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Developer Tools · head to head

Earthly vs GNAT Pro

Earthly logo

Earthly

Developer Tools

Engineering guardrails for the AI era

From
Free
Rated
-
GNAT Pro logo

GNAT Pro

Developer Tools

Software development environments and toolchains for Ada, C/C++ and Rust

From
On request
Rated
-

The short version

  • Only Earthly has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Earthly pricing model not published; requires sales contact; GNAT Pro no pricing published on website; requires contacting AdaCore directly for quotes

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Earthly and GNAT Pro actually diverge.

Attributes where Earthly and GNAT Pro differ
AttributeEarthlyGNAT Pro
Starting priceFreeOn request
Pricing modelNo pricing published on websitequote
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsWeb, CLIWeb
Founded2020Unknown

Identical on both: 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 Earthly

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

Only in GNAT Pro

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 GNAT Pro
  • Automating incident response procedures across all repositoriesnot GNAT Pro
  • Embedding compliance requirements into development workflowsnot GNAT Pro
  • Standardizing build processes with Earthfilesnot GNAT Pro

GNAT Pro

  • Building certified avionics software meeting DO-178B/C standardsnot Earthly
  • Developing automotive embedded systems with ISO-26262 compliancenot Earthly
  • Integrating Ada, C/C++, and Rust components in single codebasenot Earthly
  • Managing software supply chain vulnerabilities and SBOMsnot Earthly
  • Supporting long-lived software systems spanning decadesnot 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

GNAT Pro

  • No pricing published on website; requires contacting AdaCore directly for quotes
  • Vendor indicates per-user, per-year subscription model but does not disclose specific costs

Pricing, plan by plan

Earthly

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the Earthly review.

GNAT Pro

On request

No published plan breakdown. See the GNAT Pro review.

Which should you pick?

Choose Earthly if

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

Choose GNAT Pro if

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

Questions people ask

Is Earthly or GNAT Pro better?
Neither clearly leads. Earthly starts at Free and GNAT Pro at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Earthly or GNAT Pro?
Earthly has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Earthly and On request for GNAT Pro.
Does Earthly or GNAT Pro run on more platforms?
Earthly runs on Web, CLI. GNAT Pro runs on Web.
Can I use Earthly for free?
Yes. Earthly has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. GNAT Pro 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 GNAT Pro is typically brought in for.
What can Earthly do that GNAT Pro 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
GNAT Pro: How much does GNAT Pro cost?

GNAT Pro pricing is not published on the website. Customers must request a pricing quote by contacting AdaCore directly or speaking with a GNAT Pro expert.

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
GNAT Pro: What is GNAT Pro licensing model?

GNAT Pro is sold on a per-user, per-year basis with no license locks. Customers can request pricing for their specific needs.

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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