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Developer Tools · head to head

Earthly vs ProtonVPN

Earthly logo

Earthly

Developer Tools

Engineering guardrails for the AI era

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Full reviewWebsite
ProtonVPN logo

ProtonVPN

Cybersecurity

High-speed Swiss VPN that safeguards your privacy

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Earthly pricing model not published; requires sales contact; ProtonVPN free plan limited to one device at a time
  • They diverge on capability: Earthly covers Policy as code, ProtonVPN covers No-logs policy.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Earthly and ProtonVPN actually diverge.

Attributes where Earthly and ProtonVPN differ
AttributeEarthlyProtonVPN
Pricing modelNo pricing published on websitefreemium
PlatformsWeb, CLIWindows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android
CategoryDeveloper ToolsCybersecurity
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 ProtonVPN

  • No-logs policy
  • Secure Core
  • Kill Switch
  • DNS leak protection
  • Tor over VPN
  • Split tunneling
  • NetShield ad-blocker
  • VPN Accelerator

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

ProtonVPN

  • Privacy-focused browsing without subscription costnot Earthly
  • Multi-device protection with Plus plan supporting 10 devicesnot Earthly
  • Integrated access to Proton email and cloud services via Unlimited plannot 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

ProtonVPN

  • Free plan limited to one device at a time
  • Free plan restricted to 10 countries with random selection
  • Pricing amounts not clearly published; shown as variable

Pricing, plan by plan

Earthly

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the Earthly review.

ProtonVPN

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the ProtonVPN review.

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 ProtonVPN if

  • You need no-logs policy.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android.
  • You also want secure core.
ProtonVPN review

Questions people ask

Is Earthly or ProtonVPN better?
Neither clearly leads. Earthly starts at Free and ProtonVPN at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Earthly or ProtonVPN?
Earthly starts at Free and ProtonVPN at Free.
Does Earthly or ProtonVPN run on more platforms?
Earthly runs on Web, CLI. ProtonVPN runs on Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android.
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 ProtonVPN is typically brought in for.
What can Earthly do that ProtonVPN cannot?
Earthly covers Policy as code, Multi-stage enforcement, AI agent governance, Repository-wide policies. ProtonVPN covers No-logs policy, Secure Core, Kill Switch, DNS leak protection.

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
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
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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