Depot
Kestra
| Feature | Depot | Kestra |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free / from $20/mo | Free / from $100/mo |
| Free Plan | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Rating | 4.5 / 5 | 4.4 / 5 |
| Best For | engineering-teams, ci-cd-pipelines, monorepo-teams, docker-heavy-teams | data-engineers, devops-teams, backend-developers, workflow-automation |
| Founded | 2022 | 2020 |
| Fast Builds | ✓ | ✗ |
| Remote Caching | ✓ | ✗ |
| Github Actions | ✓ | ✗ |
| Multi Platform Builds | ✓ | ✗ |
| Buildkit Compatible | ✓ | ✗ |
| Build Analytics | ✓ | ✗ |
| Workflow Orchestration | ✗ | ✓ |
| Scheduling | ✗ | ✓ |
| Event Triggers | ✗ | ✓ |
| Plugins | ✗ | ✓ |
| Monitoring | ✗ | ✓ |
| Secret Management | ✗ | ✓ |
| Multi Tenant | ✗ | ✓ |
✓ Depot Pros
- Dramatically faster Docker builds
- Drop-in replacement for docker build
- Native layer caching
- GitHub Actions integration
✗ Depot Cons
- Only for container builds
- Costs scale with usage
- Newer platform
✓ Kestra Pros
- Open-source with full orchestration capabilities
- Declarative YAML workflows (GitOps friendly)
- 500+ plugins for data, cloud, and messaging services
- Real-time triggers, schedules, and event listeners
✗ Kestra Cons
- Less visual builder than no-code tools
- Learning curve for YAML workflow syntax
- Newer platform with smaller community than Airflow
The Verdict
Depot is built for engineering teams and ci cd pipelines, with a focus on fast-builds and remote-caching. Kestra targets data engineers and devops teams and leads with workflow-orchestration and scheduling.
On pricing, Depot is the clear winner for budget-conscious users — starting at $20/mo compared to $100/mo for Kestra. That $80/mo difference adds up quickly for growing teams.
Both offer free plans, so you can test each with your real workflow before committing to a subscription.
Feature-wise, Kestra offers broader built-in capabilities (7 features vs 6), while Depot takes a more focused approach — which can mean a simpler, faster onboarding experience.
This is a genuinely close comparison. If you can, sign up for both free trials (where available) and run a one-week test with your actual team tasks before deciding.