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Project Management · head to head

LiquidPlanner vs Tilt

LiquidPlanner logo

LiquidPlanner

Project Management

Predictive project management

From
On request
Free plan
No
Visit LiquidPlannerFull review
Tilt logo

Tilt

Developer Tools

Local Kubernetes development loop that rebuilds and live-updates containers on save

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Visit TiltFull review

The short version

  • LiquidPlanner is a predictive project management solution.
  • Tilt is free; LiquidPlanner starts at $15/mo.
  • Only LiquidPlanner lists predictive scheduling; only Tilt lists live update.
  • Where LiquidPlanner falls short: rebranded to Tempo Portfolio Manager; the pricing page shows no published figures, only an early access sign-up.
  • Prices and features on this page were last checked on 13 November 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which LiquidPlanner and Tilt actually diverge.

Attributes where LiquidPlanner and Tilt differ
AttributeLiquidPlannerTilt
Starting priceOn requestFree
Pricing modelSubscriptionOpen source, no licence fee
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWebLinux, macOS, Windows
CategoryProject ManagementDeveloper Tools

Not yet recorded: founded for Tilt.

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 LiquidPlanner

  • Predictive scheduling
  • Resource management
  • Time tracking
  • Analytics
  • Workload management
  • Jira
  • Salesforce
  • Slack

Only in Tilt

  • Live update
  • Tiltfile as code
  • Unified web UI
  • Selective rebuilds
  • Local and remote clusters
  • Resource dependencies
  • Extensions registry
  • Custom buttons and triggers

What people use each for

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

LiquidPlanner

  • Productivitynot Tilt
  • Collaborationnot Tilt
  • Task managementnot Tilt
  • Organizationnot Tilt

Tilt

  • A team of ten or more engineers whose application is fifteen microservices on Kubernetes and who currently wait on CI to test a changenot LiquidPlanner
  • An organisation onboarding new developers who want a single command that stands up the whole stack from a committed Tiltfilenot LiquidPlanner
  • A platform team giving product engineers a consistent local environment against a shared remote development clusternot LiquidPlanner
  • A codebase where one repository contains several services and rebuilding all of them on every edit is the main source of lost timenot LiquidPlanner

Where each one falls short

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

LiquidPlanner

  • Rebranded to Tempo Portfolio Manager; the pricing page shows no published figures, only an early access sign-up

Tilt

  • Docker acquired Tilt in 2022 and the team now splits its time across Compose and Docker Desktop, so feature velocity is modest and the product's long-term priority inside Docker is not guaranteed; treat it as a stable utility, not a growing platform
  • The Tiltfile is Starlark, a Python dialect, so non-trivial setups become real programs that need reviewing and maintaining, and the person who wrote yours becomes a single point of failure
  • Live update only works when the running container can accept synced files and restart the process; compiled languages, distroless images and read-only filesystems often force you back to a full image rebuild, which removes the main benefit
  • It assumes Kubernetes. If your development target is plain Docker Compose or serverless functions, Tilt adds a cluster you did not need and a layer of abstraction with no payoff
  • There is no commercial support contract, no SLA and no paid tier, so when a Kubernetes version upgrade breaks something you are dependent on GitHub issues and a Slack channel rather than a vendor you can escalate to

Pricing, plan by plan

LiquidPlanner

On request
  • Essentials$15/mo
    • Project management
    • Basic scheduling
  • Professional$25/mo
    • Predictive scheduling
    • Resource management
    • Analytics

Tilt

Free
  • TiltFree
    • Apache 2.0 licensed
    • All features, no paid tier
    • Community support via the Kubernetes Slack #tilt channel

Which should you pick?

Choose LiquidPlanner if

  • You need predictive scheduling.
  • You also want resource management.
LiquidPlanner review

Choose Tilt if

  • You need live update.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, macOS, Windows.
  • You also want tiltfile as code.
Tilt review

Questions people ask

Is LiquidPlanner or Tilt better?
Neither clearly leads. LiquidPlanner starts at On request and Tilt at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, LiquidPlanner or Tilt?
Tilt has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at On request for LiquidPlanner and Free for Tilt.
Does LiquidPlanner or Tilt run on more platforms?
LiquidPlanner runs on Web. Tilt runs on Linux, macOS, Windows.
Can I use Tilt for free?
Yes. Tilt has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. LiquidPlanner starts at On request.
What is LiquidPlanner best used for?
LiquidPlanner is most often used for productivity, collaboration, task management, organization. Of those, productivity and collaboration are not what Tilt is typically brought in for.
What can LiquidPlanner do that Tilt cannot?
LiquidPlanner covers Predictive scheduling, Resource management, Time tracking, Analytics. Tilt covers Live update, Tiltfile as code, Unified web UI, Selective rebuilds.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

LiquidPlanner: How is Tempo timesheets pricing calculated for my organization?

Pricing is per-user per month and scales based on organization size. For 1-10 users: $1.00/user; 11-100 users: $5.21/user; 101-250 users: $3.66/user; scaling down to $0.25-$0.39/user for organizations with 5,000+ users.

Source
Tilt: Is Tilt free?

Yes, entirely. It is Apache 2.0 open source with no paid tier and no licence fee.

LiquidPlanner: What license matching requirement exists for Tempo?

Your Tempo license size must match your Jira license size, with a user defined as anyone who can log into Jira.

Source
Tilt: Who owns Tilt now?

Docker, which acquired it in May 2022. It remains open source and the repository is still actively maintained.

LiquidPlanner: Is there a free trial for Tempo timesheets?

Yes, Tempo offers a free trial available through the Atlassian Marketplace.

Source
Tilt: Do I need a remote cluster?

No. It works against a local cluster such as kind, minikube or Docker Desktop, and also against a shared remote development cluster if your services are too heavy to run locally.

LiquidPlanner: What deployment options are available for Tempo?

Both Cloud and Data Center deployment options are offered, with annual billing available.

Source
Tilt: How is it different from Skaffold?

Both automate the build-deploy loop. Tilt puts more weight on the live-update path and a multi-service dashboard; Skaffold is more configuration-driven and closer to Google's tooling.

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