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Developer Tools · head to head

Garden vs Rhombus Systems

Garden logo

Garden

Developer Tools

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

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Full reviewWebsite
Rhombus Systems logo

Rhombus Systems

Cybersecurity

Cloud-managed cameras, sensors and access control with a per-camera annual licence

From
$149/year
Free plan
No
Full reviewWebsite

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.; Rhombus Systems the per-camera annual licence never ends and a camera without an active licence stops working, so the total cost over a ten-year hardware life is several times the hardware price.
  • They diverge on capability: Garden covers Action graph, Rhombus Systems covers On-camera storage.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Garden and Rhombus Systems actually diverge.

Attributes where Garden and Rhombus Systems differ
AttributeGardenRhombus Systems
Starting priceFree$149/year
Pricing modelOpen source, no licence feePer camera per year licence plus hardware
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsLinux, macOS, Windows, KubernetesWeb, iOS, Android
CategoryDeveloper ToolsCybersecurity

Identical on both: 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 Rhombus Systems

  • On-camera storage
  • No NVR or server
  • AI search
  • Access control
  • Environmental sensors
  • Unlimited users
  • Ten year hardware warranty
  • Optional cloud archiving

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

Rhombus Systems

  • A school district running video across dozens of buildings with no local IT at each sitenot Garden
  • A clinic group needing door access and cameras in one console under a single audit trailnot Garden
  • A logistics operator that wants to search for a specific vehicle across sites without scrubbing footagenot Garden
  • An office estate replacing ageing NVRs where nobody remains who knows how to maintain themnot 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.

Rhombus Systems

  • The per-camera annual licence never ends and a camera without an active licence stops working, so the total cost over a ten-year hardware life is several times the hardware price.
  • Cameras must be Rhombus, so there is no reuse of existing IP cameras and migrating away means replacing every device rather than changing software.
  • Cloud archiving is priced separately by retention and stream count, and long retention on multisensor cameras runs into five figures per camera, which can dwarf everything else in the quote.
  • On-camera storage is the default retention, so a camera physically stolen or destroyed takes its unarchived footage with it unless cloud archiving was paid for on that camera.
  • Analytics and integrations are good for mid-market needs but shallower than a dedicated enterprise VMS with a large third-party ecosystem, so specialist requirements like advanced LPR or forensic search hit limits.

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

Rhombus Systems

$149/year
  • Professional$149/year
    • Per camera per year
    • Cloud console and management
    • On-camera storage retention
  • Enterprise$199/year
    • Per camera per year
    • Everything in Professional
    • Flexible cloud archiving options
  • Cloud archiving$undefined/year
    • Priced separately by retention period and stream count
    • Multisensor cameras cost several times a single sensor camera
    • Long retention on multisensor models can reach five figures per camera

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 Rhombus Systems if

  • You need on-camera storage.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want no nvr or server.
Rhombus Systems review

Questions people ask

Is Garden or Rhombus Systems better?
Neither clearly leads. Garden starts at Free and Rhombus Systems at $149/year, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Garden or Rhombus Systems?
Garden has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Garden and $149/year for Rhombus Systems.
Does Garden or Rhombus Systems run on more platforms?
Garden runs on Linux, macOS, Windows, Kubernetes. Rhombus Systems runs on Web, iOS, Android.
Can I use Garden for free?
Yes. Garden has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Rhombus Systems starts at $149/year.
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 Rhombus Systems is typically brought in for.
What can Garden do that Rhombus Systems cannot?
Garden covers Action graph, Shared result caching, Remote Kubernetes environments, In-cluster builds. Rhombus Systems covers On-camera storage, No NVR or server, AI search, Access control.

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.

Rhombus Systems: Do I need an NVR or a server?

No. Cameras record on board and connect directly to the cloud console, which is the main operational reason organisations pick it.

Garden: Do I need Kubernetes?

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

Rhombus Systems: What does the licence cost?

Roughly $149 per camera per year for Professional and about $199 for Enterprise, typically sold in one, three, five or ten year terms.

Garden: Does it replace my CI system?

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

Rhombus Systems: Is cloud storage included?

No. On-camera storage is the default. Cloud archiving is a separate charge priced by retention duration and number of streams.

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.

Rhombus Systems: Can I use my existing cameras?

No. The platform works only with Rhombus hardware, which is the trade-off for the zero-server architecture.

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