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Developer Tools · head to head

Pants Build vs Very Good Security

Pants Build logo

Pants Build

Developer Tools

Fast, scalable build system with intelligent defaults for Python and more

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Full reviewWebsite
Very Good Security logo

Very Good Security

Cybersecurity

Tokenisation proxy that keeps card and personal data out of your own systems and out of PCI scope

From
$1000/month
Free plan
No
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Pants Build has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Pants Build smaller community compared to Bazel with fewer third-party tool integrations; Very Good Security vGS sits in the live path of every request carrying sensitive data, so its latency and availability become yours, and an outage in the proxy is a payment outage no matter how healthy your own systems are.
  • They diverge on capability: Pants Build covers Intelligent defaults, Very Good Security covers Aliasing proxy.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Pants Build and Very Good Security actually diverge.

Attributes where Pants Build and Very Good Security differ
AttributePants BuildVery Good Security
Starting priceFree$1000/month
Pricing modelopen-sourcePer month
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsLinux, macOS, WindowsWeb, API
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 Pants Build

  • Intelligent defaults
  • Python-first design
  • Multiple dependency resolves
  • File-level operations
  • Git integration
  • Tool integrations
  • Python 3 plugin API

Only in Very Good Security

  • Aliasing proxy
  • PCI scope reduction
  • Network tokenisation
  • Processor optionality
  • Card issuing data
  • Vault and access controls
  • Data residency options
  • Compliance artefacts

What people use each for

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

Pants Build

  • Python-heavy monorepos with complex interdependenciesnot Very Good Security
  • Multi-language projects mixing Python, Go, and JVM languagesnot Very Good Security
  • Teams seeking minimal build configuration overheadnot Very Good Security
  • Organizations implementing Git-aware test selectionnot Very Good Security

Very Good Security

  • A marketplace facing its first PCI DSS Level 1 assessment that wants to keep card data off its own estate rather than harden a dozen servicesnot Pants Build
  • A merchant negotiating with a second acquirer that needs card credentials portable so the negotiation is real rather than theoreticalnot Pants Build
  • A fintech collecting bank account and identity documents that wants sensitive fields absent from logs, backups and analytics warehouses by constructionnot Pants Build
  • A card issuer that must display a full PAN in its own mobile app without the app or its backend touching cardholder datanot Pants Build

Where each one falls short

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

Pants Build

  • Smaller community compared to Bazel with fewer third-party tool integrations
  • Python plugin API steeper learning curve for custom build rules
  • Less mature ecosystem for non-Python languages
  • Fewer integration examples for enterprise CI/CD platforms

Very Good Security

  • VGS sits in the live path of every request carrying sensitive data, so its latency and availability become yours, and an outage in the proxy is a payment outage no matter how healthy your own systems are.
  • Token portability is the whole selling point yet leaving VGS means migrating tokens back out, a project the vendor has no incentive to streamline, so the lock-in you removed from your acquirer partly moves to VGS.
  • Entry pricing at around one thousand US dollars a month is real money for a pre-revenue fintech, and it buys volume-limited throughput, so cost scales with exactly the growth that made you buy it.
  • Scope reduction is not scope elimination: your QSA still assesses how you integrate, and teams regularly discover that a support tool or an internal admin screen pulled plaintext back in and dragged systems into scope again.
  • Proxy-based interception constrains how you design request flows, and non-standard payloads, streaming uploads or binary formats often need custom routing rules that make debugging production issues noticeably harder.

Pricing, plan by plan

Pants Build

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the Pants Build review.

Very Good Security

$1000/month
  • Starter$1000/month
    • Aliasing proxy
    • Vault storage
    • PCI scope reduction
  • Growth$undefined/month
    • Network tokenisation
    • Multiple processors
    • Data residency options
  • Enterprise$undefined/year
    • Custom vault architecture
    • Dedicated support and SLA
    • Contractual compliance coverage

Which should you pick?

Choose Pants Build if

  • You need intelligent defaults.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, macOS, Windows.
  • You also want python-first design.
Pants Build review

Choose Very Good Security if

  • You need aliasing proxy.
  • You work on Web, API.
  • You also want pci scope reduction.
Very Good Security review

Questions people ask

Is Pants Build or Very Good Security better?
Neither clearly leads. Pants Build starts at Free and Very Good Security at $1000/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Pants Build or Very Good Security?
Pants Build has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Pants Build and $1000/month for Very Good Security.
Does Pants Build or Very Good Security run on more platforms?
Pants Build runs on Linux, macOS, Windows. Very Good Security runs on Web, API.
Can I use Pants Build for free?
Yes. Pants Build has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Very Good Security starts at $1000/month.
What is Pants Build best used for?
Pants Build is most often used for python-heavy monorepos with complex interdependencies, multi-language projects mixing python, go, and jvm languages, teams seeking minimal build configuration overhead, organizations implementing git-aware test selection. Of those, python-heavy monorepos with complex interdependencies and multi-language projects mixing python, go, and jvm languages are not what Very Good Security is typically brought in for.
What can Pants Build do that Very Good Security cannot?
Pants Build covers Intelligent defaults, Python-first design, Multiple dependency resolves, File-level operations. Very Good Security covers Aliasing proxy, PCI scope reduction, Network tokenisation, Processor optionality.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Pants Build: What languages does Pants support?

Pants supports Python as a first-class citizen, with production-ready support for Go, Java, Scala, Kotlin, Shell scripts, and Docker.

Source
Very Good Security: Does VGS make me PCI compliant?

No. It removes cardholder data from your systems so your assessment covers a far smaller boundary, but you still complete an assessment and your integration is part of it.

Pants Build: Do I need to write BUILD files with Pants?

Pants uses static analysis to infer dependencies and project structure, minimizing required BUILD file configuration compared to other build systems.

Source
Very Good Security: Can I move to another processor without re-collecting cards?

Yes, that is a core reason people buy it. The vault reveals stored credentials to whichever processor you route to.

Pants Build: How does Pants handle complex dependency scenarios?

Pants provides file-level dependency tracking, multiple dependency resolves with lockfiles, and sophisticated dependency analysis that works correctly even with circular or complex dependency graphs.

Source
Very Good Security: What does it cost?

Published entry pricing is about one thousand US dollars per month; growth and enterprise tiers are quoted.

Very Good Security: Is it only for card data?

No. The proxy handles any sensitive field, including bank details, national identifiers and documents, though payments is where the product is now focused.

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