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Developer Tools · head to head

Earthly vs Zeabur

Earthly logo

Earthly

Developer Tools

Engineering guardrails for the AI era

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Zeabur logo

Zeabur

Cloud

AI-powered cloud deployment platform for developers

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Earthly pricing model not published; requires sales contact; Zeabur free plan limited to single server with 48-hour log retention
  • They diverge on capability: Earthly covers Policy as code, Zeabur covers AI Agent.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 29 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Earthly and Zeabur actually diverge.

Attributes where Earthly and Zeabur differ
AttributeEarthlyZeabur
Pricing modelNo pricing published on websiteFixed monthly plans
CategoryDeveloper ToolsCloud
Founded20202025

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), platforms (Web, CLI), 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 Zeabur

  • AI Agent
  • Managed Servers
  • Domain and DNS Management
  • Email Service
  • AI Hub
  • Deploy Templates
  • Git Integration

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

Zeabur

  • Deploying full-stack web applications without DevOps expertisenot Earthly
  • Building AI agent infrastructure with integrated API accessnot Earthly
  • Managing multi-region deployments with automated scalingnot Earthly
  • Running containerized services with built-in domain and emailnot 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

Zeabur

  • Free plan limited to single server with 48-hour log retention
  • Small team size may limit support and feature velocity
  • Building spec upgrades limited on lower tiers
  • Enterprise support not clearly documented

Pricing, plan by plan

Earthly

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the Earthly review.

Zeabur

Free
  • FreeFree
    • 1 manageable server
    • 2C4G build specs
    • 48-hour log retention
  • Dev$5/month
    • 3 manageable servers
    • 7-day log retention
    • 250 MB file uploads
  • Pro$19/month
    • 10 manageable servers
    • 4C8G build specs
    • 30-day log retention
  • Team$79/month
    • 3 included seats
    • Unlimited manageable servers
    • 90-day log retention

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 Zeabur if

  • You need ai agent.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, CLI.
  • You also want managed servers.
Zeabur review

Questions people ask

Is Earthly or Zeabur better?
Neither clearly leads. Earthly starts at Free and Zeabur at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Earthly or Zeabur?
Earthly starts at Free and Zeabur at Free.
Does Earthly or Zeabur run on more platforms?
Both run on Web, CLI, so platform support will not decide this one for you.
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 Zeabur is typically brought in for.
What can Earthly do that Zeabur cannot?
Earthly covers Policy as code, Multi-stage enforcement, AI agent governance, Repository-wide policies. Zeabur covers AI Agent, Managed Servers, Domain and DNS Management, Email Service.

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
Zeabur: What is included in the free plan?

The free plan includes 1 manageable server, 2C4G build specifications, 48-hour log retention, 50 MB file upload limit, and community support.

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
Zeabur: How do additional seats work on the Team plan?

The Team plan includes 3 seats with additional seats available at $24 per seat per month.

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
Zeabur: Is there a free trial period?

The Dev and Pro plans include 14 days free before billing begins.

Source
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