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Developer Tools · head to head

Earthly vs Glean

Earthly logo

Earthly

Developer Tools

Engineering guardrails for the AI era

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Visit EarthlyFull review
Glean logo

Glean

Business Intelligence

Work AI that Works

From
On request
Free plan
No
Visit GleanFull review

The short version

  • Earthly is free; Glean prices on request.
  • Where Earthly falls short: pricing model not published; requires sales contact.
  • Where Glean falls short: no pricing published on website; enterprise sales model requires demo request.
  • Prices and features on this page were last checked on 13 November 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Earthly and Glean actually diverge.

Attributes where Earthly and Glean differ
AttributeEarthlyGlean
Starting priceFreeOn request
Pricing modelNo pricing published on websiteQuote
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsWeb, APIWeb
CategoryDeveloper ToolsBusiness Intelligence

Not yet recorded: founded for Glean.

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 Earthly

  • Policy as code
  • Multi-stage enforcement
  • AI agent governance
  • Repository-wide policies
  • Incident response automation
  • Compliance management
  • Earthfiles build tool
  • Satellites

Only in Glean

Nothing recorded that Earthly does not also cover.

What people use each for

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

Earthly

  • Enforcing engineering standards across AI and human developersnot Glean
  • Automating incident response procedures across all repositoriesnot Glean
  • Embedding compliance requirements into development workflowsnot Glean
  • Standardizing build processes with Earthfilesnot Glean

Glean

  • Onboarding new employees across distributed teams to company knowledgenot Earthly
  • Maintaining centralized searchable intranet for compliance requirementsnot Earthly
  • Surfacing historical archived content for editorial and sales teamsnot Earthly
  • Creating AI agents through natural language without engineersnot Earthly
  • Reducing language model costs by filtering unnecessary datanot Earthly

Where each one falls short

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

Earthly

  • Pricing model not published; requires sales contact
  • Earthly Lunar is a recent launch (2025) with limited track record
  • Primarily GitHub-focused; limited integration with other platforms
  • No public documentation on pricing or feature tiers

Glean

  • No pricing published on website; enterprise sales model requires demo request

Pricing, plan by plan

Earthly

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the Earthly review.

Glean

On request

No published plan breakdown. See the Glean review.

Which should you pick?

Choose Earthly if

  • You need policy as code.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, API.
  • You also want multi-stage enforcement.
Earthly review

Choose Glean if

Nothing in the data separates Glean from Earthly on the points above - pick on price and on how each one feels to use.

Glean review

Questions people ask

Is Earthly or Glean better?
Neither clearly leads. Earthly starts at Free and Glean at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Earthly or Glean?
Earthly has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Earthly and On request for Glean.
Does Earthly or Glean run on more platforms?
Earthly runs on Web, API. Glean runs on Web.
Can I use Earthly for free?
Yes. Earthly has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Glean starts at On request.
What is Earthly best used for?
Earthly is most often used for enforcing engineering standards across ai and human developers, automating incident response procedures across all repositories, embedding compliance requirements into development workflows, standardizing build processes with earthfiles. Of those, enforcing engineering standards across ai and human developers and automating incident response procedures across all repositories are not what Glean is typically brought in for.
What can Earthly do that Glean cannot?
Earthly covers Policy as code, Multi-stage enforcement, AI agent governance, Repository-wide policies.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Earthly: What is the difference between Earthfiles and Earthly Lunar?

Earthfiles is an open-source build tool that reached 12,000 GitHub stars and is used by companies like NVIDIA, Intel, and Databricks. Earthly Lunar is a separate governance platform launched in 2025 for enforcing standards across development workflows.

Source
Glean: How much does Glean cost?

Glean does not publish pricing on its website. The platform uses an enterprise sales model where customers request a demo and pricing is determined through direct consultation with the sales team.

Source
Earthly: How does Earthly Lunar enforce standards?

Lunar converts engineering standards, compliance requirements, and processes documented in AGENTS.md files, wikis, and incident postmortems into enforceable guardrails that apply consistently across repositories and development stages.

Source
Glean: Does Glean offer a free tier or trial?

No free tier information is available on Glean's website. Interested users must request a demo to learn about trial options and pricing.

Source
Earthly: What is the pricing for Earthly Lunar?

Pricing is not published on the website. Interested customers should contact Earthly's sales team for current pricing and feature tiers.

Source
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