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Developer Tools · head to head

Garden vs Proton Mail

Garden logo

Garden

Developer Tools

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

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Full reviewWebsite
Proton Mail logo

Proton Mail

Cybersecurity

Secure email that protects your privacy

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.; Proton Mail paid plan pricing not displayed on vendor site
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Garden and Proton Mail actually diverge.

Attributes where Garden and Proton Mail differ
AttributeGardenProton Mail
Pricing modelOpen source, no licence feefreemium
PlatformsLinux, macOS, Windows, KubernetesWeb
CategoryDeveloper ToolsCybersecurity

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 Proton Mail

Nothing recorded that Garden does not also cover.

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 Proton Mail
  • An organisation with thirty or more services on Kubernetes where docker-compose no longer approximates productionnot Proton Mail
  • Giving every developer an ephemeral namespace instead of queuing for one shared staging environmentnot Proton Mail
  • Running the identical build and test definition locally and in CI so failures reproduce on a laptopnot Proton Mail

Proton Mail

  • Encrypted email communicationnot Garden
  • Privacy-focused email servicenot Garden
  • Family email protectionnot 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.

Proton Mail

  • Paid plan pricing not displayed on vendor site
  • Free tier limited to 1 GB storage
  • Free tier limited to single email address

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

Proton Mail

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the Proton Mail review.

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 Proton Mail if

  • You want to start without paying.
Proton Mail review

Questions people ask

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

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.

Proton Mail: Is there a free version of Proton Mail?

Yes, Proton Mail offers a free plan with 1 GB storage, 1 encrypted email address, and basic features like folders, labels, and filters.

Source
Garden: Do I need Kubernetes?

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

Proton Mail: What does the Mail Plus plan include?

Mail Plus includes 15 GB storage, 10 encrypted email addresses, support for 1 custom domain, 10 hide-my-email aliases, priority support, and access to Proton Calendar.

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.

Proton Mail: What is included in Proton Unlimited?

Proton Unlimited provides 500 GB storage, 15 email addresses, 3 custom domains, unlimited hide-my-email aliases, access to Mail, Calendar, VPN, Drive, and Pass, plus dedicated support.

Source
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.

Proton Mail: Does Proton Mail offer a money-back guarantee?

Yes, Proton Mail provides a 30-day money-back guarantee for paid plans.

Source
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