Softwr

Developer Tools · head to head

Earthly vs Sysdig

Earthly logo

Earthly

Developer Tools

Engineering guardrails for the AI era

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Full reviewWebsite
Sysdig logo

Sysdig

Cybersecurity

Cloud-native runtime security platform with real-time detection and response

From
On request
Free plan
No
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Earthly has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Earthly pricing model not published; requires sales contact; Sysdig custom pricing requires sales contact, difficult to compare costs
  • They diverge on capability: Earthly covers Policy as code, Sysdig covers Real-time threat detection and response.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 29 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Earthly and Sysdig actually diverge.

Attributes where Earthly and Sysdig differ
AttributeEarthlySysdig
Starting priceFreeOn request
Pricing modelNo pricing published on websiteCustom pricing based on number of hosts, events processed, or time series data
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsWeb, CLIKubernetes, Docker, AWS, GCP, Azure, Cloud-native
CategoryDeveloper ToolsCybersecurity
Founded20202013

Identical on both: 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 Sysdig

  • Real-time threat detection and response
  • Runtime intelligence
  • AI-powered security agents
  • Vulnerability management
  • Cloud Security Posture Management
  • Container and Kubernetes security
  • Infrastructure as Code security
  • Cloud Infrastructure Entitlement Management

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

Sysdig

  • Real-time threat detection in Kubernetes clustersnot Earthly
  • Container workload vulnerability prioritizationnot Earthly
  • Cloud security posture compliance monitoringnot Earthly
  • Infrastructure entitlement and permission analysisnot Earthly
  • AI workload security and threat remediationnot 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

Sysdig

  • Custom pricing requires sales contact, difficult to compare costs
  • No published pricing tiers or calculator available
  • Primarily focused on cloud-native environments
  • Requires integration with existing SIEM or monitoring tools for full visibility
  • Steep learning curve for runtime security concepts

Pricing, plan by plan

Earthly

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the Earthly review.

Sysdig

On request

No published plan breakdown. See the Sysdig 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 Sysdig if

  • You need real-time threat detection and response.
  • You work on Kubernetes, Docker, AWS, GCP, Azure, Cloud-native.
  • You also want runtime intelligence.
Sysdig review

Questions people ask

Is Earthly or Sysdig better?
Neither clearly leads. Earthly starts at Free and Sysdig at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Earthly or Sysdig?
Earthly has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Earthly and On request for Sysdig.
Does Earthly or Sysdig run on more platforms?
Earthly runs on Web, CLI. Sysdig runs on Kubernetes, Docker, AWS, GCP, Azure, Cloud-native.
Can I use Earthly for free?
Yes. Earthly has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Sysdig starts at On request.
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 Sysdig is typically brought in for.
What can Earthly do that Sysdig cannot?
Earthly covers Policy as code, Multi-stage enforcement, AI agent governance, Repository-wide policies. Sysdig covers Real-time threat detection and response, Runtime intelligence, AI-powered security agents, Vulnerability 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
Sysdig: How does Sysdig achieve real-time threat detection?

Sysdig uses runtime intelligence with kernel-level system visibility, capturing live system calls to detect threats at machine speed, typically within 2 seconds.

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
Sysdig: What is runtime intelligence and how does it differ from configuration-based security?

Runtime intelligence reveals what is actually executing in cloud environments through kernel-level visibility, rather than relying on theoretical risks from configuration analysis alone.

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
Sysdig: What cloud platforms does Sysdig support?

Sysdig supports AWS, GCP, Azure, and IBM Cloud with multiple regional data centers across US, EU, and other regions.

Source
Sysdig: Does Sysdig integrate with existing security tools?

Yes, Sysdig integrates with existing SIEM and monitoring tools to provide unified security visibility across cloud infrastructure.

Source
Share

Related pages

More on Earthly

More on Sysdig

Keep looking

Other head to heads