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Developer Tools · head to head

Earthly vs WorkOS

Earthly logo

Earthly

Developer Tools

Engineering guardrails for the AI era

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Full reviewWebsite
WorkOS logo

WorkOS

Cybersecurity

Developer platform for enterprise-ready authentication and identity.

From
$125/one-time per connection
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; WorkOS authKit free tier limited to 1 million monthly active users; additional millions cost $2,500/month
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 29 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Earthly and WorkOS actually diverge.

Attributes where Earthly and WorkOS differ
AttributeEarthlyWorkOS
Starting priceFree$125/one-time per connection
Pricing modelNo pricing published on websiteusage-based
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsWeb, CLIWeb, API
CategoryDeveloper ToolsCybersecurity
Founded2020Unknown

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 WorkOS

Nothing recorded that Earthly does not also cover.

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

WorkOS

  • SaaS applications needing rapid enterprise SSO deploymentnot Earthly
  • Companies selling to mid-market and enterprise customersnot Earthly
  • Applications requiring SCIM directory sync with corporate identity systemsnot Earthly
  • Product teams needing audit logs for compliance (SOC 2, ISO 27001)not Earthly
  • Platforms with multiple identity provider requirementsnot 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

WorkOS

  • AuthKit free tier limited to 1 million monthly active users; additional millions cost $2,500/month
  • Per-connection pricing for SSO and Directory Sync ($125–$50 each) scales poorly for enterprises with many identity providers
  • Audit logs require separate subscription at $125/month per SIEM connection or $99/month per 1 million events
  • Radar fraud protection billed separately at $100/month per 50,000 additional checks beyond 1,000 free checks
  • Custom domain feature requires $99/month subscription
  • Requires annual commitment for SLA and support guarantees; pay-as-you-go tier lacks uptime guarantee

Pricing, plan by plan

Earthly

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the Earthly review.

WorkOS

$125/one-time per connection
  • Pay as You Go$undefined/variable
    • Per-connection pricing from $125 to $50 with volume discounts
    • Up to 60% discount at scale
    • Quick deployment
  • Annual Credits$undefined/variable
    • Custom pricing with volume discounts
    • 99.99% uptime SLA
    • Guided migration

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 WorkOS if

  • You work on Web, API.
WorkOS review

Questions people ask

Is Earthly or WorkOS better?
Neither clearly leads. Earthly starts at Free and WorkOS at $125/one-time per connection, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Earthly or WorkOS?
Earthly has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Earthly and $125/one-time per connection for WorkOS.
Does Earthly or WorkOS run on more platforms?
Earthly runs on Web, CLI. WorkOS runs on Web, API.
Can I use Earthly for free?
Yes. Earthly has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. WorkOS starts at $125/one-time per connection.
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 WorkOS is typically brought in for.
What can Earthly do that WorkOS cannot?
Earthly covers Policy as code, Multi-stage enforcement, AI agent governance, Repository-wide policies.

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
WorkOS: How quickly can I implement WorkOS SSO?

Developers can implement single sign-on in minutes instead of months. Multiple customers report setting up SSO in less than a week, with WorkOS handling the complexity of SAML and OIDC protocols.

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
WorkOS: What SDKs does WorkOS provide?

WorkOS offers SDKs for Node.js, Python, Ruby, Go, PHP, Java, and .NET.

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
WorkOS: Does WorkOS support SCIM provisioning?

Yes. WorkOS supports SCIM provisioning integration with systems like Okta and Entra ID for automated user management.

Source
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