Side by side
rules_img vs Shipwright
Both stand on container build tools. Which one you can start free with, which one lets you read the code, and what each costs once you pay.
Free plan LinuxMacSelf-hosted
rules_img combines hermetic, daemonless OCI builds with multi-platform transitions, compact layers, and registry integrations. Its advanced remote-push strategies and signing workflows require configuration, and registry capabilities differ.
Visit rules_img Paid APILinuxMac+2
Shipwright provides Kubernetes-native APIs for repeatable container image builds with flexible strategies and secret handling. Its prerequisites and administrator requirement matter when planning deployment.
Visit ShipwrightThe facts
| rules_img | Shipwright | |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | Yes | Not published |
| Open source | Not published | Not published |
| Runs on | Linux, Mac, Self-hosted | API, Linux, Mac, Self-hosted, Windows |
| Lowest paid plan | Not published | Not published |
| Plans published | None | None |
| Maker | Not published | Not published |
| Website | github.com | shipwright.io |
| On container build tools | #28 of 34 | #32 of 34 |
rules_img: what it does well
- Builds OCI images without a Docker daemon
- Supports Bzlmod and WORKSPACE
- Enables multi-platform image builds
- Supports eStargz and SOCI lazy pulling
- Loads images into Docker, Podman, and containerd
What to know first
- Registry feature support varies
- Image signing is disabled by default
- Some remote push strategies require special infrastructure
Shipwright: what it does well
- Supports Git, OCI, and local sources
- Several documented build strategies
- Custom strategies can be shared
- Registry output using existing secrets
- Multi-architecture builds and multiple cache backends
What to know first
- Requires Kubernetes 1.32 or later
- Requires Tekton Pipelines 0.68 or later
- Direct manifest installation needs administrator permissions
- No SBOM generation
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