Developer Tools · head to head
Earthly vs Octopus Deploy
Octopus Deploy
Developer Tools
Continuous delivery and runbook automation for releases
- From
- Free
- Rated
- -
The short version
- Each has a real cost: Earthly pricing model not published; requires sales contact; Octopus Deploy free tier caps at 10 projects, 10 tenants, 10 machines, 10 users, 5 concurrent tasks and 1 space
- Prices and features above were last checked on 29 August 2026.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Earthly and Octopus Deploy actually diverge.
| Attribute | Earthly | Octopus Deploy |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | No pricing published on website | subscription |
| Platforms | Web, CLI | Web |
| Founded | 2020 | Unknown |
Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), 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 Octopus Deploy
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 Octopus Deploy
- Automating incident response procedures across all repositoriesnot Octopus Deploy
- Embedding compliance requirements into development workflowsnot Octopus Deploy
- Standardizing build processes with Earthfilesnot Octopus Deploy
Octopus Deploy
- Automating software deployments across development, testing, productionnot Earthly
- Automating emergency tasks like website failover and incident responsenot Earthly
- Managing multi-tenant deployments without duplicating configurationnot Earthly
- Tracking DORA metrics and enforcing deployment approval gatesnot 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
Octopus Deploy
- Free tier caps at 10 projects, 10 tenants, 10 machines, 10 users, 5 concurrent tasks and 1 space
- Annual billing is the only option for both Octopus Cloud and Octopus Server; there is no monthly plan
- Professional cloud tier is $4,330 per year and Enterprise cloud is $24,600 per year, with tenants and machines sold as add-ons beyond the free allotment
Pricing, plan by plan
Earthly
FreeNo published plan breakdown. See the Earthly review.
Octopus Deploy
Free- FreeFree
- 10 projects
- 10 tenants
- 10 machines
- Professional (Cloud)$4330/year
- Up to 100 projects
- Unlimited spaces and users
- Tenants and machines available as add-ons
- Professional (Server)$2080/year
- Up to 100 projects
- Unlimited spaces and users
- Tenants and machines available as add-ons
- Enterprise (Cloud)$24600/year
- 100+ projects supported
- Unlimited spaces and users
- 20 concurrent tasks
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.
Questions people ask
- Is Earthly or Octopus Deploy better?
- Neither clearly leads. Earthly starts at Free and Octopus Deploy at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Earthly or Octopus Deploy?
- Earthly starts at Free and Octopus Deploy at Free.
- Does Earthly or Octopus Deploy run on more platforms?
- Earthly runs on Web, CLI. Octopus Deploy runs on 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 Octopus Deploy is typically brought in for.
- What can Earthly do that Octopus Deploy 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.
SourceOctopus Deploy: How much does Octopus Deploy cost?
Octopus Deploy offers a free tier at $0/year with limits on projects (10), users (10), and tenants (10). Professional plans start at $2,080/year for self-hosted or $4,330/year for cloud hosting.
SourceEarthly: 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.
SourceOctopus Deploy: What does the free Octopus Deploy tier include?
The free tier includes 10 projects, 10 tenants, 10 machines, 10 users, 5 concurrent tasks, 1TB file storage, 100GB database storage, and community support only.
SourceEarthly: 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.
SourceOctopus Deploy: Can I try Octopus Deploy for free before purchasing?
Yes, a free tier is available with unlimited duration but capped usage, plus a 30-day free trial with full Enterprise features is offered to evaluate the platform.
SourceOctopus Deploy: What are the Enterprise pricing differences between Cloud and Server hosting?
Enterprise Cloud hosting costs $24,600/year and includes 20 concurrent tasks and 24/7 support. Enterprise Server self-hosted costs $15,600/year with flexible concurrent task configuration and 24/7 support.
SourceRelated pages
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