Developer Tools · head to head
Garden vs PartyKit
Garden
Developer Tools
Kubernetes development and testing automation with shared caching, now owned by Incredibuild
- From
- Free
- Rated
- -
PartyKit
Developer Tools
Platform for building and deploying realtime multiplayer servers on the edge
- From
- Free
- Rated
- -
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.; PartyKit documentation and FAQ material on the marketing site is sparse compared to larger realtime platforms.
- They diverge on capability: Garden covers Action graph, PartyKit covers Stateful edge servers.
- Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Garden and PartyKit actually diverge.
Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), 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 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 PartyKit
- Stateful edge servers
- WebSocket-first API
- CRDT library compatibility
- Framework integrations
- Global edge deployment
- Custom domains
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 PartyKit
- An organisation with thirty or more services on Kubernetes where docker-compose no longer approximates productionnot PartyKit
- Giving every developer an ephemeral namespace instead of queuing for one shared staging environmentnot PartyKit
- Running the identical build and test definition locally and in CI so failures reproduce on a laptopnot PartyKit
PartyKit
- Multiplayer collaborative appsnot Garden
- Realtime AI agent backendsnot Garden
- Live cursors and presencenot Garden
- Collaborative whiteboards and documentsnot 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.
PartyKit
- Documentation and FAQ material on the marketing site is sparse compared to larger realtime platforms.
- Commercial free tier requires deploying to the user's own Cloudflare account, adding setup complexity.
- Storage on the free Individual plan clears every 24 hours, limiting it to prototyping rather than persistent production data.
- Smaller ecosystem and community than more established realtime infrastructure providers.
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
PartyKit
Free- IndividualFree
- Up to 10 live projects
- Deploy to the global edge platform
- Storage clears every 24 hours
- CommercialFree
- Unlimited projects
- Custom domains
- Runs on your own Cloudflare account; pay only Cloudflare usage
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 PartyKit if
- You need stateful edge servers.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on web, api.
- You also want websocket-first api.
Questions people ask
- Is Garden or PartyKit better?
- Neither clearly leads. Garden starts at Free and PartyKit at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Garden or PartyKit?
- Garden starts at Free and PartyKit at Free.
- Does Garden or PartyKit run on more platforms?
- Garden runs on Linux, macOS, Windows, Kubernetes. PartyKit 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 PartyKit is typically brought in for.
- What can Garden do that PartyKit cannot?
- Garden covers Action graph, Shared result caching, Remote Kubernetes environments, In-cluster builds. PartyKit covers Stateful edge servers, WebSocket-first API, CRDT library compatibility, Framework integrations.
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.
PartyKit: How much does PartyKit cost?
PartyKit is completely free. Both the Individual and Commercial plans have no upfront costs.
SourceGarden: Do I need Kubernetes?
Effectively yes. Garden is built around Kubernetes environments and offers little to teams on other runtimes.
PartyKit: What is PartyKit's Individual plan?
The Individual plan is free and includes deployment to a global edge platform, support for up to 10 live projects, and is suitable for small projects. Storage is cleared every 24 hours.
SourceGarden: Does it replace my CI system?
No. It runs inside GitHub Actions, GitLab CI or similar and speeds up what those pipelines execute.
PartyKit: What is PartyKit's Commercial plan?
The Commercial plan is free but requires deploying to your own Cloudflare account. It includes custom domains, unlimited projects, and you pay only your Cloudflare usage costs.
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.
PartyKit: Can I upgrade from Individual to Commercial plan?
Yes, both plans are free but offer different feature sets. The Commercial plan removes project restrictions but requires managing your own Cloudflare infrastructure.
SourceRelated pages
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