Developer Tools · head to head
Garden vs Metasploit
Garden
Developer Tools
Kubernetes development and testing automation with shared caching, now owned by Incredibuild
- From
- Free
- Free plan
- Yes
Metasploit
Cybersecurity
The world's most used penetration testing framework
- From
- Free
- Free plan
- Yes
The short version
- 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.; Metasploit the free Framework edition is command line only; the web interface is Pro only
- They diverge on capability: Garden covers Action graph, Metasploit covers Exploit database.
- Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Garden and Metasploit actually diverge.
| Attribute | Garden | Metasploit |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Open source, no licence fee | freemium |
| Platforms | Linux, macOS, Windows, Kubernetes | Desktop, Cli |
| Category | Developer Tools | Cybersecurity |
| Founded | Unknown | 2000 |
Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), 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 Metasploit
- Exploit database
- Payload generation
- Post-exploitation
- Evasion modules
- Auxiliary scanners
- Social engineering
- Credential harvesting
- Session management
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 Metasploit
- An organisation with thirty or more services on Kubernetes where docker-compose no longer approximates productionnot Metasploit
- Giving every developer an ephemeral namespace instead of queuing for one shared staging environmentnot Metasploit
- Running the identical build and test definition locally and in CI so failures reproduce on a laptopnot Metasploit
Metasploit
- Penetration testing and exploit development against known vulnerabilitiesnot Garden
- Validating whether a reported vulnerability is actually exploitablenot Garden
- Running phishing and credential attack simulations on the Pro editionnot 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.
Metasploit
- The free Framework edition is command line only; the web interface is Pro only
- Automated exploitation, automated credential attacks and antivirus evading dynamic payloads are restricted to Metasploit Pro
- Reporting, audit wizards, task chains and closed loop vulnerability validation are Pro only
- Rapid7 publishes no price for Metasploit Pro and routes buyers to contact sales
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
Metasploit
Free- Metasploit Framework (OSS)Free
- Open source
- 1500+ exploits
- Command line
- Metasploit ProFree
- Web interface
- Automated testing
- Phishing campaigns
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.
Choose Metasploit if
- You need exploit database.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Desktop, Cli.
- You also want payload generation.
Questions people ask
- Is Garden or Metasploit better?
- Neither clearly leads. Garden starts at Free and Metasploit at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Garden or Metasploit?
- Garden starts at Free and Metasploit at Free.
- Does Garden or Metasploit run on more platforms?
- Garden runs on Linux, macOS, Windows, Kubernetes. Metasploit runs on Desktop, Cli.
- Can I use Garden for free?
- Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
- 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 Metasploit is typically brought in for.
- What can Garden do that Metasploit cannot?
- Garden covers Action graph, Shared result caching, Remote Kubernetes environments, In-cluster builds. Metasploit covers Exploit database, Payload generation, Post-exploitation, Evasion modules.
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.
Metasploit: Is Metasploit Framework free to use?
Yes, Metasploit Framework is available as free open-source software with source code accessible via GitHub. Community support is provided through Slack, GitHub, Twitter, and email.
SourceGarden: Do I need Kubernetes?
Effectively yes. Garden is built around Kubernetes environments and offers little to teams on other runtimes.
Metasploit: What is the difference between Metasploit Framework and Metasploit Pro?
Metasploit Framework is the free open-source version. Metasploit Pro is a commercial offering with customer support from Rapid7, though specific pricing and features are not detailed on the download page.
SourceGarden: Does it replace my CI system?
No. It runs inside GitHub Actions, GitLab CI or similar and speeds up what those pipelines execute.
Metasploit: What support is available for the free Framework version?
Community-based support for Metasploit Framework is available through Slack, GitHub, Twitter, and email ([email protected]). Commercial customers using Metasploit Pro receive customer support from Rapid7.
SourceGarden: 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.
Related pages
Other head to heads
- Garden vs Okteto
- Garden vs Ansible
- Garden vs Depot
- Garden vs Earthly
- Garden vs Tilt
- Garden vs WarpBuild
- Garden vs Nix
- Garden vs Blacksmith
- Garden vs Namespace
- Garden vs ConfigCat
- Garden vs OpsLevel
- Garden vs Bazel
- Garden vs Visual Studio
- Garden vs Warp
- Garden vs Xlinesoft
- Garden vs Ona (formerly Gitpod)
- Garden vs GNU Emacs
- Garden vs Keil MDK
- Garden vs 1Password
- Garden vs Bitdefender Total Security
- Garden vs Norton 360
- Garden vs LastPass
- Garden vs Burp Suite
- Garden vs OWASP ZAP
- Garden vs Syft
- Garden vs Wireshark
- Garden vs HashiCorp Vault
- Garden vs Bitwarden
- Garden vs Semgrep
- Garden vs Passbolt
- Garden vs RoboForm
- Garden vs Sardine
- Garden vs Semperis
- Garden vs SentinelOne
- Garden vs Shufti Pro
- Garden vs SentinelOne Singularity
- Metasploit vs Okteto
- Metasploit vs Ansible
- Metasploit vs Depot
- Metasploit vs Earthly
- Metasploit vs Tilt
- Metasploit vs WarpBuild
- Metasploit vs Nix
- Metasploit vs Blacksmith
- Metasploit vs Namespace
- Metasploit vs ConfigCat
- Metasploit vs OpsLevel
- Metasploit vs Bazel
- Metasploit vs Visual Studio
- Metasploit vs Warp
- Metasploit vs Xlinesoft
- Metasploit vs Ona (formerly Gitpod)
- Metasploit vs GNU Emacs
- Metasploit vs Keil MDK
- Metasploit vs 1Password
- Metasploit vs Bitdefender Total Security
- Metasploit vs Norton 360
- Metasploit vs LastPass
- Metasploit vs Burp Suite
- Metasploit vs OWASP ZAP
- Metasploit vs Syft
- Metasploit vs Wireshark
- Metasploit vs HashiCorp Vault
- Metasploit vs Bitwarden
- Metasploit vs Semgrep
- Metasploit vs Passbolt
- Metasploit vs RoboForm
- Metasploit vs Sardine
- Metasploit vs Semperis
- Metasploit vs SentinelOne
- Metasploit vs Shufti Pro
- Metasploit vs SentinelOne Singularity