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Earthly vs HashiCorp Boundary

Earthly logo

Earthly

Developer Tools

Engineering guardrails for the AI era

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Full reviewWebsite
HashiCorp Boundary logo

HashiCorp Boundary

Cybersecurity

Identity-aware session broker for infrastructure access without distributing credentials

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Earthly pricing model not published; requires sales contact; HashiCorp Boundary hashiCorp was acquired by IBM in February 2025 and Enterprise licensing now runs through IBM Passport Advantage; IBM has already retired HCP Vault Secrets, so Boundary's roadmap depends on IBM portfolio decisions rather than HashiCorp's own product strategy.
  • They diverge on capability: Earthly covers Policy as code, HashiCorp Boundary covers Identity-based access.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Earthly and HashiCorp Boundary actually diverge.

Attributes where Earthly and HashiCorp Boundary differ
AttributeEarthlyHashiCorp Boundary
Pricing modelNo pricing published on websiteOpen source, no licence fee
PlatformsWeb, CLILinux, macOS, Windows, Web
CategoryDeveloper ToolsCybersecurity
Founded2020Unknown

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), 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 HashiCorp Boundary

  • Identity-based access
  • Just-in-time credentials
  • Dynamic host catalogues
  • Session recording
  • Transparent sessions
  • Multi-hop workers
  • Audit logging
  • Terraform provider

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

HashiCorp Boundary

  • A platform team replacing shared SSH keys and a bastion host so that leavers lose access the moment they are removed from the identity providernot Earthly
  • Granting contractors time-boxed database access without ever issuing them a credential they could keepnot Earthly
  • An estate where autoscaling replaces hosts continuously and a static access list is always out of datenot Earthly
  • Producing session recordings as evidence for an audit that requires proof of who touched production and what they rannot 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

HashiCorp Boundary

  • HashiCorp was acquired by IBM in February 2025 and Enterprise licensing now runs through IBM Passport Advantage; IBM has already retired HCP Vault Secrets, so Boundary's roadmap depends on IBM portfolio decisions rather than HashiCorp's own product strategy.
  • Enterprise pricing is not published anywhere, and the features most organisations actually need for compliance, notably session recording, are Enterprise only, so the free community edition is rarely the version you end up buying.
  • It solves access to infrastructure, not to applications; browser-based internal tools, SaaS admin consoles and APIs need a separate control, so Boundary is one component of a zero-trust programme rather than the whole thing.
  • Running it yourself means operating controllers, worker nodes and a Postgres database in a highly available configuration, and if that control plane is down nobody can reach production, which makes it a new critical dependency.
  • It is materially easier to adopt if you already run Vault and Terraform; teams without that ecosystem face a steeper learning curve than a device-based mesh product like Tailscale, for a similar access outcome.

Pricing, plan by plan

Earthly

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the Earthly review.

HashiCorp Boundary

Free
  • Boundary Community EditionFree
    • MPL 2.0 open source
    • Self-hosted controllers and workers
    • Identity-based target access
  • Boundary Enterprise$undefined/year
    • Session recording and playback
    • Multi-hop and transparent sessions
    • Multi-tenancy via scopes

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 HashiCorp Boundary if

  • You need identity-based access.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, macOS, Windows, Web.
  • You also want just-in-time credentials.
HashiCorp Boundary review

Questions people ask

Is Earthly or HashiCorp Boundary better?
Neither clearly leads. Earthly starts at Free and HashiCorp Boundary at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Earthly or HashiCorp Boundary?
Earthly starts at Free and HashiCorp Boundary at Free.
Does Earthly or HashiCorp Boundary run on more platforms?
Earthly runs on Web, CLI. HashiCorp Boundary runs on Linux, macOS, Windows, Web.
Can I use Earthly for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
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 HashiCorp Boundary is typically brought in for.
What can Earthly do that HashiCorp Boundary cannot?
Earthly covers Policy as code, Multi-stage enforcement, AI agent governance, Repository-wide policies. HashiCorp Boundary covers Identity-based access, Just-in-time credentials, Dynamic host catalogues, Session recording.

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
HashiCorp Boundary: Is Boundary open source?

The community edition is, under MPL 2.0. Boundary Enterprise is commercial and is now sold through IBM Passport Advantage.

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
HashiCorp Boundary: Does it replace a VPN?

For infrastructure access, largely yes. It grants a session to a specific target rather than putting the user on a network, but it does not cover browser-based internal applications.

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
HashiCorp Boundary: What does Boundary Enterprise cost?

HashiCorp does not publish Boundary pricing. It is quoted, and since the IBM acquisition it is transacted on IBM licensing paper.

HashiCorp Boundary: Do I need Vault to use it?

No, but the just-in-time credential brokering that makes Boundary worthwhile depends on Vault or an equivalent secrets store.

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