Softwr

Developer Tools · head to head

Earthly vs Netwrix

Earthly logo

Earthly

Developer Tools

Engineering guardrails for the AI era

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Full reviewWebsite
Netwrix logo

Netwrix

Cybersecurity

Data access governance and change auditing across Active Directory, file shares and Microsoft 365

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; Netwrix the portfolio is assembled from acquisitions, so consoles, agents and licensing metrics differ between products and the platform story is ahead of the engineering reality.
  • They diverge on capability: Earthly covers Policy as code, Netwrix covers Change auditing.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Earthly and Netwrix actually diverge.

Attributes where Earthly and Netwrix differ
AttributeEarthlyNetwrix
Starting priceFreeOn request
Pricing modelNo pricing published on websitequote
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsWeb, CLIWindows, Web
CategoryDeveloper ToolsCybersecurity
Founded2020Unknown

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 Netwrix

  • Change auditing
  • Effective permissions
  • Data classification
  • Access remediation
  • Threat detection
  • Group policy management

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

Netwrix

  • An organisation that cannot tell an auditor who has access to a sensitive file share and needs an answer with evidencenot Earthly
  • A security team reducing ransomware blast radius by removing Everyone and Domain Users permissions from sensitive datanot Earthly
  • An IT team investigating an unexplained Active Directory change and needing the exact account, time and previous valuenot Earthly
  • A company responding to GDPR data subject access requests that must first locate personal data scattered across legacy sharesnot 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

Netwrix

  • The portfolio is assembled from acquisitions, so consoles, agents and licensing metrics differ between products and the platform story is ahead of the engineering reality.
  • Licensing metrics vary by product, per enabled user for some and per managed asset for others, which makes assembling a multi-product quote unusually difficult to compare against a single-vendor competitor.
  • Auditing agents and collectors add load to domain controllers and file servers, and large estates need careful sizing to avoid degrading the systems being monitored.
  • It reports and remediates but does not enforce access decisions at request time, so it complements rather than replaces identity governance and buyers still need an IGA tool for certification workflows.
  • Coverage is strongest on Microsoft estates; Linux, NAS appliances and non-Microsoft SaaS are supported unevenly and often need additional modules or trail behind on feature parity.

Pricing, plan by plan

Earthly

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the Earthly review.

Netwrix

On request
  • Netwrix Platform$undefined/year
    • Priced per enabled user or per managed asset depending on the product
    • Auditing, data classification, privileged access and threat products licensed separately
    • Netwrix 1Secure SaaS console with a 14-day free trial

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 Netwrix if

  • You need change auditing.
  • You work on Windows, Web.
  • You also want effective permissions.
Netwrix review

Questions people ask

Is Earthly or Netwrix better?
Neither clearly leads. Earthly starts at Free and Netwrix at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Earthly or Netwrix?
Earthly has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Earthly and On request for Netwrix.
Does Earthly or Netwrix run on more platforms?
Earthly runs on Web, CLI. Netwrix runs on Windows, Web.
Can I use Earthly for free?
Yes. Earthly has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Netwrix 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 Netwrix is typically brought in for.
What can Earthly do that Netwrix cannot?
Earthly covers Policy as code, Multi-stage enforcement, AI agent governance, Repository-wide policies. Netwrix covers Change auditing, Effective permissions, Data classification, Access remediation.

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
Netwrix: Does it replace identity governance?

No. It shows you who has access and lets you fix it, but recertification campaigns and access request workflow are an IGA product.

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
Netwrix: Is there a SaaS option?

Netwrix 1Secure is the cloud console covering data and identity visibility, with a 14-day free trial including full access.

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
Netwrix: How is it priced?

Per enabled user or per managed asset depending on the product, quoted rather than published. Assume separate line items per module.

Share

Related pages

More on Earthly

More on Netwrix

Keep looking

Other head to heads