You need active directory forest recovery.
- You also want malware-free restore.
Questions people ask
- Is Depot or Semperis better?
- Neither clearly leads. Depot starts at Free and Semperis at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Depot or Semperis?
- Depot has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Depot and On request for Semperis.
- Does Depot or Semperis run on more platforms?
- Depot runs on Cloud, GitHub, CLI. Semperis runs on Web.
- Can I use Depot for free?
- Yes. Depot has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Semperis starts at On request.
- 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 Semperis is typically brought in for.
- What can Depot do that Semperis cannot?
- Depot covers Depot CI, Container builds, GitHub Actions runners, Distributed caching. Semperis covers Active Directory Forest Recovery, Malware-free restore, Replication-stream monitoring, Automated rollback.
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.
SourceSemperis: Does this replace my backups?
No. It replaces the Active Directory recovery procedure specifically. You still need backups for everything else, and the point of Semperis is that a generic system-state backup of a domain controller is a poor way to recover a forest because it restores the operating system along with whatever compromised it.
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.
SourceSemperis: Is it useful if we are cloud-only on Entra ID?
Partly. Directory Services Protector covers Entra ID and Okta for change tracking and posture, but the forest recovery product, which is the strongest reason to buy, applies to on-premises Active Directory. A genuinely cloud-only organisation should weigh it against Microsoft's own tooling.
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.
SourceSemperis: Are Purple Knight and Forest Druid really free?
Yes, both are free downloads with no licence requirement, and they are widely used by organisations that are not Semperis customers. They are also, transparently, the top of the sales funnel.
Semperis: How long does forest recovery actually take?
The honest answer is whatever your rehearsal took. The vendor's case is hours instead of days, and automation genuinely removes most manual steps, but the number that matters for your board is the one from a test in your own environment.
Semperis: Does it require agents on domain controllers?
It collects directory changes from the AD replication stream, which is what lets it see changes that bypass the security log. Deployment details vary by product and version, so confirm the exact architecture against your domain controller change-control rules.
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