Compare tools
Pick 2–5 published tools. Values come from our evidence-checked profiles — an em-dash means unknown, never “no”. Ranking rows reflect the current published methodology for the comparison context.
Dagger vs GitHub Actions
Context: CI/CD Tools · 19 rows
| Attribute | DaggerDagger | GitHub ActionsGitHub |
|---|---|---|
| Identity · Taxonomy | ||
| Documentation | https://docs.dagger.io | https://docs.github.com/en/actions |
| Tags | ci, pipelines-as-code, containers, open-source | ci, cd, github, workflows, automation |
| Platform · Deployment | ||
| Delivery model | self-hosted, SaaS | SaaS, self-hosted |
| Pricing · Licensing | ||
| Free plan | true | true |
| License model | open-source | proprietary |
| Pricing model | free | free, usage |
| Source repository | https://github.com/dagger/dagger | https://github.com/actions/runner |
| SPDX license IDs | Apache-2.0 | — |
| Features · Product · Fit | ||
| Core capabilities | Pipelines as code using real programming languages, Portable DAG execution engine for CI, Automatic caching of pipeline work, End-to-end tracing, Runs locally, in CI, or directly in the cloud, Dagger Cloud offering | Workflow automation defined in YAML within GitHub repositories, GitHub-hosted runners for Linux, macOS, Windows, ARM, and GPU, Self-hosted runners in the cloud or on-premises, Kubernetes-based runner scaling with Actions Runner Controller, REST API and GitHub CLI workflow interactions |
| Api · Integrations · Ecosystem | ||
| API available | true | true |
| CLI | true | true |
| Support · Docs · Services | ||
| Support channels | Discord community | — |
| Audience · Use · Case | ||
| Best for | An open-source engine for teams that define CI pipelines as code in general-purpose languages, with an optional commercial cloud. | Workflow automation integrated into GitHub, free for public repositories with per-minute rates for private repository usage. |
| Primary use cases | CI pipeline automation defined as code, Containerized build and test workflows | CI/CD for code hosted on GitHub, Automating repository workflows |
| Lifecycle · Versioning | ||
| Current version | v0.20.8 | v2.334.0 |
| Maintenance status | active | active |
| Vendor · Maintainer | ||
| Founded year | — | 2008 |
| Headquarters country | — | United States |
| Vendor type | commercial | commercial |
“—” means unknown (we never treat missing evidence as a negative). Cells reflect each value's current evidence state; superseded or stale values are excluded. Ranking rows are editorial assessments under the cited methodology version — see the CI/CD Tools category for definitions.