act vs Earthly
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?
act
Run GitHub Actions workflows locally for fast feedback
VS
Earthly
Repeatable, container-based builds for CI
| Feature | act | Earthly |
|---|---|---|
| Category | CI/CD & Build | CI/CD & Build |
| License | MIT | MPL-2.0 |
| Language | Go | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal, binary | binary, docker |
| GitHub stars | ★ 71,417 | ★ 12,049 |
| First released | 2019 | 2020 |
| Replaces | GitHub Actions | Make, GitHub Actions |
Why pick each one
Choose Earthly if…
- Released under the MPL-2.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Mature project with 12k GitHub stars
- Written in Go
Frequently asked questions
Is act or Earthly better?
act is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider Earthly if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are act and Earthly free and open-source?
Yes. act is licensed under MIT and Earthly under MPL-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run act and Earthly with Docker?
act: check the project docs for container support. Earthly: yes.