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Cybersecurity · head to head

Sardine vs Spacelift

Sardine logo

Sardine

Cybersecurity

Device intelligence and behaviour biometrics for fraud and compliance

From
On request
Free plan
No
Full reviewWebsite
Spacelift logo

Spacelift

Developer Tools

Infrastructure-as-code orchestration for Terraform, OpenTofu, Pulumi and Kubernetes

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Spacelift has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Sardine signal quality depends on the SDK being embedded in your own web and mobile clients, so fraud improvements become dependent on your app release cycle and any coverage gap is a blind spot.; Spacelift users are unlimited and private workers are metered, so deployment concurrency rather than headcount drives the bill, which inverts how most engineering budgets are built and is easy to under-forecast.
  • They diverge on capability: Sardine covers Device intelligence, Spacelift covers Multi-tool orchestration.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Sardine and Spacelift actually diverge.

Attributes where Sardine and Spacelift differ
AttributeSardineSpacelift
Starting priceOn requestFree
Pricing modelquoteBy private worker and tier, not by user
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWeb, iOS, AndroidWeb, Self-hosted, Cloud
CategoryCybersecurityDeveloper Tools

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 Sardine

  • Device intelligence
  • Behaviour biometrics
  • Scam detection
  • Onboarding risk scoring
  • AML transaction monitoring
  • Dispute and chargeback handling
  • Rules editor

Only in Spacelift

  • Multi-tool orchestration
  • Policy as code
  • Private workers
  • Spaces
  • Blueprints
  • Drift detection

What people use each for

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

Sardine

  • A neobank losing money to authorised push payment scams where the customer genuinely approved the transfernot Spacelift
  • A crypto exchange trying to detect accounts being operated by remote access rather than by their ownernot Spacelift
  • A fintech seeing synthetic identity signups that pass document verification but share device characteristicsnot Spacelift
  • A lender wanting first party fraud signals at application time that a credit bureau file does not containnot Spacelift

Spacelift

  • Platform teams running infrastructure changes through approval gates rather than through application CInot Sardine
  • Organisations standardising Terraform and OpenTofu across many teams with policy enforcementnot Sardine
  • Estates needing private runners so cloud credentials never leave the networknot Sardine
  • Teams wanting drift detection and reconciliation rather than plan-time checks alonenot Sardine

Where each one falls short

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

Sardine

  • Signal quality depends on the SDK being embedded in your own web and mobile clients, so fraud improvements become dependent on your app release cycle and any coverage gap is a blind spot.
  • Behavioural and device telemetry collection needs a documented lawful basis under GDPR, and EU privacy reviews frequently delay rollouts that were scoped as engineering work.
  • Pricing is per session or per active user, so a consumer product with many low value sessions pays in proportion to traffic rather than to fraud exposure.
  • As a younger private company it lacks the enforcement-tested audit history that a bank examiner expects, which makes it a harder sell inside a regulated bank than inside a fintech.
  • It is strongest on session-time signals and weaker as a system of record for long horizon AML typologies, so larger institutions end up running it alongside a traditional monitoring platform rather than instead of one.

Spacelift

  • Users are unlimited and private workers are metered, so deployment concurrency rather than headcount drives the bill, which inverts how most engineering budgets are built and is easy to under-forecast.
  • There is no affordable paid entry point. The free tier stops at two users and the next tier is a five-figure commitment with nothing in between.
  • Three of the five tiers are quote-only, so a shortlist cannot be costed without entering a sales process with each vendor on it.
  • The self-hosted build lags the hosted one, has no public worker pool and lacks the Azure and Google Cloud integrations available in the SaaS product, with OIDC federation offered as the workaround.
  • Stacks, Rego policies, Blueprints, Spaces and Spacelift-managed state are proprietary constructs, so leaving means rebuilding the orchestration layer rather than pointing it at a different runner.

Pricing, plan by plan

Sardine

On request
  • Sardine$undefined/year
    • Priced per user session or per monthly active user
    • Annual contract with volume commitment
    • SDK for web, iOS and Android

Spacelift

Free
  • FreeFree
    • Two users
    • Public workers only
    • No private workers
  • Starter Plus$undefined/year
    • Unlimited users
    • Two public workers
    • One to two private workers
  • Business$undefined/year
    • Unlimited users
    • Three private workers
    • Quoted
  • Enterprise$undefined/year
    • Unlimited users
    • Five to thirty private workers
    • Self-hosted option

Which should you pick?

Choose Sardine if

  • You need device intelligence.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want behaviour biometrics.
Sardine review

Choose Spacelift if

  • You need multi-tool orchestration.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Self-hosted, Cloud.
  • You also want policy as code.
Spacelift review

Questions people ask

Is Sardine or Spacelift better?
Neither clearly leads. Sardine starts at On request and Spacelift at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Sardine or Spacelift?
Spacelift has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at On request for Sardine and Free for Spacelift.
Does Sardine or Spacelift run on more platforms?
Sardine runs on Web, iOS, Android. Spacelift runs on Web, Self-hosted, Cloud.
Can I use Spacelift for free?
Yes. Spacelift has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Sardine starts at On request.
What is Sardine best used for?
Sardine is most often used for a neobank losing money to authorised push payment scams where the customer genuinely approved the transfer, a crypto exchange trying to detect accounts being operated by remote access rather than by their owner, a fintech seeing synthetic identity signups that pass document verification but share device characteristics, a lender wanting first party fraud signals at application time that a credit bureau file does not contain. Of those, a neobank losing money to authorised push payment scams where the customer genuinely approved the transfer and a crypto exchange trying to detect accounts being operated by remote access rather than by their owner are not what Spacelift is typically brought in for.
What can Sardine do that Spacelift cannot?
Sardine covers Device intelligence, Behaviour biometrics, Scam detection, Onboarding risk scoring. Spacelift covers Multi-tool orchestration, Policy as code, Private workers, Spaces.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Sardine: Does Sardine do document verification?

It focuses on device, behavioural and transaction signals, and integrates identity verification providers rather than being one. Treat it as complementary to a KYC vendor.

Spacelift: How is Spacelift priced?

By tier and by private worker count rather than per user. Users are unlimited on every paid plan. The published figure on the pricing page carries no period label, and the FAQ describes the tier as an annual subscription, so confirm the period in writing.

Sardine: What does it need from us to work?

An SDK in your web and mobile applications plus transaction feeds. Without the client side collector you lose the signals that differentiate it.

Spacelift: Does it support OpenTofu?

Yes, and Spacelift sponsors the OpenTofu project, which is a substantive hedge for anyone avoiding Terraform under the Business Source Licence.

Sardine: Is pricing published?

No. It is quoted, typically per session or per monthly active user with an annual volume commitment.

Spacelift: Is there a self-hosted version?

Yes, described as carrying Enterprise functionality, but it is priced on request and lags the hosted product on cloud integrations.

Spacelift: Why not just use the CI system we already have?

That is the real comparison. General purpose CI handles state, drift, approval gates and concurrency control for infrastructure poorly, and whether that is worth a five-figure floor depends on how much infrastructure change your organisation actually ships.

Spacelift: What happens to our pipelines if we leave?

They do not port. Rego policies, Blueprints, Spaces and managed state are Spacelift constructs and the orchestration has to be rebuilt elsewhere.

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