Developer Tools · head to head
Garden vs RAD Studio
Garden
Developer Tools
Kubernetes development and testing automation with shared caching, now owned by Incredibuild
- From
- Free
- Rated
- -
RAD Studio
Developer Tools
Cross-platform native app development with Delphi and C++Builder
- From
- $2000/perpetual
- Rated
- -
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.; RAD Studio professional edition costs $2,000 for the perpetual license plus $599 for year one maintenance, totaling $2,599 before tax
- Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Garden and RAD Studio actually diverge.
| Attribute | Garden | RAD Studio |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | Free | $2000/perpetual |
| Pricing model | Open source, no licence fee | one-time |
| Free tier | Yes | No |
| Platforms | Linux, macOS, Windows, Kubernetes | Web |
Identical on both: 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 RAD Studio
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 RAD Studio
- An organisation with thirty or more services on Kubernetes where docker-compose no longer approximates productionnot RAD Studio
- Giving every developer an ephemeral namespace instead of queuing for one shared staging environmentnot RAD Studio
- Running the identical build and test definition locally and in CI so failures reproduce on a laptopnot RAD Studio
RAD Studio
- Building Windows desktop applications with VCL componentsnot Garden
- Creating iOS and Android apps from shared Delphi codebasenot Garden
- Connecting to Oracle databases through FireDAC connectivitynot Garden
- Building REST web services that run on Linux serversnot 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.
RAD Studio
- Professional edition costs $2,000 for the perpetual license plus $599 for year one maintenance, totaling $2,599 before tax
- Enterprise edition steps up to $3,400 license plus $1,199 maintenance, and Architect edition to $4,416 license plus $2,183 maintenance
- The perpetual license only entitles the buyer to updates for one year; continued access to new updates and upgrades requires an annually renewable Update Subscription
Pricing, plan by plan
Garden
Free- Garden open sourceFree
- Apache 2.0 licensed CLI
- Full action graph and caching
- Self-managed clusters
- Commercial tier$undefined/year
- Hosted caching and team features
- Support and onboarding
- Pricing no longer published since the Incredibuild acquisition
RAD Studio
$2000/perpetual- Professional Edition$2000/perpetual
- Perpetual License
- First year maintenance $599
- Total $2,599 + Tax
- Enterprise Edition$3400/perpetual
- Perpetual License
- First year maintenance $1,199
- Total $4,599 + Tax
- Architect Edition$4416/perpetual
- Perpetual License
- First year maintenance $2,183
- Total $6,599 + Tax
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 RAD Studio if
Nothing in the data separates RAD Studio from Garden on the points above - pick on price and on how each one feels to use.
Questions people ask
- Is Garden or RAD Studio better?
- Neither clearly leads. Garden starts at Free and RAD Studio at $2000/perpetual, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Garden or RAD Studio?
- Garden has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Garden and $2000/perpetual for RAD Studio.
- Does Garden or RAD Studio run on more platforms?
- Garden runs on Linux, macOS, Windows, Kubernetes. RAD Studio runs on Web.
- Can I use Garden for free?
- Yes. Garden has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. RAD Studio starts at $2000/perpetual.
- 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 RAD Studio is typically brought in for.
- What can Garden do that RAD Studio 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.
RAD Studio: How much does RAD Studio cost?
RAD Studio uses perpetual licensing: Professional Edition $2,000 perpetual license + $599 first year maintenance ($2,599 total + tax). Enterprise Edition $3,400 license + $1,199 maintenance ($4,599 total + tax). Architect Edition $4,416 license + $2,183 maintenance ($6,599 total + tax).
SourceGarden: Do I need Kubernetes?
Effectively yes. Garden is built around Kubernetes environments and offers little to teams on other runtimes.
RAD Studio: What is the difference between RAD Studio editions?
Professional Edition ($2,599 total + tax) targets individual developers. Enterprise Edition ($4,599 total + tax) adds multi-tier app capabilities. Architect Edition ($6,599 total + tax) includes advanced database and cloud features. All three include perpetual licenses.
SourceGarden: Does it replace my CI system?
No. It runs inside GitHub Actions, GitLab CI or similar and speeds up what those pipelines execute.
RAD Studio: Does RAD Studio offer Kai AI integration and discounts?
Yes, adding Kai AI to any edition provides discounts: 25% off Professional ($2,136 + tax), 30% off Enterprise ($3,394 + tax), and 40% off Architect ($4,109 + tax). This promotion is active through August 31, 2026.
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 Depot
- Garden vs Earthly
- Garden vs Ansible
- Garden vs WarpBuild
- Garden vs Nix
- Garden vs Blacksmith
- Garden vs Tilt
- Garden vs Namespace
- Garden vs ConfigCat
- Garden vs OpsLevel
- Garden vs Webpack
- Garden vs Vite
- Garden vs Bazel
- Garden vs Daytona
- Garden vs Eclipse IDE
- Garden vs CLion
- Garden vs GNAT Pro
- Garden vs Rust
- Garden vs IAR Embedded Workbench
- Garden vs Visual Studio Code
- Garden vs JetBrains Rider
- Garden vs StackBlitz
- Garden vs Visual Studio
- Garden vs Penpot
- Garden vs GitLab CI/CD
- Garden vs Helm
- Garden vs Notepad++
- Garden vs Spacelift
- Garden vs Argo CD
- Garden vs Atlantis
- Garden vs Coder
- RAD Studio vs Okteto
- RAD Studio vs Depot
- RAD Studio vs Earthly
- RAD Studio vs Ansible
- RAD Studio vs WarpBuild
- RAD Studio vs Nix
- RAD Studio vs Blacksmith
- RAD Studio vs Tilt
- RAD Studio vs Namespace
- RAD Studio vs ConfigCat
- RAD Studio vs OpsLevel
- RAD Studio vs Webpack
- RAD Studio vs Vite
- RAD Studio vs Bazel
- RAD Studio vs Daytona
- RAD Studio vs Eclipse IDE
- RAD Studio vs CLion
- RAD Studio vs GNAT Pro
- RAD Studio vs Rust
- RAD Studio vs IAR Embedded Workbench
- RAD Studio vs Visual Studio Code
- RAD Studio vs JetBrains Rider
- RAD Studio vs StackBlitz
- RAD Studio vs Visual Studio
- RAD Studio vs Penpot
- RAD Studio vs GitLab CI/CD
- RAD Studio vs Helm
- RAD Studio vs Notepad++
- RAD Studio vs Spacelift
- RAD Studio vs Argo CD
- RAD Studio vs Atlantis
- RAD Studio vs Coder