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Developer Tools · head to head

Garden vs March Networks

Garden logo

Garden

Developer Tools

Kubernetes development and testing automation with shared caching, now owned by Incredibuild

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Full reviewWebsite
March Networks logo

March Networks

Cybersecurity

Banking and retail video with transaction overlay, sold by a Canadian firm that changed from Chinese to Taiwanese ownership

From
On request
Free plan
No
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Garden has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Garden incredibuild acquired Garden in November 2024 and the pricing page now redirects to documentation, so there is no public commercial offer and no published roadmap for a team betting a platform on it.; March Networks the ownership history is a live compliance question: Chinese-owned via Infinova from 2011, with a PRC government entity as controlling shareholder by January 2020, before the December 2021 sale to Delta Electronics of Taiwan, and any US federal or contractor buyer should expect to document that chain during a procurement review.
  • They diverge on capability: Garden covers Action graph, March Networks covers Command Enterprise.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Garden and March Networks actually diverge.

Attributes where Garden and March Networks differ
AttributeGardenMarch Networks
Starting priceFreeOn request
Pricing modelOpen source, no licence feequote
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsLinux, macOS, Windows, KubernetesWindows, Web, iOS, Android
CategoryDeveloper ToolsCybersecurity

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 Garden

  • Action graph
  • Shared result caching
  • Remote Kubernetes environments
  • In-cluster builds
  • Same config everywhere
  • Hot reload sync
  • Helm and Kustomize support
  • Templating

Only in March Networks

  • Command Enterprise
  • Searchlight
  • Hybrid recording
  • X-Series hybrid NVRs
  • Health monitoring
  • ATM and teller integration
  • Retail loss prevention analytics
  • Evidence export

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Garden

  • A platform team whose integration test suite takes longer than the coffee break and needs caching to cut the loopnot March Networks
  • An organisation with thirty or more services on Kubernetes where docker-compose no longer approximates productionnot March Networks
  • Giving every developer an ephemeral namespace instead of queuing for one shared staging environmentnot March Networks
  • Running the identical build and test definition locally and in CI so failures reproduce on a laptopnot March Networks

March Networks

  • A bank investigating a disputed ATM withdrawal who needs the clip for that transaction, not two hours of timelinenot Garden
  • A credit union refreshing 200 branches in phases where analogue and IP cameras must coexist on one recordernot Garden
  • A restaurant chain overlaying till exceptions on video across hundreds of locationsnot Garden
  • A transit operator needing video retrieval from vehicles and stations without shipping terabytes over the networknot Garden

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Garden

  • Incredibuild acquired Garden in November 2024 and the pricing page now redirects to documentation, so there is no public commercial offer and no published roadmap for a team betting a platform on it.
  • It is tightly bound to Kubernetes, so teams running on ECS, Nomad, plain VMs or serverless get little from it and would need a different tool entirely.
  • The YAML action graph is a real configuration surface: a large monorepo needs someone to own and maintain Garden config as a first-class artefact, which is a standing platform-engineering cost.
  • Shared remote environments mean every developer needs cluster access and a cost allocation model, so cloud spend rises and namespace sprawl becomes a thing you have to police.
  • Caching correctness depends on declaring dependencies accurately; an under-declared action will serve a stale cached pass and hide a genuine test failure, which is a hard class of bug to notice.

March Networks

  • The ownership history is a live compliance question: Chinese-owned via Infinova from 2011, with a PRC government entity as controlling shareholder by January 2020, before the December 2021 sale to Delta Electronics of Taiwan, and any US federal or contractor buyer should expect to document that chain during a procurement review.
  • NDAA compliance is stated at the product level and rests on American system-on-chip processors in the majority of cameras and in specific recorder lines, which means it must be confirmed per model rather than assumed across the catalogue.
  • The platform is engineered around banking and retail workflows, so buyers outside those verticals pay for transaction integration they will never use and get a less developed general security experience than from a Genetec or Milestone.
  • No pricing is published and everything is quoted through integrators, so a multi-hundred-site estate cannot be budgeted without a design exercise and there is no benchmark against which to test a quote.
  • Hybrid recording means a recorder in every branch, which is hardware to install, monitor, service and eventually replace at every location, and that refresh cycle is a recurring capital event that cloud rivals avoid entirely.

Pricing, plan by plan

Garden

Free
  • Garden open sourceFree
    • Apache 2.0 licensed CLI
    • Full action graph and caching
    • Self-managed clusters
  • Commercial tier$undefined/year
    • Hosted caching and team features
    • Support and onboarding
    • Pricing no longer published since the Incredibuild acquisition

March Networks

On request
  • Command Enterprise and Searchlight$undefined/year
    • Per-recorder and per-channel licensing quoted through integrators
    • Searchlight business intelligence licensed separately
    • X-Series hybrid recorders purchased per site

Which should you pick?

Choose Garden if

  • You need action graph.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, macOS, Windows, Kubernetes.
  • You also want shared result caching.
Garden review

Choose March Networks if

  • You need command enterprise.
  • You work on Windows, Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want searchlight.
March Networks review

Questions people ask

Is Garden or March Networks better?
Neither clearly leads. Garden starts at Free and March Networks at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Garden or March Networks?
Garden has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Garden and On request for March Networks.
Does Garden or March Networks run on more platforms?
Garden runs on Linux, macOS, Windows, Kubernetes. March Networks runs on Windows, Web, iOS, Android.
Can I use Garden for free?
Yes. Garden has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. March Networks starts at On request.
What is Garden best used for?
Garden is most often used for a platform team whose integration test suite takes longer than the coffee break and needs caching to cut the loop, an organisation with thirty or more services on kubernetes where docker-compose no longer approximates production, giving every developer an ephemeral namespace instead of queuing for one shared staging environment, running the identical build and test definition locally and in ci so failures reproduce on a laptop. Of those, a platform team whose integration test suite takes longer than the coffee break and needs caching to cut the loop and an organisation with thirty or more services on kubernetes where docker-compose no longer approximates production are not what March Networks is typically brought in for.
What can Garden do that March Networks cannot?
Garden covers Action graph, Shared result caching, Remote Kubernetes environments, In-cluster builds. March Networks covers Command Enterprise, Searchlight, Hybrid recording, X-Series hybrid NVRs.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Garden: Is Garden still maintained?

The open source project remains on GitHub under Incredibuild ownership, but the commercial pricing page redirects to the docs and there is no public paid offer.

March Networks: Who owns March Networks?

Delta Electronics of Taiwan, which acquired it in December 2021 for 114 million US dollars. Before that it was owned by Chinese manufacturer Infinova, which by January 2020 had a PRC government entity as controlling shareholder.

Garden: Do I need Kubernetes?

Effectively yes. Garden is built around Kubernetes environments and offers little to teams on other runtimes.

March Networks: Is March Networks NDAA compliant?

The company states it is, citing American system-on-chip processors in the majority of its cameras and in its Command Recording Server bundles and X-Series hybrid NVRs. Verify per model, and expect the ownership history to be raised in a federal procurement review.

Garden: Does it replace my CI system?

No. It runs inside GitHub Actions, GitLab CI or similar and speeds up what those pipelines execute.

March Networks: What is Searchlight?

The layer that overlays ATM, teller and point of sale transaction data on video so investigators search by transaction rather than by time.

Garden: What is the actual saving?

It comes from skipping builds and tests whose inputs have not changed, so the benefit scales with how many services you have and how often only a few change.

March Networks: Is video stored in the cloud?

No, it is hybrid. Video is recorded on a recorder at each site and only required clips move centrally, which is why it suits large branch estates on modest connections.

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