EngFlow Remote Caching vs NativeLink
EngFlow Remote Caching
engflow.com
NativeLink
nativelink.comSide by side
| Figure | EngFlow Remote Caching | NativeLink |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | Yes | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | — |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| API | Yes | — |
| Self-hosted | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 2 | 3 |
| Spec score · Build Cache Software | 7.8 (#12) | 7.5 (#17) |
| Deployment | The pricing page lists Free as self-hosted and Enterprise as self-hosted or managed, with deployment options that include bare metal, AWS, GCP, Kubernetes, and OpenStack for Free, plus Azure, MacStadium, and Orka for Enterprise. | The documentation describes NativeLink as a single Rust binary that can act as the cache, scheduler, and worker with different configurations. |
| Security | EngFlow says builds run in isolated environments with encryption and, by default, dedicated infrastructure. | The security page states SOC 2 and ISO 27001 are complete, and GDPR and CCPA/CPRA compliant. |
| Support | The pricing page lists community support for Free and a dedicated engineer for Enterprise. | The free Open Source tier provides community Slack support, while Enterprise includes dedicated engineering support. |
Plans
NativeLink
- Open SourceFree
- Enterprise Tier 1Price not published
- Enterprise Tier 2Price not published
In their own words
EngFlow Remote Caching
EngFlow Remote Caching is a remote cache service for reducing repeated builds and test reruns, developer workload, and compute costs. It uses gRPC, cache compression, and Build without the Bytes to limit latency and unnecessary data transfers. A layered cache keeps frequently requested data available, while the Build & Test UI reports cache hit rates, build time, and status in real time. The Free tier supports Bazel and provides in-cluster caching on one machine with 32 CPU cores, running Linux. Enterprise supports Bazel, Goma for Chromium, and Soong for AOSP, as well as in-cluster or external storage such as S3 and GCS. Free is self-hosted; Enterprise can be self-hosted or managed. The service is available for Linux, macOS, Windows, web, and API use. EngFlow says builds run in isolated, encrypted environments with dedicated infrastructure by default, and its solutions receive regular third-party audits against the five SOC 2 principles. Free costs nothing; Enterprise pricing is custom quote. A trial request form is available, with no duration stated.
NativeLink
NativeLink brings remote build caching, remote execution, and observability into a Rust-native platform. Its content-addressed cache deduplicates build artifacts so teams, CI systems, and agents can reuse prior results. Remote execution spreads compilation and tests across worker fleets on AWS, GCP, or bare metal, with GPU, ARM, and Apple Silicon support. Listed build systems include Bazel, Buck2, Siso, Soong, Pants, Goma, BuildStream, and CMake through recc. CI integrations include GitHub Actions, GitLab, Buildkite, and Jenkins; other listed connections include AWS, GCP, Azure, S3, GCS, and Redis. The product also lists integrations with AI coding platforms. It can run as a self-hosted Rust binary. Clients support Linux, macOS, and Windows, while servers support Linux and macOS. The free Open Source tier includes community Slack support. Most of the monorepo uses FSL-1.1-Apache-2.0, but metrics and remote persistent workers are Business Source License modules requiring Enterprise or a separate license for shared production use.