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Developer Tools · head to head

Earthly vs Productboard

Earthly logo

Earthly

Developer Tools

Engineering guardrails for the AI era

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Full reviewWebsite
Productboard logo

Productboard

Technology

Product management system that helps you understand what customers need

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Earthly pricing model not published; requires sales contact; Productboard per-maker pricing escalates quickly for larger product organizations
  • They diverge on capability: Earthly covers Policy as code, Productboard covers Customer insights portal.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Earthly and Productboard actually diverge.

Attributes where Earthly and Productboard differ
AttributeEarthlyProductboard
Pricing modelNo pricing published on websiteUnknown
PlatformsWeb, CLIWeb, Mobile, API
CategoryDeveloper ToolsTechnology
Founded20202014

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 Productboard

  • Customer insights portal
  • Feature prioritization
  • Dynamic roadmaps
  • User feedback management
  • Product hierarchy
  • Custom scoring
  • Release planning
  • Stakeholder alignment

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

Productboard

  • Product roadmappingnot Earthly
  • Feature prioritizationnot Earthly
  • Customer feedback managementnot Earthly
  • Stakeholder alignmentnot Earthly
  • Product strategynot 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

Productboard

  • Per-maker pricing escalates quickly for larger product organizations
  • Connection to Jira often functions as one-way integration with limitations
  • Manual feedback collection processes are time-consuming and error-prone
  • Lacks strategic product management functions beyond feedback centralization

Pricing, plan by plan

Earthly

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the Earthly review.

Productboard

Free
  • StarterFree
    • 50 feedback notes
    • 1 Teamspace
    • 1 Objective
  • Spark$15/month
    • Feedback portal
    • Prioritization boards
    • Roadmap views

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 Productboard if

  • You need customer insights portal.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Mobile, API.
  • You also want feature prioritization.
Productboard review

Questions people ask

Is Earthly or Productboard better?
Neither clearly leads. Earthly starts at Free and Productboard at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Earthly or Productboard?
Earthly starts at Free and Productboard at Free.
Does Earthly or Productboard run on more platforms?
Earthly runs on Web, CLI. Productboard runs on Web, Mobile, API.
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 Productboard is typically brought in for.
What can Earthly do that Productboard cannot?
Earthly covers Policy as code, Multi-stage enforcement, AI agent governance, Repository-wide policies. Productboard covers Customer insights portal, Feature prioritization, Dynamic roadmaps, User feedback management.

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
Productboard: What is included in the Spark plan?

Productboard Spark at USD 15/maker/month (annual) or USD 19/maker/month (monthly) includes the feedback portal, prioritization boards, roadmap views, and AI features. Spark includes 250 AI credits per maker per month.

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
Productboard: Is there a free plan available?

Yes. Productboard offers a free Starter plan with 50 feedback notes, 1 Teamspace, 1 Objective, and 1 Product Portal.

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
Productboard: How many AI credits do new users get?

New signups receive 150 free AI credits to trial AI features, plus the included 250 credits per maker per month on paid plans.

Source
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