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Developer Tools · head to head

Earthly vs IBM Cloud

Earthly logo

Earthly

Developer Tools

Engineering guardrails for the AI era

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Full reviewWebsite
IBM Cloud logo

IBM Cloud

Cloud

Enterprise cloud solutions from a trusted partner

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Earthly pricing model not published; requires sales contact; IBM Cloud the USD 200 starter cloud credit is valid for 30 days only
  • They diverge on capability: Earthly covers Policy as code, IBM Cloud covers Virtual Servers.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Earthly and IBM Cloud actually diverge.

Attributes where Earthly and IBM Cloud differ
AttributeEarthlyIBM Cloud
Pricing modelNo pricing published on websiteusage-based
PlatformsWeb, CLILinux, Windows, Api, Cli
CategoryDeveloper ToolsCloud
Founded20202013

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 IBM Cloud

  • Virtual Servers
  • Bare Metal
  • Cloud Foundry
  • Kubernetes
  • Watson AI
  • Blockchain
  • Databases
  • API Gateway

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

IBM Cloud

  • Running containerized and VM workloads on IBM's public cloudnot Earthly
  • Building on Watson APIs and IBM middleware as managed servicesnot 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

IBM Cloud

  • The USD 200 starter cloud credit is valid for 30 days only
  • The larger promotional credits are time boxed: USD 1,000 for Bare Metal Servers for VPC over 120 days, USD 2,500 for Power Virtual Server over 90 days, and USD 5,000 for Backup and Recovery over 90 days
  • The USD 5,000 Backup and Recovery promotion is valid for new clients only and requires a checkout promo code
  • The listed promotions carry an expiry date of 31 December 2026
  • Beyond the free tier the account is pay as you go, so cost tracks usage with no published cap

Pricing, plan by plan

Earthly

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the Earthly review.

IBM Cloud

Free
  • Lite PlanFree
    • Free services
    • Limited resources
    • 30-day trial
  • Standard PlanFree
    • Pay-as-you-go
    • Enterprise support
    • Advanced services

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 IBM Cloud if

  • You need virtual servers.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, Windows, Api, Cli.
  • You also want bare metal.
IBM Cloud review

Questions people ask

Is Earthly or IBM Cloud better?
Neither clearly leads. Earthly starts at Free and IBM Cloud at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Earthly or IBM Cloud?
Earthly starts at Free and IBM Cloud at Free.
Does Earthly or IBM Cloud run on more platforms?
Earthly runs on Web, CLI. IBM Cloud runs on Linux, Windows, Api, Cli.
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 IBM Cloud is typically brought in for.
What can Earthly do that IBM Cloud cannot?
Earthly covers Policy as code, Multi-stage enforcement, AI agent governance, Repository-wide policies. IBM Cloud covers Virtual Servers, Bare Metal, Cloud Foundry, Kubernetes.

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
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
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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