Cycloid vs Substrate
Cycloid
cycloid.ioSubstrate
substratecore.comSide by side
| Figure | Cycloid | Substrate |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | $45/mo | $299/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | — |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | — |
| Plans published | 3 | 4 |
| Spec score · Internal Developer Platforms | 8.6 (#4) | 7.6 (#13) |
| Spec score · Platform Engineering Software | 8.6 (#6) | 7.7 (#21) |
| Deployment | The platform is offered as SaaS, dedicated SaaS, self-hosted and hybrid deployment options, with air-gapped operation described for self-hosted deployments. | The platform provides multi-cluster workload deployment and real-time dashboards for cluster health, resource use, and deployment status. |
| Integrations | Cycloid says teams can connect external tools such as Sentry, SonarQube, Notion, Git and cloud providers through plugins. | The integrations page lists GitHub, GitLab, self-hosted Git, Docker Hub, Amazon ECR, Google GCR, Azure ACR, and private OCI registries. |
| Product | Cycloid describes itself as an internal developer portal and platform for self-service, infrastructure orchestration and governance. | Substrate is a control plane for managing and optimizing Kubernetes clusters, virtual machines, and databases across cloud providers. |
Plans
Substrate
- FreeFree
- Starter$299 a month
- Growth$999 a month
- EnterprisePriced on request
In their own words
Cycloid
Cycloid is an internal developer portal and platform for infrastructure self-service, orchestration, and governance. Developers can request and deploy infrastructure through Blueprints and Forms, using standardized workflows involving Terraform, Ansible, Helm, and Argo CD. Governance features include policy checks, role-based access controls, approvals, and audit trails. Teams can connect tools such as Sentry, SonarQube, Notion, Git, and cloud providers through plugins, and coordinate CI/CD workflows with GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, Jenkins, Azure DevOps, or Cycloid's Native Runner. Cloud Cost Management lists AWS, GCP, and Azure, with other providers available for integration if needed. Deployment options include SaaS, dedicated SaaS, self-hosted, and hybrid; air-gapped operation is described for self-hosted deployments. Cycloid says its API is documented in Swagger, and its CLI documentation lists GNU/Linux, macOS, and Windows. A free SaaS plan covers up to five users and one workspace. The listed Advanced plan is $45 a month billed annually; pricing notes give a starting point of $29/user/mo annually. Infra Import is beta and excluded from the standard support SLA.
Substrate
Substrate has no write-up on Specifiction yet; its figures are above.