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Developer Tools · head to head

Earthly vs Procreate

Earthly logo

Earthly

Developer Tools

Engineering guardrails for the AI era

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Visit EarthlyFull review
Procreate logo

Procreate

Design

Digital illustration app made for iPad

From
$12.99/one-time
Free plan
No
Visit ProcreateFull review

The short version

  • Procreate is a raster graphics editor app for digital painting.
  • Earthly is free; Procreate starts at $12.99 one-off.
  • Only Earthly lists policy as code; only Procreate lists digital painting.
  • Where Earthly falls short: pricing model not published; requires sales contact.
  • Where Procreate falls short: iPad-only application with no desktop version for Windows or macOS.
  • Prices and features on this page were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Earthly and Procreate actually diverge.

Attributes where Earthly and Procreate differ
AttributeEarthlyProcreate
Starting priceFree$12.99/one-time
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsWeb, APIiOS
CategoryDeveloper ToolsDesign
Founded20202010

Not yet recorded: pricing model for Procreate.

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 Procreate

  • Digital painting
  • Brush library
  • Layer management
  • Selection tools
  • Time-lapse recording
  • Apple Pencil
  • iPad Pro
  • Cloud services

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

Procreate

  • Digital illustrationnot Earthly
  • Concept artnot Earthly
  • Character designnot Earthly
  • Educational artnot Earthly
  • Hobby drawingnot 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

Procreate

  • iPad-only application with no desktop version for Windows or macOS
  • Requires Apple hardware investment (iPad and Apple Pencil)
  • Cannot export to cloud storage natively, limiting cross-device workflows
  • High upfront cost when accounting for required iPad hardware

Pricing, plan by plan

Earthly

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the Earthly review.

Procreate

$12.99/one-time
  • Procreate$12.99 one-off
    • 200+ brushes
    • Unlimited layers
    • Advanced blending modes
  • Procreate Pocket$5.99 one-off
    • iPhone version
    • Touch-optimized interface
  • Procreate Dreams$19.99 one-off
    • Animation tool
    • Frame-by-frame animation

Which should you pick?

Choose Earthly if

  • You need policy as code.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, API.
  • You also want multi-stage enforcement.
Earthly review

Choose Procreate if

  • You need digital painting.
  • You work on iOS.
  • You also want brush library.
Procreate review

Questions people ask

Is Earthly or Procreate better?
Neither clearly leads. Earthly starts at Free and Procreate at $12.99/one-time, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Earthly or Procreate?
Earthly has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Earthly and $12.99/one-time for Procreate.
Does Earthly or Procreate run on more platforms?
Earthly runs on Web, API. Procreate runs on iOS.
Can I use Earthly for free?
Yes. Earthly has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Procreate starts at $12.99/one-time.
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 Procreate is typically brought in for.
What can Earthly do that Procreate cannot?
Earthly covers Policy as code, Multi-stage enforcement, AI agent governance, Repository-wide policies. Procreate covers Digital painting, Brush library, Layer management, Selection tools.

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
Procreate: Does Procreate work on desktop or only iPad?

Procreate is iPad-only. There is no desktop version for Windows or macOS, requiring users to purchase iPad hardware and Apple Pencil for use.

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
Procreate: What companion apps are available for Procreate?

Procreate Pocket is an iPhone version at $5.99, and Procreate Dreams is an animation tool at $19.99, both one-time purchases.

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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