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Developer Tools · head to head

Earthly vs Preact

Earthly logo

Earthly

Developer Tools

Engineering guardrails for the AI era

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Full reviewWebsite
Preact logo

Preact

Web Development

3kB alternative to React with the same modern API

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Earthly pricing model not published; requires sales contact; Preact compatibility through preact/compat is good but not total, and some React libraries break in ways that are hard to diagnose
  • They diverge on capability: Earthly covers Policy as code, Preact covers 3kB runtime.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 29 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Earthly and Preact actually diverge.

Attributes where Earthly and Preact differ
AttributeEarthlyPreact
Pricing modelNo pricing published on websiteOpen source, no licence fee
PlatformsWeb, CLIWeb
CategoryDeveloper ToolsWeb Development
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 Preact

  • 3kB runtime
  • preact/compat
  • Same modern API
  • Fast rendering

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

Preact

  • Embedded widgets that load inside someone else’s page and must stay smallnot Earthly
  • Marketing and content sites where JavaScript payload affects Core Web Vitalsnot Earthly
  • Applications targeting low-bandwidth or low-powered devicesnot 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

Preact

  • Compatibility through preact/compat is good but not total, and some React libraries break in ways that are hard to diagnose
  • Behavioural differences from React exist in edge cases, particularly around event handling
  • A much smaller community, so unusual problems have fewer existing answers than React

Pricing, plan by plan

Earthly

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the Earthly review.

Preact

Free
  • PreactFree
    • Full library
    • Commercial use permitted
    • No usage limits

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 Preact if

  • You need 3kb runtime.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You also want preact/compat.
Preact review

Questions people ask

Is Earthly or Preact better?
Neither clearly leads. Earthly starts at Free and Preact at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Earthly or Preact?
Earthly starts at Free and Preact at Free.
Does Earthly or Preact run on more platforms?
Earthly runs on Web, CLI. Preact 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 Preact is typically brought in for.
What can Earthly do that Preact cannot?
Earthly covers Policy as code, Multi-stage enforcement, AI agent governance, Repository-wide policies. Preact covers 3kB runtime, preact/compat, Same modern API, Fast rendering.

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
Preact: Is Preact free?

Yes, open source under the MIT licence.

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
Preact: Can I use React libraries with Preact?

Most, through the preact/compat layer. Compatibility is good but not complete, so libraries relying on React internals can break.

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
Preact: Why choose Preact over React?

Bundle size, almost always. If payload is not a binding constraint, React’s ecosystem is usually the better trade.

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