Depotvs
CircleCI
CircleCI: CI/CD platform with Docker support and performance optimization
Overview
What Depot does
Depot accelerates development velocity by eliminating build pipeline bottlenecks. The platform offers several integrated services: Depot CI is a programmable CI engine supporting GitHub Actions syntax with parallel steps, built-in caching, and SSH debugging; Container Builds provides remote Docker image building with automatic layer caching and cross-platform support for both Intel and ARM architectures; GitHub Actions Runners are hosted runners offering 30% faster CPUs and 10x faster networking compared to GitHub's standard runners; Depot Cache provides distributed remote caching for tools like Bazel, Turborepo, and sccache; and the Build API enables programmatic container image building via gRPC and HTTP/JSON. The platform is designed to handle complex build scenarios with unlimited concurrency, supporting everything from individual developers to large enterprise deployments. Founded in January 2022 by Kyle Galbraith and Jacob Gillespie, Depot launched publicly in July 2022 and serves to make CI workflows faster, more observable, and easier to debug.
What people use it for
- Accelerating Docker builds for container-based development
- Replacing GitHub Actions runners with faster infrastructure
- Distributing cache across Monorepo builds
- Debugging failed CI builds interactively with SSH
Related searches
The honest half
Where it falls short
Concrete and checkable, so you can decide whether any of them matter to you. This is the half of a review a vendor will not write about Depot.
- Developer plan minute limits may be insufficient for active development
- Startup plan at $200/mo is expensive for smaller teams
- Business plan requires custom pricing consultation
- macOS M2 runners not available on Developer plan
Cross-shopped
What people choose instead of Depot
Each pairing was judged by two reviewers asking whether a buyer would genuinely weigh the two against each other. The ones that failed were deleted rather than published.
- DepotvsBuildkite
Buildkite: Self-hosted CI platform with agent-based architecture
- DepotvsGitLab CI/CD
GitLab CI/CD: Integrated CI/CD within GitLab with Docker and Kubernetes support
Pricing
What Depot costs
Taken from the vendor's own pricing page. Prices move, so check before you buy.
Developer
$20 /mo
- 1 user
- 500 Docker build minutes per month
- 2,000 Depot CI minutes per month
- 2,000 GitHub Actions minutes per month
- 25 GB cache and registry storage
- 1,000,000 passing test results
Startup
$200 /mo
- Unlimited users
- 5,000 Docker build minutes per month
- 20,000 Depot CI minutes per month
- 20,000 GitHub Actions minutes per month
- 250 GB cache and registry storage
- 1,000,000 passing test results
Business
On request
- Custom pricing
- Unlimited users
- Custom monthly compute
- Dedicated infrastructure
- GPU builds support
- Static outbound IPs
Capabilities
Features
Depot CI
GitHub Actions-compatible CI engine with parallelization
Container builds
Remote Docker image building with layer caching
GitHub Actions runners
Faster hosted runners as drop-in replacement
Distributed caching
Remote caching for Bazel, Turborepo, sccache
Build API
Programmatic image building via gRPC/HTTP
Depot Registry
OCI-compliant container registry
Cross-platform builds
Support for x86-64 and ARM architectures
SSH debugging
Debug failed builds interactively
Answered, with sources
Questions people ask
Each answer names the page it came from, so you can check it rather than take our word for it.
How much faster are Depot runners compared to GitHub Actions?
Depot runners offer 30% faster CPUs and 10x faster networking than standard GitHub-hosted runners, enabling builds to complete significantly faster.
SourceWhat is included in the Developer plan?
Developer plan ($20/month) includes 500 Docker build minutes, 2,000 Depot CI minutes, 2,000 GitHub Actions minutes, 25 GB storage, unlimited concurrency, and community support.
SourceCan I use Depot with my own AWS account?
Yes, Depot Managed allows deployment within customer AWS accounts. This is available to interested customers; contact sales for details.
SourceBehind it
Who makes Depot
- Company
- Depot
- Founders
- Kyle Galbraith, Jacob Gillespie
Timeline
Depot over time
Keep looking
Where to go from Depot
- Depot alternativesEvery product people weigh against it
- Depot pricingPlans, floors and what the tiers exclude
- Depot badgesWhich rules it meets, and the figure behind each
- All Developer Tools softwareThe full category
- Best Developer Tools softwareThe shortlist, and how it was cut
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Softwr does not host reviews and shows no star rating for Depot, because a rating we did not collect is not ours to publish. What is here is the pricing and platform detail from the vendor’s own pages, limitations we could state concretely, and alternatives a reviewer confirmed people weigh against it. Tell us if any of it is wrong.
More on Depot
Depot alternatives
What people switch to, and what they give up
Depot pricing
Every tier, and where the cost actually lands
Compare Depot
Put it head to head with anything we hold
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