Dagger vs act
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted ci/cd & build options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Not the right match-up?
Dagger
Programmable CI/CD engine that runs pipelines as code
VS
act
Run GitHub Actions workflows locally for fast feedback
| Feature | Dagger | act |
|---|---|---|
| Category | CI/CD & Build | CI/CD & Build |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Language | Go | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 1,024 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | docker, binary | bare-metal, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 16,141 | ★ 71,417 |
| First released | 2022 | 2019 |
| Replaces | GitHub Actions, CircleCI | GitHub Actions |
Why pick each one
Choose Dagger if…
- Released under the Apache-2.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Mature project with 16.1k GitHub stars
- Written in Go
Frequently asked questions
Is Dagger or act better?
act is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider Dagger if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are Dagger and act free and open-source?
Yes. Dagger is licensed under Apache-2.0 and act under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Dagger and act with Docker?
Dagger: yes. act: check the project docs for container support.