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Developer Tools · head to head

Harness vs Teleport

Harness logo

Harness

Developer Tools

Software delivery platform across CI, CD, security testing and cost management

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Full reviewWebsite
Teleport logo

Teleport

Cybersecurity

Certificate-based access to servers, Kubernetes, databases and apps, replacing shared credentials and VPNs

From
On request
Free plan
No
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Harness has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Harness essentials and Enterprise pricing requires sales contact; no published rates; Teleport pricing is not published and is described as active users plus protected resources, so an autoscaling estate cannot forecast the bill and finance teams discover the true cost only after the first true-up.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Harness and Teleport actually diverge.

Attributes where Harness and Teleport differ
AttributeHarnessTeleport
Starting priceFreeOn request
Pricing modelfreemiumquote
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsWebLinux, macOS, Windows, Kubernetes, Cloud
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 Harness

Nothing recorded that Teleport does not also cover.

Only in Teleport

  • Short-lived certificates
  • Protocol coverage
  • Session recording and replay
  • Access Requests
  • Device Trust
  • Identity provider integration
  • Machine identity
  • FIPS and FedRAMP builds

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Harness

  • Deploying apps to AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud with rollbacksnot Teleport
  • Integrating security scanners throughout build pipelines before productionnot Teleport
  • Automating cloud cost reduction and tracking unit-level expensesnot Teleport
  • Enabling developers to provision infrastructure without operations bottlenecksnot Teleport
  • Assessing deployment frequency and lead time productivity metricsnot Teleport

Teleport

  • Removing long-lived SSH keys and shared database passwords so that offboarding an engineer takes one action in the identity providernot Harness
  • Producing session recordings and per-user database audit trails as direct evidence for SOC 2 or FedRAMPnot Harness
  • Giving contractors or on-call engineers time-boxed, approved access to production instead of standing admin rightsnot Harness
  • Replacing a flat VPN with per-resource authorisation across servers, Kubernetes and internal web appsnot Harness

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Harness

  • Essentials and Enterprise pricing requires sales contact; no published rates
  • DevOps Essentials has no on-premises deployment option
  • Internal Developer Portal requires minimum 20 developer licenses
  • Pipeline execution history retention 6 months (Essentials) vs 25 months as add-on (Enterprise)

Teleport

  • Pricing is not published and is described as active users plus protected resources, so an autoscaling estate cannot forecast the bill and finance teams discover the true cost only after the first true-up.
  • The proxy is a hard dependency on reaching production, so it needs its own high availability deployment and a tested break-glass path or an outage in Teleport becomes an outage in your ability to respond to outages.
  • The open source Community Edition omits Access Requests, Device Trust and the FIPS builds, which are exactly the controls an auditor asks about, so the free tier rarely survives a compliance review.
  • Self-hosting means running and upgrading a certificate authority and its backing store, and Teleport releases frequently enough that upgrade work becomes a standing operational commitment.
  • Coverage across protocols is uneven in depth, so teams with legacy systems, unusual databases or bespoke network appliances find gaps that still require the old VPN to remain in place alongside it.

Pricing, plan by plan

Harness

Free
  • FreeFree
    • Starter platform for software delivery lifecycle
    • Open source options available (Harness Open Source, Litmus Chaos)
  • Essentials$null/month
    • Growing organizations with small to mid-size teams
    • Packaged DevOps Essentials bundle
    • Continuous software delivery capabilities
  • Enterprise$null/month
    • Large-scale organizations
    • Pick any modules based on needs
    • Advanced features

Teleport

On request
  • Teleport Community Edition$undefined/year
    • Open source, self-hosted
    • SSH, Kubernetes, database and app access
    • Session recording
  • Teleport Enterprise$undefined/year
    • Cloud-hosted or self-hosted
    • Access Requests and approval workflow
    • Device Trust and hardware key enforcement

Which should you pick?

Choose Harness if

  • You want to start without paying.
Harness review

Choose Teleport if

  • You need short-lived certificates.
  • You work on Linux, macOS, Windows, Kubernetes, Cloud.
  • You also want protocol coverage.
Teleport review

Questions people ask

Is Harness or Teleport better?
Neither clearly leads. Harness starts at Free and Teleport at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Harness or Teleport?
Harness has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Harness and On request for Teleport.
Does Harness or Teleport run on more platforms?
Harness runs on Web. Teleport runs on Linux, macOS, Windows, Kubernetes, Cloud.
Can I use Harness for free?
Yes. Harness has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Teleport starts at On request.
What is Harness best used for?
Harness is most often used for deploying apps to aws, azure, and google cloud with rollbacks, integrating security scanners throughout build pipelines before production, automating cloud cost reduction and tracking unit-level expenses, enabling developers to provision infrastructure without operations bottlenecks. Of those, deploying apps to aws, azure, and google cloud with rollbacks and integrating security scanners throughout build pipelines before production are not what Teleport is typically brought in for.
What can Harness do that Teleport cannot?
Teleport covers Short-lived certificates, Protocol coverage, Session recording and replay, Access Requests.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Harness: Is there a free Harness plan?

Yes, Harness offers a free plan for individual developers and small teams with open source options including Harness Open Source and Litmus Chaos.

Source
Teleport: Is the open source edition usable in production?

Yes, but it lacks Access Requests, Device Trust and FIPS builds, which most compliance programmes end up requiring.

Harness: What are Harness's paid pricing tiers?

Harness offers Essentials for growing teams and Enterprise for large-scale organizations. Both require contacting sales for custom pricing. Pricing is based on modules and features selected.

Source
Teleport: How is it priced?

Not publicly. The vendor prices on active users and protected resources and provides a quote after a sales conversation.

Harness: Can Harness be deployed on-premises?

Enterprise plans include self-managed platform deployment option. DevOps Essentials bundle does not offer on-premises deployment.

Source
Teleport: What happens if Teleport goes down?

Nobody reaches the resources behind it, so you need a highly available deployment and a documented break-glass procedure.

Teleport: Does it replace our VPN?

For anything you put behind it, yes. Legacy systems and appliances it does not support will keep the VPN alive.

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