earthly
Earthly is a container-based build framework that combines Dockerfile and Makefile concepts to create repeatable, portable builds. However, the project is no longer actively maintained as of the shutdown announcement, which significantly impacts its viability for new projects.
Key facts
Objective fields from the source. Values we can't verify are shown as “Unknown” rather than guessed.
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Repository | earthly/earthly |
| Owner | earthly |
| Primary language | Go |
| License | MPL-2.0 — OSI-approved |
| Stars | 12k |
| Forks | 455 |
| Open issues | 741 |
| Latest release | v0.8.16 (2025-07-16) |
| Last updated | 2025-10-23 |
| Source | https://github.com/earthly/earthly |
What earthly is
Earthly uses BuildKit-based containerized execution with layer caching, DAG-based parallelism, and multi-target build composition to provide language-agnostic CI/CD automation. It interprets Earthfiles (similar to Dockerfiles) and wraps existing build tools without replacement, but active development has ceased.
Get the earthly source
Clone the repository and explore it locally.
git clone https://github.com/earthly/earthly.gitcd earthly# follow the project's README for install & configurationNeed it deployed, integrated, or customized instead? DEV.co ships production installs.
Best use cases
Implementation considerations
- Verify team familiarity with Dockerfile syntax and container concepts; Earthfile learning curve is shallow but requires Docker/OCI knowledge.
- Assess existing CI/CD platform integration needs (Jenkins, GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, Circle CI); Earthly sits as middleware requiring both sides to be configured.
- Establish a plan for long-term maintenance: fork, patch, or migrate to alternatives if critical bugs or security issues arise post-shutdown.
- Evaluate caching strategy (local vs. shared/Satellites) for team size; shared caching performance depends on network and runner infrastructure.
- Document Earthfile patterns and best practices internally, as upstream documentation maintenance may lag or become stale.
When to avoid it — and what to weigh
- Requires Active Maintenance and Support — Project is no longer actively maintained. No new features, security patches, or upstream fixes should be expected. High risk for production deployments without internal expertise.
- Needs Vendor Support or SLA — Earthly Cloud (commercial offering) is being shut down. No commercial support path or guaranteed uptime available; community-only support remains uncertain.
- Enterprise Compliance and Auditing — Stale maintenance status complicates compliance reviews, vulnerability disclosure, and long-term security risk management typical in enterprise environments.
- Windows or Non-Linux Environments — Earthly requires Linux/containers for execution; no native Windows build support. Requires WSL or container runtime on Windows machines.
License & commercial use
Earthly is licensed under Mozilla Public License 2.0 (MPL-2.0), a weak copyleft license. Source code modifications must be disclosed, but linking and distribution of binaries are permissible; commercial use is allowed under the terms of MPL-2.0.
MPL-2.0 permits commercial use and distribution of unmodified binaries without source disclosure obligations. However, modifications to Earthly itself must be published. No commercial support or SLA available due to project shutdown; reliance is purely on community and internal resources.
DEV.co evaluation signals
Editorial assessment — not user reviews. Directional, with an explicit confidence level.
| Signal | Assessment |
|---|---|
| Maintenance | Stale |
| Documentation | Adequate |
| License clarity | Clear |
| Deployment complexity | Low |
| DEV.co fit | Possible |
| Assessment confidence | High |
Earthly runs builds in containerized environments, which isolates execution and reduces environment-specific attack surface. However, with the project no longer actively maintained, no security patches or vulnerability disclosures should be expected. Organizations must assess their risk tolerance for using unmaintained infrastructure-level software. Supply chain security depends on base images and dependencies used in Earthfiles; users are responsible for image updates. No security audit or compliance certifications mentioned in available data.
Alternatives to consider
Make / GNU Make
Simple, ubiquitous, language-agnostic build tool. Lacks containerization and cross-platform portability, but requires no external dependencies and is actively maintained.
Bazel
High-performance, language-aware build system with excellent caching and parallelism. Steeper learning curve and more opinionated than Earthly, but actively maintained by Google with strong community support.
Nix / Nix Flakes
Declarative, reproducible build framework with built-in dependency management and caching. Smaller learning curve for some teams, actively maintained, though ecosystem is less familiar to mainstream developers.
Build on earthly with DEV.co software developers
Given Earthly's maintenance status, carefully evaluate your team's capacity to fork, patch, and maintain the tool independently. For active projects requiring long-term vendor support, consider alternatives like Bazel or Nix. For existing Earthly deployments, plan a migration path.
Talk to DEV.coRelated on DEV.co
Explore the category and the services that help you build with it.
earthly FAQ
Is Earthly still supported?
Can I use Earthly in production?
What is the license, and can I use it commercially?
How does Earthly differ from Dockerfiles and Makefiles?
Custom software development services
DEV.co is a software development agency delivering custom software development services to companies building on open source. Our software developers and web developers design, integrate, and ship production systems — spanning web development, APIs, AI, data, and cloud. If earthly is part of your open-source devops roadmap, our team can implement, customize, migrate, and maintain it.
Assessing Earthly for Your Build Pipeline?
Given Earthly's maintenance status, carefully evaluate your team's capacity to fork, patch, and maintain the tool independently. For active projects requiring long-term vendor support, consider alternatives like Bazel or Nix. For existing Earthly deployments, plan a migration path.