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Developer Tools · head to head

Earthly vs WarpBuild

Earthly logo

Earthly

Developer Tools

Engineering guardrails for the AI era

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
WarpBuild logo

WarpBuild

Developer Tools

2x faster, 50% cheaper GitHub Actions runners

From
On request
Rated
-
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; WarpBuild per-minute pricing requires tracking usage to estimate monthly costs
  • They diverge on capability: Earthly covers Policy as code, WarpBuild covers Optimized runner infrastructure.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Earthly and WarpBuild actually diverge.

Attributes where Earthly and WarpBuild differ
AttributeEarthlyWarpBuild
Starting priceFreeOn request
Pricing modelNo pricing published on websiteUsage-based per minute, varies by runner configuration
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsWeb, CLIGitHub Actions, Linux, Windows, macOS, Cloud
Founded2020Unknown

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated), category (Developer Tools).

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 WarpBuild

  • Optimized runner infrastructure
  • Intelligent caching
  • Incremental builds
  • Multi-architecture support
  • Unlimited concurrency
  • Autoscaling
  • BYOC support
  • Docker builders

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

WarpBuild

  • Accelerating CI builds for teams with high test volumesnot Earthly
  • Running tests generated by AI coding assistants efficientlynot Earthly
  • Reducing GitHub Actions costs by 50% or morenot Earthly
  • Supporting teams that need ARM64 architecture runnersnot 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

WarpBuild

  • Per-minute pricing requires tracking usage to estimate monthly costs
  • Large configuration runners (32 vCPU) expensive at $0.064/min
  • macOS M4 Pro 12-core at $0.16/min is highest-cost option
  • BYOC option requires cloud setup by customer

Pricing, plan by plan

Earthly

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the Earthly review.

WarpBuild

On request
  • Linux x86-64 (2vCPU, 8GB)$0.004/minute
    • 2 vCPU
    • 8 GB RAM
    • Standard performance
  • Linux x86-64 (4vCPU, 16GB)$0.008/minute
    • 4 vCPU
    • 16 GB RAM
    • Increased performance
  • Linux x86-64 (8vCPU, 32GB)$0.016/minute
    • 8 vCPU
    • 32 GB RAM
    • High performance
  • Linux x86-64 (16vCPU, 64GB)$0.032/minute
    • 16 vCPU
    • 64 GB RAM
    • Enterprise performance

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 WarpBuild if

  • You need optimized runner infrastructure.
  • You work on GitHub Actions, Linux, Windows, macOS, Cloud.
  • You also want intelligent caching.
WarpBuild review

Questions people ask

Is Earthly or WarpBuild better?
Neither clearly leads. Earthly starts at Free and WarpBuild at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Earthly or WarpBuild?
Earthly has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Earthly and On request for WarpBuild.
Does Earthly or WarpBuild run on more platforms?
Earthly runs on Web, CLI. WarpBuild runs on GitHub Actions, Linux, Windows, macOS, Cloud.
Can I use Earthly for free?
Yes. Earthly has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. WarpBuild 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 WarpBuild is typically brought in for.
What can Earthly do that WarpBuild cannot?
Earthly covers Policy as code, Multi-stage enforcement, AI agent governance, Repository-wide policies. WarpBuild covers Optimized runner infrastructure, Intelligent caching, Incremental builds, Multi-architecture support.

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
WarpBuild: How much cheaper is WarpBuild compared to GitHub Actions?

WarpBuild offers approximately 50% cost savings compared to GitHub-hosted runners. For example, Linux x86-64 2vCPU/8GB costs $0.004/min with WarpBuild vs $0.008/min with GitHub Actions.

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
WarpBuild: What is BYOC and how does it differ from managed runners?

BYOC (Bring Your Own Cloud) allows customers to run WarpBuild on their own cloud infrastructure at $0.002/min. Managed runners use WarpBuild's cloud infrastructure. BYOC provides lower costs but requires customer setup.

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
WarpBuild: Does WarpBuild support ARM64 runners?

Yes, WarpBuild offers ARM64 runners at lower costs than x86-64. Linux ARM64 starts at $0.003/min for 2vCPU/8GB configuration.

Source
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