Best ko Alternatives in 2026
Updated
20 apps from container build tools ranked against ko on the same published basis.
- 1ko vs BuildKit
- 2ko vs Dagger
- 3ko vs Garden
- 5ko vs Tilt
- 6ko vs AWS CodeBuild
- 7ko vs Cloud Native Buildpacks Pack
- 8ko vs Jib
- 9ko vs Buildah
- 10ko vs Kaniko
- 11ko vs Paketo Buildpacks
- 12ko vs rules_docker
- 13ko vs kpack
- 14ko vs nix2container
- 15ko vs Earthly
- 16ko vs werf
- 17ko vs apko
- 18ko vs Google Cloud Build
- 19ko vs Nixpacks
- 20ko vs Docker Buildx
- 21ko vs rules_img
ko alternatives compared
| # | App | Score | Free plan | From | Runs on |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | BuildKit | 6.6 | Free plan | Free | API, Linux, Mac, self-hosted, Windows |
| 2 | Dagger | 6.6 | Free plan | $50/mo | Linux, Mac, self-hosted, Web, Windows |
| 3 | Garden | 6.6 | Free plan | Free | Linux, Mac, self-hosted, Web, Windows |
| 5 | Tilt | 6.6 | Free plan | Free | Linux, Mac, Windows |
| 6 | AWS CodeBuild | 6.5 | Free plan | Free | API, Linux, Web, Windows |
| 7 | Cloud Native Buildpacks Pack | 6.5 | Free plan | Free | Linux, Mac, self-hosted, Windows |
| 8 | Jib | 6.5 | Free plan | Free | Linux, Mac, Windows |
| 9 | Buildah | 6.4 | Free plan | Free | API, Linux, self-hosted |
| 10 | Kaniko | 6.4 | Free plan | Free | Linux, self-hosted |
| 11 | Paketo Buildpacks | 6.4 | Free plan | Free | Linux, self-hosted |
| 12 | rules_docker | 6.4 | Free plan | Free | Linux, Mac |
| 13 | kpack | 6.3 | Free plan | Free | API, self-hosted |
| 14 | nix2container | 6.3 | Free plan | Free | Linux |
| 15 | Earthly | 5.7 | No | — | API, Linux, Mac, self-hosted, Web, Windows |
| 16 | werf | 5.6 | No | — | API, Linux, Mac, self-hosted, Windows |
| 17 | apko | 5.5 | No | — | Linux, Mac, self-hosted |
| 18 | Google Cloud Build | 5.5 | No | $0.01/mo | API, Linux, Web |
| 19 | Nixpacks | 5.5 | No | — | Linux, Mac, self-hosted, Windows |
| 20 | Docker Buildx | 5.4 | No | — | Linux, Mac, Windows |
| 21 | rules_img | 5.4 | No | — | Linux, Mac |
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Questions about ko alternatives
What is the best alternative to ko?
BuildKit, number 1 in container build tools with a score of 6.6 out of 10. The others here: Dagger, Garden, Tilt and 16 more.
What is the best free alternative to ko?
BuildKit is the best-ranked alternative with a free plan. 13 of the 20 alternatives here publish a free plan on their own pricing pages.
How are these alternatives ranked?
Ranked free-and-open first: a usable free tier and open-source code, then the platforms it runs on and its documentation.