Cachix vs Packagecloud

Cachix hosts Nix binary caches so teams can share binaries across CI, development, and deployment environments. Its CLI can push binaries, watch a Nix store, and configure Nix to use a cache. The service says its optimizations speed up cache roundtrips, while Cloudflare CDN provides performance and unlimited bandwidth on all plans. When a cache reaches its storage limit, least-recently-used entries are removed; Cachix says it sends a warning email at 85% of that limit. Documentation includes CI guides for GitHub Actions, Buildkite, CircleCI, GitLab CI, Hercules CI, Hydra, and Travis CI. Cachix Deploy uses a pull model to deploy continuously to Nix profiles such as NixOS, nix-darwin, and Home Manager. Teams can assign read or write access, revoke tokens, and require a token for private cache reads and writes; cache entries are signed. Enterprise options include on-premise or self-hosted deployment, SSO, SLA, dedicated premium support, custom deployment, and audit logs. Cachix offers a free plan and a 14-day trial. Listed Starter, Standard, and Pro plans have prices available by contacting Cachix.

Packagecloud stores and distributes software packages through an automated service, available in the cloud or on-premises. It supports formats including npm, APT/Debian, Maven, Yum/RPM, RubyGems, and Python packages; Alpine, Helm, and Docker repositories are also listed. Users can manage packages through a graphical interface, command-line tools, or an API, with access control and collaboration features. Listed CI integrations include CircleCI, Travis CI, Jenkins, Buildkite, and GitHub Actions, while build-tool integrations include Maven, Leiningen, Gradle, and SBT. On-premises deployments can run behind a corporate firewall or inside a perimeter network. Packagecloud says its websites and microservices use SSL/TLS encryption, and that it is SOC 2 compliant. Audit and penetration test reports are available to customers on request under a signed NDA. It also says it complies with HIPAA standards and can sign a Business Associate Agreement. The free plan includes 10 GB bandwidth and 2 GB storage. Paid plans start with Starter at $89 a month, and paid plans have 14-day trials. Bandwidth and storage overage charges may apply on paid plans.