GUAC vs Sigstore
GUAC
guac.sh
Sigstore
sigstore.devSide by side
| Figure | GUAC | Sigstore |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | Yes | Yes |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 2 | 2 |
| Spec score · Software Supply Chain Security Software | 8.8 (#2) | 8.4 (#6) |
| API stability | The documented GraphQL definitions are explicitly described as unstable and subject to future code changes. | Sigstore classifies interfaces as Experimental, Beta or Generally Available, with best-effort deprecation notice periods of zero, two months or six months respectively. |
| Purpose | GUAC ingests software metadata such as SBOMs and maps relationships between software to provide supply chain security insights. | Sigstore is an open source project for improving software supply chain security. |
| Self-hosting | GUAC is deployed locally or in user-controlled infrastructure with Docker Compose and optional PostgreSQL persistence. | Sigstore provides scaffolding for running a full stack in Kubernetes, including KinD, and offers Google Cloud Terraform modules. |
| What it does | GUAC aggregates software-security metadata into a queryable graph that connects artifacts, packages, dependencies and evidence. | Sigstore helps developers sign and verify release files, container images, binaries and SBOMs to improve software supply-chain security. |
Plans
In their own words
GUAC
GUAC ingests software metadata, including software bills of materials, and connects it into a queryable view of supply-chain relationships. That portfolio-level view lets developers, operations and security practitioners, and Open Source Program Offices examine dependencies across software rather than one SBOM at a time. Teams can look for vulnerable, deprecated, unsupported, or duplicated dependencies and identify risky upstreams using OpenSSF Scorecard. APIs and a visualization tool support queries and exploration. GUAC documents SPDX and CycloneDX SBOM formats, with graph enrichment from OSV for vulnerability data, ClearlyDefined for license information, and Deps.dev for dependency information. Its GraphQL server can use in-memory storage or PostgreSQL for persistence. Collectors can read or watch files, storage buckets, and Git repositories; the filesystem collector is stable, while other collectors are experimental. Setup uses Docker Compose and requires Docker, Docker Compose, and jq. The project is an OpenSSF Incubating Project. GUAC is free and open source: its code is under the MIT license, and documentation content is under CC BY 4.0.
Sigstore
Sigstore is a free, open source project for signing and verifying software artifacts to improve supply chain security. It supports release files, container images, binaries, software bills of materials, and more. Signatures use temporary keys, so developers do not have to manage signing keys; events are recorded in a tamper-resistant public log for audit. Its components include Cosign, Fulcio, Rekor, OpenID Connect, and Policy Controller. Cosign signs and verifies artifacts and stores signatures in an OCI registry. Fulcio issues temporary certificates to authorized identities, while Rekor keeps signed metadata in a searchable ledger. OpenID Connect authenticates users through providers such as GitHub and Google. The trust root uses The Update Framework and is maintained by five keyholders from different companies and academic institutions. Sigstore provides GitHub Actions, documents GitLab CI installation, and offers official clients for Go, Java, JavaScript, Python, Ruby, and Rust. It supports API, Linux, macOS, Windows, and self-hosted environments. One integration caveat is that Cosign has no API stability guarantees, does not follow semantic versioning, and is not recommended for application integration because of its dependencies.