Side by side
Harmonia vs zccache
Both stand on build cache software. Which one you can start free with, which one lets you read the code, and what each costs once you pay.
Free plan LinuxSelf-hosted
Choose Harmonia if you want a free, MIT-licensed Nix binary cache that you can self-host on Linux. Look elsewhere if you need a hosted option or do not want to manage the server yourself.
Visit Harmonia Free plan APILinuxMac+2
Choose zccache if your C, C++, or Rust workflow uses a supported build system and you want a free local cache or GitHub Actions caching. Look elsewhere if you need CUDA/nvcc support, full MSVC support, a listed distributed cache backend, or remote execution.
Visit zccacheThe facts
| Harmonia | zccache | |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Open source | Not published | Not published |
| Runs on | Linux, Self-hosted | API, Linux, Mac, Self-hosted, Windows |
| Lowest paid plan | Free or on request | Not published |
| Plans published | 1 | None |
| Maker | Not published | Not published |
| Website | github.com | github.com |
| On build cache software | #14 of 23 | #18 of 23 |
Harmonia: what it does well
- Serves NAR files and build logs over HTTP.
- Can compress content transparently with zstd.
- Can provide TLS without a frontend web server.
- Exposes Prometheus metrics and includes a Grafana dashboard.
- Reads store metadata without a nix-daemon connection.
What to know first
- Designed for Linux self-hosting.
- Narinfo signing is disabled unless private key paths are provided.
zccache: what it does well
- Free and open source under AGPL-3.0-only.
- Supports C, C++, Rust, and Emscripten builds.
- Integrates with Ninja, CMake, Meson, Make, and Cargo.
- GitHub Action includes compilation and Cargo registry cache layers.
- Installers and packages cover several platforms and ecosystems.
What to know first
- CUDA/nvcc is unsupported.
- MSVC cl.exe/link.exe support is partial.
- S3, cloud object storage, Redis, and Memcached are unsupported.
- Target snapshot caching is off by default.
Alternatives to Harmonia Alternatives to zccache The whole list