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Developer Tools · head to head

Garden vs Strikingly

Garden logo

Garden

Developer Tools

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

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Full reviewWebsite
Strikingly logo

Strikingly

Web Development

One-page website builder for small businesses and creators

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.; Strikingly strikingly is optimized for single-page sites and is not well suited to building large, multi-section websites.
  • They diverge on capability: Garden covers Action graph, Strikingly covers Drag-and-drop editor.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Garden and Strikingly actually diverge.

Attributes where Garden and Strikingly differ
AttributeGardenStrikingly
Pricing modelOpen source, no licence feefreemium
PlatformsLinux, macOS, Windows, Kubernetesweb
CategoryDeveloper ToolsWeb Development
FoundedUnknown2012

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 Strikingly

  • Drag-and-drop editor
  • Simple Store
  • Blogging
  • Forms and live chat
  • Traffic analytics
  • Social feed integration
  • HTTPS/SSL

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

Strikingly

  • Personal portfolio or resume sitenot Garden
  • Single-product or small online storenot Garden
  • Event or landing pagenot Garden
  • Small business brochure sitenot 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.

Strikingly

  • Strikingly is optimized for single-page sites and is not well suited to building large, multi-section websites.
  • Transaction fees of 2-5% apply to store sales on lower-tier plans in addition to payment processor fees.
  • Design customization is limited compared to code-based site builders, since sites are built from fixed templates.
  • The free plan does not support a custom domain, limiting its use for professional or commercial sites.

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

Strikingly

Free
  • Limited$8/month
    • 2 sites
    • 1 GB storage per site
    • Up to 5 pages
  • Pro$16/month
    • 3 sites
    • 20 GB storage per site
    • Up to 100 pages
  • VIP$49/month
    • 5 sites
    • 100 GB storage per site
    • Up to 500 products

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 Strikingly if

  • You need drag-and-drop editor.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on web.
  • You also want simple store.
Strikingly review

Questions people ask

Is Garden or Strikingly better?
Neither clearly leads. Garden starts at Free and Strikingly at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Garden or Strikingly?
Garden starts at Free and Strikingly at Free.
Does Garden or Strikingly run on more platforms?
Garden runs on Linux, macOS, Windows, Kubernetes. Strikingly runs on web.
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 Strikingly is typically brought in for.
What can Garden do that Strikingly cannot?
Garden covers Action graph, Shared result caching, Remote Kubernetes environments, In-cluster builds. Strikingly covers Drag-and-drop editor, Simple Store, Blogging, Forms and live chat.

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.

Strikingly: Does Strikingly have a free plan?

Strikingly offers a free tier for getting started, with paid plans beginning at $8/month (billed yearly) adding a custom domain, more storage, and lower transaction fees on store sales.

Source
Garden: Do I need Kubernetes?

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

Strikingly: Does Strikingly charge transaction fees on store sales?

Yes. The Limited plan charges a 5% transaction fee, the Pro plan charges 2%, and the VIP plan removes the transaction fee entirely, in addition to any payment processor fees.

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.

Strikingly: What payment methods can I use to sell products?

Strikingly's built-in Simple Store supports accepting payments through PayPal and Stripe.

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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Related pages

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