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Developer Tools · head to head

Garden vs Scaleway

Garden logo

Garden

Developer Tools

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

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Scaleway logo

Scaleway

Cloud

European cloud for developers

From
Free
Rated
-
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.; Scaleway no free tier or trial period mentioned on homepage
  • They diverge on capability: Garden covers Action graph, Scaleway covers Virtual Instances.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Garden and Scaleway actually diverge.

Attributes where Garden and Scaleway differ
AttributeGardenScaleway
Pricing modelOpen source, no licence feeusage-based
PlatformsLinux, macOS, Windows, KubernetesWeb, Api, Cli
CategoryDeveloper ToolsCloud
FoundedUnknown1999

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 Scaleway

  • Virtual Instances
  • Bare Metal
  • Kubernetes Kapsule
  • Object Storage
  • Serverless Functions
  • Managed Databases
  • Container Registry
  • Load Balancer

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

Scaleway

  • Web hostingnot Garden
  • Container orchestrationnot Garden
  • Development environmentsnot Garden
  • Data storagenot 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.

Scaleway

  • No free tier or trial period mentioned on homepage
  • Specific pricing requires navigating to individual product category pages
  • Base pricing starts at 4.99 EUR per month but varies significantly by service type

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

Scaleway

Free
  • DEV1-S$7.99/month
    • 2 vCPU
    • 2GB RAM
    • 20GB SSD

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 Scaleway if

  • You need virtual instances.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Api, Cli.
  • You also want bare metal.
Scaleway review

Questions people ask

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

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.

Scaleway: Does Scaleway have a free tier?

Scaleway does not mention a free tier or trial period on its pricing or homepage. Users must select specific services to see rates.

Source
Garden: Do I need Kubernetes?

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

Scaleway: What is Scaleway's pricing model?

Scaleway uses transparent, usage-based pricing that varies by service. Different categories (bare metal, compute, AI, storage, network) have separate pricing. Dedibox servers start at 4.99 EUR per month.

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.

Scaleway: How does Scaleway billing work?

Scaleway emphasizes transparent, predictable billing where customers know exactly what they'll pay. Users must select products and view pricing within each category.

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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