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Developer Tools · head to head

Earthly vs Greenhouse

Earthly logo

Earthly

Developer Tools

Engineering guardrails for the AI era

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Full reviewWebsite
Greenhouse logo

Greenhouse

Technology

Hiring software for growing companies

From
On request
Free plan
No
Full reviewWebsite

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; Greenhouse core plan lacks talent discovery and contact lookups
  • They diverge on capability: Earthly covers Policy as code, Greenhouse covers Applicant tracking.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Earthly and Greenhouse actually diverge.

Attributes where Earthly and Greenhouse differ
AttributeEarthlyGreenhouse
Starting priceFreeOn request
Pricing modelNo pricing published on websitequote
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsWeb, CLIWeb, Ios, Android, Api
CategoryDeveloper ToolsTechnology
Founded20202012

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 Earthly

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

Only in Greenhouse

  • Applicant tracking
  • Interview scheduling
  • Scorecard system
  • Job board posting
  • Candidate CRM
  • Reporting & analytics
  • Offer management
  • EEO compliance

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

Greenhouse

  • Enterprise hiring and recruiting automationnot Earthly
  • Multi-location and multi-team talent acquisitionnot Earthly
  • Structured interview process managementnot 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

Greenhouse

  • Core plan lacks talent discovery and contact lookups
  • Core plan lacks email automation and applicant texting
  • Plus plan lacks resume anonymisation and application limits
  • Plus plan lacks audit logging and developer tools
  • Pricing customised by hiring volume and company size, not published
  • Only Pro tier offers audit logs and developer sandbox

Pricing, plan by plan

Earthly

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the Earthly review.

Greenhouse

On request

No published plan breakdown. See the Greenhouse 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.
Earthly review

Choose Greenhouse if

  • You need applicant tracking.
  • You work on Web, Ios, Android, Api.
  • You also want interview scheduling.
Greenhouse review

Questions people ask

Is Earthly or Greenhouse better?
Neither clearly leads. Earthly starts at Free and Greenhouse at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Earthly or Greenhouse?
Earthly has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Earthly and On request for Greenhouse.
Does Earthly or Greenhouse run on more platforms?
Earthly runs on Web, CLI. Greenhouse runs on Web, Ios, Android, Api.
Can I use Earthly for free?
Yes. Earthly has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Greenhouse 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 Greenhouse is typically brought in for.
What can Earthly do that Greenhouse cannot?
Earthly covers Policy as code, Multi-stage enforcement, AI agent governance, Repository-wide policies. Greenhouse covers Applicant tracking, Interview scheduling, Scorecard system, Job board posting.

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
Greenhouse: How much does Greenhouse cost?

Greenhouse does not publish specific pricing. The company states that pricing is customized based on your hiring needs, hiring volume, organizational complexity, and required features.

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
Greenhouse: What are the Greenhouse pricing tiers?

Greenhouse offers three plan levels: Core (basic hiring structure), Plus (multi-location optimization), and Pro (complex enterprise hiring). Exact pricing requires contacting Greenhouse for a custom quote.

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
Greenhouse: Do all Greenhouse tiers include the same features?

No. Core includes sourcing and scheduling, Plus adds automation and texting, and Pro adds enterprise data configuration and audit logs. All tiers can be customized.

Source
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