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Developer Tools · head to head

Garden vs Raycast

Garden logo

Garden

Developer Tools

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

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Full reviewWebsite
Raycast logo

Raycast

Technology

Blazingly fast, totally extendable launcher

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.; Raycast the free plan includes 50 Raycast AI messages, 5 notes and 3 months of clipboard history
  • They diverge on capability: Garden covers Action graph, Raycast covers Application launcher.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Garden and Raycast actually diverge.

Attributes where Garden and Raycast differ
AttributeGardenRaycast
Pricing modelOpen source, no licence feefreemium
PlatformsLinux, macOS, Windows, KubernetesMacos
CategoryDeveloper ToolsTechnology
FoundedUnknown2020

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 Raycast

  • Application launcher
  • File search
  • Clipboard history
  • Snippets
  • Window management
  • Calculator
  • System commands
  • Extension ecosystem

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

Raycast

  • App launchingnot Garden
  • Quick calculationsnot Garden
  • File navigationnot Garden
  • Snippet expansionnot Garden
  • Workflow automationnot 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.

Raycast

  • The free plan includes 50 Raycast AI messages, 5 notes and 3 months of clipboard history
  • Advanced AI models are sold only as an add-on to the paid Pro plan at a further $8 per month on top of the $10 subscription
  • Free team workspaces cap sharing at 30 snippets, 30 quicklinks and 5 commands across all extensions
  • Teams Pro is $15 per user per month, billed per seat rather than per workspace

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

Raycast

Free
  • FreeFree
    • Core features: Clipboard History, Quicklinks, Calculator, Snippets, Window Management
    • Thousands of community extensions
    • 3-month clipboard history
  • Pro$10/month
    • Raycast AI with advanced models
    • Unlimited clipboard history
    • Unlimited notes
  • Pro Annual$8/month
    • Same as Pro plan
    • Annual billing saves 20% compared to monthly
  • Teams FreeFree
    • No cost per user
    • Shared extensions, snippets, and quicklinks

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 Raycast if

  • You need application launcher.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Macos.
  • You also want file search.
Raycast review

Questions people ask

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

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.

Raycast: Does Raycast offer a free plan?

Yes. Raycast has a free plan with core features including clipboard history, quicklinks, calculator, snippets, window management, and access to thousands of community extensions.

Source
Garden: Do I need Kubernetes?

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

Raycast: How much does Raycast Pro cost?

Raycast Pro costs $10 per month or $8 per month when billed annually, saving 20% with yearly subscription.

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.

Raycast: Does Raycast offer team plans?

Yes. Teams Free tier is available at no cost per user with shared extensions and snippets. Teams Pro costs $15 per user per month with unlimited team members.

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.

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