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Cybersecurity · head to head

Sigstore vs Spot AI

Sigstore logo

Sigstore

Cybersecurity

Free public signing and transparency infrastructure for open source artifacts

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Spot AI logo

Spot AI

Cybersecurity

Cloud video intelligence that runs on your existing cameras through an on-site recorder

From
$99/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Sigstore has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Sigstore the security model depends on somebody watching the log. The documentation states that compromise of an identity provider or of Fulcio itself is detectable only if third parties monitor the transparency log, the monitoring tool is a community-tier rather than core project, and almost no consumer runs one.; Spot AI at roughly $99 per camera per month the all-in rate is high against a perpetual VMS licence: 200 cameras is around $240,000 a year, recurring, where an on-premise system would be largely a one-time cost.
  • They diverge on capability: Sigstore covers Fulcio, Spot AI covers Camera agnostic.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Sigstore and Spot AI actually diverge.

Attributes where Sigstore and Spot AI differ
AttributeSigstoreSpot AI
Starting priceFree$99/month
Pricing modelOpen source, public instance free to usePer camera per month, all inclusive
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsWeb, Linux, macOS, Windows, Self-hostedWeb, iOS, Android

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated), category (Cybersecurity).

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 Sigstore

  • Fulcio
  • Rekor
  • Keyless signing
  • Multi-language clients
  • Timestamp authority
  • Neutral governance

Only in Spot AI

  • Camera agnostic
  • Intelligent Video Recorder
  • AI video search
  • Operational analytics
  • Cloud management
  • Alerting and clip sharing
  • All-in per-camera pricing

What people use each for

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

Sigstore

  • Open source projects signing releases without running a certificate authoritynot Spot AI
  • Organisations meeting a signed-artifact requirement without buying a signing productnot Spot AI
  • Publishing provenance that a consumer can verify independently of younot Spot AI
  • Self-hosting the same components where a public log is unacceptablenot Spot AI

Spot AI

  • A manufacturer with hundreds of existing cameras that wants cloud search without replacing any of themnot Sigstore
  • A logistics operator investigating dock door delays and trailer dwell time from footagenot Sigstore
  • A retail chain reviewing incidents across dozens of stores without a VPN into each sitenot Sigstore
  • A safety team detecting forklift near-misses and missing personal protective equipment automaticallynot Sigstore

Where each one falls short

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

Sigstore

  • The security model depends on somebody watching the log. The documentation states that compromise of an identity provider or of Fulcio itself is detectable only if third parties monitor the transparency log, the monitoring tool is a community-tier rather than core project, and almost no consumer runs one.
  • It is a 99.5 percent objective with no service level agreement, which permits several hours of downtime a month and offers no remedy. A pipeline that signs on every build has taken a hard dependency on a free service with no contract behind it.
  • Log scale is a live engineering problem rather than a theoretical one. The active shard holds billions of entries, the log has already been sharded twice, and sharding version 1 requires stopping traffic, which is why a replacement was built.
  • Ten-minute certificates make trust depend on log availability. Verifying an older signature relies on the log entry proving it was made inside that window, so a lost or unreachable entry can render a valid artifact unverifiable.
  • Migration debt is substantial and ongoing. Version 2 of the log is generally available but not the public default, the signing client has an announced breaking release ahead, some official clients lag the new log format, and a post-quantum migration is named as the next break after that.

Spot AI

  • At roughly $99 per camera per month the all-in rate is high against a perpetual VMS licence: 200 cameras is around $240,000 a year, recurring, where an on-premise system would be largely a one-time cost.
  • Reusing existing cameras saves capital but caps quality; AI analytics on a fifteen-year-old analogue camera produces correspondingly poor results and no software fixes the optics.
  • Per-camera monthly billing scales linearly with camera count, so adding coverage is always expensive and there is no volume point where marginal cameras become cheap.
  • The on-site IVR is a single point of failure per location, so an appliance fault takes that site's recording and cloud access with it until it is replaced.
  • It is a subscription with no perpetual option, so an organisation that stops paying loses the platform entirely and is left with cameras and no management system.

Pricing, plan by plan

Sigstore

Free
  • Public good instanceFree
    • Free to everyone with no contract
    • 99.5 percent availability objective, not an agreement
    • 100KB cap per attestation upload
  • Self-hostedFree
    • Apache-2.0
    • Run your own Fulcio and Rekor
    • Rekor v2 available for self-hosters

Spot AI

$99/month
  • Spot AI$99/month
    • Reference rate of roughly $99 per camera per month
    • Includes the on-site IVR appliance, cloud software, AI and support
    • Monthly, annual and multi-year terms available

Which should you pick?

Choose Sigstore if

  • You need fulcio.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Linux, macOS, Windows, Self-hosted.
  • You also want rekor.
Sigstore review

Choose Spot AI if

  • You need camera agnostic.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want intelligent video recorder.
Spot AI review

Questions people ask

Is Sigstore or Spot AI better?
Neither clearly leads. Sigstore starts at Free and Spot AI at $99/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Sigstore or Spot AI?
Sigstore has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Sigstore and $99/month for Spot AI.
Does Sigstore or Spot AI run on more platforms?
Sigstore runs on Web, Linux, macOS, Windows, Self-hosted. Spot AI runs on Web, iOS, Android.
Can I use Sigstore for free?
Yes. Sigstore has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Spot AI starts at $99/month.
What is Sigstore best used for?
Sigstore is most often used for open source projects signing releases without running a certificate authority, organisations meeting a signed-artifact requirement without buying a signing product, publishing provenance that a consumer can verify independently of you, self-hosting the same components where a public log is unacceptable. Of those, open source projects signing releases without running a certificate authority and organisations meeting a signed-artifact requirement without buying a signing product are not what Spot AI is typically brought in for.
What can Sigstore do that Spot AI cannot?
Sigstore covers Fulcio, Rekor, Keyless signing, Multi-language clients. Spot AI covers Camera agnostic, Intelligent Video Recorder, AI video search, Operational analytics.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Sigstore: Is the public instance really free?

Yes, with no contract and no paid tier. That is also the weakness: a 99.5 percent objective with no agreement, no remedy and support through Slack.

Spot AI: Do I have to buy new cameras?

No. That is the main point of the product: the IVR appliance connects to existing IP and analogue cameras.

Sigstore: Has the public log moved to Rekor v2?

No. Version 2 reached general availability in October 2025 and self-hosters can use it, but the public instance still defaults to version 1 and the project has said it will for the foreseeable future.

Spot AI: What does it cost?

The reference rate that recurs across pricing breakdowns and Spot AI materials is roughly $99 per camera per month, bundling the appliance, cloud software, AI and support.

Sigstore: Does Sigstore make my dependencies safe?

No, and this is a category error worth avoiding. It tells you who published something. It has no knowledge of what the artifact contains or whether it is vulnerable.

Spot AI: Is there a perpetual licence option?

No. It is subscription only, and the platform stops working when the subscription does.

Sigstore: What are the rate limits?

Not published. Only the 100KB cap per attestation upload is documented, so do not design a high-volume pipeline around assumed throughput.

Spot AI: Will AI analytics work on my old analogue cameras?

They will run, but detection quality follows image quality. Old low resolution cameras produce poor analytics results.

Sigstore: Should we self-host it?

If a public record of every signature is unacceptable, or if a free service with no agreement cannot sit in your build path, then yes. Otherwise the public instance is what most projects use.

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