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Developer Tools · head to head

Earthly vs Xlinesoft

Earthly logo

Earthly

Developer Tools

Engineering guardrails for the AI era

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Xlinesoft logo

Xlinesoft

Developer Tools

PHPRunner and ASPRunner.NET: low-code builders that turn databases into web apps

From
$599/one-time
Free plan
No

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; Xlinesoft the purchase includes one year of support and upgrades only; after that, newer versions require a paid upgrade.
  • They diverge on capability: Earthly covers Policy as code, Xlinesoft covers Database to web application.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 12 November 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Earthly and Xlinesoft actually diverge.

Attributes where Earthly and Xlinesoft differ
AttributeEarthlyXlinesoft
Starting priceFree$599/one-time
Pricing modelNo pricing published on websiteone-time
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsWeb, CLIWindows, macOS, Linux, Web
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 Xlinesoft

  • Database to web application
  • Page Designer and themes
  • Events, custom code and AI assistance
  • Security and dynamic permissions
  • Reports, charts and dashboards
  • Wide database support
  • Enterprise authentication
  • Application templates and plugins

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

Xlinesoft

  • Building an internal web application on top of an existing SQL databasenot Earthly
  • Replacing a Microsoft Access application with a browser-based onenot Earthly
  • Creating admin interfaces and customer or partner portals with role-based accessnot Earthly
  • Agencies and freelancers delivering self-hosted database applications to clientsnot Earthly
  • Teams that need low-code tooling but must keep applications on their own serversnot 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

Xlinesoft

  • The purchase includes one year of support and upgrades only; after that, newer versions require a paid upgrade.
  • Multiple database connections, REST API connections and single sign-on through Active Directory, Okta or SAML are Enterprise-only, which raises the price from $599 to $999 per developer.
  • Self-hosted only. Hosting, database administration, backups, runtime updates and access-control configuration remain the customer's job, as Xlinesoft's own product facts page states.
  • Applications built on Microsoft Access require a Windows web server.
  • PHPRunner and ASPRunner.NET are separate products with separate licences, so moving a project between PHP and .NET is not covered by one purchase.

Pricing, plan by plan

Earthly

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the Earthly review.

Xlinesoft

$599/one-time
  • PHPRunner Professional$599/one-time
    • Single developer licence
    • Core application-building product
    • One year of email support and upgrades
  • PHPRunner Enterprise Edition$999/one-time
    • Single developer licence
    • Multiple database and REST API connections
    • Data encryption
  • PHPRunner MultiDev Edition$3599/one-time
    • Three Enterprise Edition licences
    • Multiple developers working on the same project at the same time
    • One year of email support and upgrades
  • ASPRunner.NET Professional$599/one-time
    • Generates ASP.NET web applications
    • Same database coverage and security model as PHPRunner
    • Enterprise Edition available

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.

Choose Xlinesoft if

  • You need database to web application.
  • You work on Windows, macOS, Linux, Web.
  • You also want page designer and themes.

Questions people ask

Is Earthly or Xlinesoft better?
Neither clearly leads. Earthly starts at Free and Xlinesoft at $599/one-time, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Earthly or Xlinesoft?
Earthly has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Earthly and $599/one-time for Xlinesoft.
Does Earthly or Xlinesoft run on more platforms?
Earthly runs on Web, CLI. Xlinesoft runs on Windows, macOS, Linux, Web.
Can I use Earthly for free?
Yes. Earthly has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Xlinesoft starts at $599/one-time.
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 Xlinesoft is typically brought in for.
What can Earthly do that Xlinesoft cannot?
Earthly covers Policy as code, Multi-stage enforcement, AI agent governance, Repository-wide policies. Xlinesoft covers Database to web application, Page Designer and themes, Events, custom code and AI assistance, Security and dynamic permissions.

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
Xlinesoft: How much does PHPRunner cost?

PHPRunner Professional is $599, Enterprise Edition is $999 and MultiDev Edition, which includes three Enterprise licences, is $3,599. Professional and Enterprise prices are per developer, and each purchase includes one year of email support and free upgrades.

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
Xlinesoft: Which databases does PHPRunner support?

MySQL, MariaDB, Microsoft SQL Server, PostgreSQL, Oracle, Microsoft Access, IBM DB2, Informix, SQLite and ODBC-compatible databases. Using multiple database connections in one project is an Enterprise Edition feature.

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
Xlinesoft: Is there a free trial?

Yes. PHPRunner can be downloaded and evaluated for 21 days, and public live demos show the generated applications, with add, edit and delete disabled.

Source
Xlinesoft: Where do PHPRunner applications run?

On your own web server. The documented options are Apache and Microsoft IIS with a compatible PHP runtime and database extensions, and a built-in web server is available for local testing. The development application itself runs on Windows, macOS and Linux.

Source
Xlinesoft: What does the Enterprise Edition add?

Multiple database and REST API connections, data encryption, and enterprise authentication including Active Directory, Okta, Azure AD, OpenID and SAML, on top of all Professional features.

Source
Xlinesoft: What is ASPRunner.NET?

Xlinesoft's equivalent builder for ASP.NET. It generates database-driven ASP.NET web applications with the same kind of forms, reports, charts, permissions and Page Designer, and is sold separately from $599.

Source
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