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Developer Tools · head to head

Garden vs Microsoft Sentinel

Garden logo

Garden

Developer Tools

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

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Full reviewWebsite
Microsoft Sentinel logo

Microsoft Sentinel

Cybersecurity

Cloud-native SIEM and SOAR solution

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Full reviewWebsite

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.; Microsoft Sentinel billing is driven by the volume of log data ingested per day, so cost scales with log noise rather than with users or protected assets
  • They diverge on capability: Garden covers Action graph, Microsoft Sentinel covers AI-powered analytics.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Garden and Microsoft Sentinel actually diverge.

Attributes where Garden and Microsoft Sentinel differ
AttributeGardenMicrosoft Sentinel
Pricing modelOpen source, no licence feeusage-based
PlatformsLinux, macOS, Windows, KubernetesWeb, Api
CategoryDeveloper ToolsCybersecurity
FoundedUnknown1975

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 Microsoft Sentinel

  • AI-powered analytics
  • Fusion detection
  • UEBA
  • Automated response playbooks
  • Threat intelligence
  • Hunting queries
  • Workbooks
  • Incident 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 Microsoft Sentinel
  • An organisation with thirty or more services on Kubernetes where docker-compose no longer approximates productionnot Microsoft Sentinel
  • Giving every developer an ephemeral namespace instead of queuing for one shared staging environmentnot Microsoft Sentinel
  • Running the identical build and test definition locally and in CI so failures reproduce on a laptopnot Microsoft Sentinel

Microsoft Sentinel

  • Cloud-based security information and event management (SIEM)not Garden
  • Extended detection and response (XDR) across enterprise infrastructurenot Garden
  • Data ingestion and long-term security analyticsnot 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.

Microsoft Sentinel

  • Billing is driven by the volume of log data ingested per day, so cost scales with log noise rather than with users or protected assets
  • Commitment tier discounts require reserving daily ingestion capacity in advance, and a tier cannot be downgraded until 31 days have passed
  • Commitment tiers start at 100 GB per day, above what smaller estates ingest
  • Charges for Log Analytics, Logic Apps and Machine Learning are billed separately on top of Sentinel itself
  • The free allowance is only up to 5 MB per user per day for selected Microsoft 365 security logs
  • Promotional commitment pricing is time limited and locks in only until a stated end date

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

Microsoft Sentinel

Free
  • Pay-As-You-Go$2.46/day
    • Per GB ingested
    • 90-day retention
    • First 31 days free for new workspaces
  • Commitment TiersFree
    • 100GB to 50TB tiers
    • Up to 65% discount
    • Predictable billing
  • Microsoft 365 E5Free
    • Free data ingestion for M365 logs
    • Bundled with E5 license

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 Microsoft Sentinel if

  • You need ai-powered analytics.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Api.
  • You also want fusion detection.
Microsoft Sentinel review

Questions people ask

Is Garden or Microsoft Sentinel better?
Neither clearly leads. Garden starts at Free and Microsoft Sentinel at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Garden or Microsoft Sentinel?
Garden starts at Free and Microsoft Sentinel at Free.
Does Garden or Microsoft Sentinel run on more platforms?
Garden runs on Linux, macOS, Windows, Kubernetes. Microsoft Sentinel runs on Web, Api.
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 Microsoft Sentinel is typically brought in for.
What can Garden do that Microsoft Sentinel cannot?
Garden covers Action graph, Shared result caching, Remote Kubernetes environments, In-cluster builds. Microsoft Sentinel covers AI-powered analytics, Fusion detection, UEBA, Automated response playbooks.

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.

Microsoft Sentinel: How is Microsoft Sentinel pricing calculated?

Microsoft Sentinel uses a pay-as-you-go usage-based model where you pay only for data ingested, stored, and consumed. Flexible commitment tiers are available to reduce total cost of ownership, with specific rates not published on the public pricing page. Source: https://www.microsoft.com/security/business/siem-and-xdr/microsoft-sentinel/

Source
Garden: Do I need Kubernetes?

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

Microsoft Sentinel: Does Microsoft Sentinel require an Azure subscription?

Yes, Microsoft Sentinel requires a Microsoft Azure subscription to operate. Pricing is handled through Azure and varies based on data consumption and the commitment tier you select. Source: https://www.microsoft.com/security/business/siem-and-xdr/microsoft-sentinel/

Source
Garden: Does it replace my CI system?

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

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.

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Related pages

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