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Cybersecurity · head to head

Sigstore vs SST

Sigstore logo

Sigstore

Cybersecurity

Free public signing and transparency infrastructure for open source artifacts

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
SST logo

SST

Cloud

Build full-stack apps on your own infrastructure

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • 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.; SST primarily optimized for AWS with Cloudflare support
  • They diverge on capability: Sigstore covers Fulcio, SST covers Single config file.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Sigstore and SST actually diverge.

Attributes where Sigstore and SST differ
AttributeSigstoreSST
Pricing modelOpen source, public instance free to useUnknown
PlatformsWeb, Linux, macOS, Windows, Self-hostedAWS, Cloudflare, Node.js
CategoryCybersecurityCloud

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), 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 Sigstore

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

Only in SST

  • Single config file
  • Resource linking
  • Local development
  • Multi-cloud support
  • Multiple deployment stages
  • VPC tunneling

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 SST
  • Organisations meeting a signed-artifact requirement without buying a signing productnot SST
  • Publishing provenance that a consumer can verify independently of younot SST
  • Self-hosting the same components where a public log is unacceptablenot SST

SST

  • Deploying Next.js frontends with serverless backendsnot Sigstore
  • Managing databases and storage alongside application codenot Sigstore
  • Creating staging environments for feature testingnot 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.

SST

  • Primarily optimized for AWS with Cloudflare support
  • Learning curve for developers unfamiliar with infrastructure concepts
  • Limited documentation for some advanced use cases

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

SST

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the SST review.

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 SST if

  • You need single config file.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on AWS, Cloudflare, Node.js.
  • You also want resource linking.
SST review

Questions people ask

Is Sigstore or SST better?
Neither clearly leads. Sigstore starts at Free and SST at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Sigstore or SST?
Sigstore starts at Free and SST at Free.
Does Sigstore or SST run on more platforms?
Sigstore runs on Web, Linux, macOS, Windows, Self-hosted. SST runs on AWS, Cloudflare, Node.js.
Can I use Sigstore for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
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 SST is typically brought in for.
What can Sigstore do that SST cannot?
Sigstore covers Fulcio, Rekor, Keyless signing, Multi-language clients. SST covers Single config file, Resource linking, Local development, Multi-cloud support.

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.

SST: Is SST free?

Yes, SST is open source and free. You only pay for cloud resources from AWS and other providers.

Source
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.

SST: What cloud providers does SST support?

SST supports over 150 providers through built-in AWS and Cloudflare components, plus Pulumi and Terraform providers.

Source
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.

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.

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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