Developer Tools · head to head
Garden vs Splunk Enterprise Security
Garden
Developer Tools
Kubernetes development and testing automation with shared caching, now owned by Incredibuild
- From
- Free
- Free plan
- Yes
Splunk Enterprise Security
Cybersecurity
The platform for operational intelligence
- From
- On request
- Free plan
- No
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.; Splunk Enterprise Security splunk Enterprise Security is licensed separately from the Splunk platform, so a SIEM deployment needs both
- They diverge on capability: Garden covers Action graph, Splunk Enterprise Security covers Security monitoring.
- Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Garden and Splunk Enterprise Security actually diverge.
| Attribute | Garden | Splunk Enterprise Security |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | Free | On request |
| Pricing model | Open source, no licence fee | subscription |
| Free tier | Yes | No |
| Platforms | Linux, macOS, Windows, Kubernetes | Web, Api |
| Category | Developer Tools | Cybersecurity |
| Founded | Unknown | 2003 |
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 Splunk Enterprise Security
- Security monitoring
- Incident review
- Risk-based alerting
- Threat intelligence
- Investigation workbench
- MITRE ATT&CK mapping
- Automated response
- Compliance reporting
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 Splunk Enterprise Security
- An organisation with thirty or more services on Kubernetes where docker-compose no longer approximates productionnot Splunk Enterprise Security
- Giving every developer an ephemeral namespace instead of queuing for one shared staging environmentnot Splunk Enterprise Security
- Running the identical build and test definition locally and in CI so failures reproduce on a laptopnot Splunk Enterprise Security
Splunk Enterprise Security
- Running a security operations centre on Splunk indexed log datanot Garden
- Correlation searches, risk based alerting and incident investigationnot Garden
- Compliance reporting from pooled security telemetrynot 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.
Splunk Enterprise Security
- Splunk Enterprise Security is licensed separately from the Splunk platform, so a SIEM deployment needs both
- Splunk publishes no rate for Enterprise Security and directs buyers to contact a pricing expert
- UEBA, SOAR and automated threat analysis require the Premier edition rather than Essentials
- The platform underneath can be billed by ingest volume, workload or activity, so the total cost depends on a pricing model chosen at contract time rather than a list price
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
Splunk Enterprise Security
On request- Workload PricingFree
- Pay per compute
- Flexible scaling
- All features
- Ingest PricingFree
- Pay per GB ingested
- Predictable costs
- All features
- Entity PricingFree
- Pay per monitored entity
- Security focused
- All features
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 Splunk Enterprise Security if
- You need security monitoring.
- You work on Web, Api.
- You also want incident review.
Questions people ask
- Is Garden or Splunk Enterprise Security better?
- Neither clearly leads. Garden starts at Free and Splunk Enterprise Security at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Garden or Splunk Enterprise Security?
- Garden has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Garden and On request for Splunk Enterprise Security.
- Does Garden or Splunk Enterprise Security run on more platforms?
- Garden runs on Linux, macOS, Windows, Kubernetes. Splunk Enterprise Security runs on Web, Api.
- Can I use Garden for free?
- Yes. Garden has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Splunk Enterprise Security starts at On request.
- 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 Splunk Enterprise Security is typically brought in for.
- What can Garden do that Splunk Enterprise Security cannot?
- Garden covers Action graph, Shared result caching, Remote Kubernetes environments, In-cluster builds. Splunk Enterprise Security covers Security monitoring, Incident review, Risk-based alerting, Threat intelligence.
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.
Splunk Enterprise Security: How much does Splunk Enterprise Security cost?
Splunk Enterprise Security pricing is not published. The product is available in Essentials Edition with threat detection, investigation, and response capabilities, and Premier Edition with UEBA, SOAR, and Automated Threat Analysis. Customers must contact Splunk sales for pricing quotes on either edition.
SourceGarden: Do I need Kubernetes?
Effectively yes. Garden is built around Kubernetes environments and offers little to teams on other runtimes.
Splunk Enterprise Security: What editions of Splunk Enterprise Security are available?
Splunk Enterprise Security offers Essentials Edition with threat detection, investigation, and response capabilities, and Premier Edition which adds UEBA (User and Entity Behavior Analytics), SOAR (Security Orchestration, Automation and Response), and Automated Threat Analysis.
SourceGarden: Does it replace my CI system?
No. It runs inside GitHub Actions, GitLab CI or similar and speeds up what those pipelines execute.
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.
Related pages
More on Splunk Enterprise Security
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