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Chainguard Reviews
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# Chainguard Pricing Overview

[Editedit](https://my.g2.com/chainguard/pricings)

Free Trial

## Chainguard Pricing Key Insights

Last updated on Jul 28, 2026

* * *

Chainguard offers **6 pricing editions** , starting at **$0**. Chainguard pricing tiers are designed to support different usage levels and team sizes. Chainguard also offers a **free trial**. Higher-tier plans are available via direct consultation with the vendor. Compare the Chainguard pricing table below to figure out the best fit for your needs.

* * *

Containers: Free Images — $0

Containers: Per Image — Contact Us

Containers: Catalog — Contact Us

Chainguard Libraries — Contact Us

VMs: Per Image — Contact Us

Chainguard VMs: Catalog — Contact Us

Rated 4.7 / 5

\*Pricing information is supplied by the software provider or retrieved from publicly accessible pricing materials. Final cost negotiations must be conducted with the seller.

Containers: Free Images

Free Trial

Free Trial

Five images to test and deploy in production for free.

- Up to five images per organization, spanning Base, Application, and AI/ML images.
- Unlimited pulls with no metering
- Continuously built from source in SLSA L3 hardened infrastructure with CVE patching
- Sigstore signed artifacts with full build-time SBOMs and digital attestations
- Build-time SBOMs, security advisory feeds, and broad scanner support
- All upstream supported versions, including major and minor tags (i.e., Python 3.10-3.14) - EOL versions and EmeritOSS images not included

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Containers: Per Image

Contact Us

[Contact Us](#)

Licensed by number and type of images (base, app, AI/ML, and FIPS).

- Select access from the Chainguard Catalog
- Contractual CVE SLA
- All upstream supported tags
- Unlimited pulls with no metering
- Continuously built from source in SLSA L3 hardened infrastructure with CVE patching
- Sigstore signed artifacts with full build-time SBOMs and digital attestations
- Build-time SBOMs, security advisory feeds, and broad scanner support
- All upstream supported versions, including major and minor tags (i.e., Python 3.10-3.14)
- Console-based user management
- Contractual CVE SLA (7 days for critical, 14 days for high/med/low)
- Automated tooling (Custom Assembly) and access to 10K+ packages (Private APK Repo) to quickly and easily customize images
- Access to STIG-hardened and FIPS-validated images
- Updated end-of-life images for up to 6 months with EOL Grace Period
- Console to manage images, entitlements, pull tokens, and more

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Containers: Catalog

Contact Us

[Contact Us](#)

Use Chainguard as the trusted source for all your container images. Licensed by size of engineering organization.

- Full access to the Chainguard Catalog
- Contractual CVE SLA
- Ability to request net new images
- Unlimited pulls with no metering
- Continuously built from source in SLSA L3 hardened infrastructure with CVE patching
- Sigstore signed artifacts with full build-time SBOMs and digital attestations
- Build-time SBOMs, security advisory feeds, and broad scanner support
- All upstream supported versions, including major and minor tags (i.e., Python 3.10-3.14)
- Console-based user management
- Contractual CVE SLA (7 days for critical, 14 days for high/med/low)
- Automated tooling (Custom Assembly) and access to 10K+ packages (Private APK Repo) to quickly and easily customize images
- Access to STIG-hardened and FIPS-validated images
- Updated end-of-life images for up to 6 months with EOL Grace Period
- Console to manage images, entitlements, pull tokens, and more
- Ability to request new images or packages at no cost

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Chainguard Libraries

Contact Us

[Contact Us](#)

Malware-resistant, CVE-patched language libraries to combat supply chain attacks across Python, Java, and JavaScript

- Unlimited applications per language ecosystem with no metering or rate limiting for pulls
- Backported patches for certain critical and high-severity CVEs in popular Python language dependencies
- Cross-compatibility across Linux distros (ChainguardOS, RHEL, Debian, Ubuntu, and more)
- Full access to language dependencies for subscribed ecosystems
- Unlimited pulls with no metering
- Full dependency tree continuously built from source in SLSA L3 hardened environment
- Cross-compatibility across Linux distributions
- Code signatures and build receipts for every artifact
- Console to manage entitlements, pull tokens, and more
- Ability to request new language libraries at no cost
- Backported CVE patching

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VMs: Per Image

Contact Us

[Contact Us](#)

Minimal, secure-by-design virtual machine images for all deployments. Licensed by number and type of images (base, app, and container host).

- Contractual CVE SLA
- All upstream supported tags
- Select access to certain VMs
- Virtual machine image access
- Continuously built from source in SLSA L2 hardened infrastructure with CVE patching
- CVE remediation SLA (7 days for critical, 14 days for high/med/low)
- All upstream supported versions, including major and minor tags (i.e., Python 3.10-3.14)
- Enterprise-grade support for multi-cloud and on-prem
- Customization capabilities using Hashicorp Packer
- Console to manage images, entitlements, pull tokens, and more

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Chainguard VMs: Catalog

Contact Us

[Contact Us](#)

Minimal, secure-by-design virtual machine images for all deployments. Licensed by size of engineering organization.

- Contractual CVE SLA
- All upstream supported tags
- Full access to Chainguard’s VM catalog, including newly added images over time
- Full access to the Chainguard Catalog
- Virtual machine image access
- Continuously built from source in SLSA L2 hardened infrastructure with CVE patching
- CVE remediation SLA (7 days for critical, 14 days for high/med/low)
- All upstream supported versions, including major and minor tags (i.e., Python 3.10-3.14)
- Enterprise-grade support for multi-cloud and on-prem
- Customization capabilities using Hashicorp Packer
- Console to manage images, entitlements, pull tokens, and more

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Hardened, secure, and production-ready builds of all the open source you rely on — so your teams can build faster, stay compliant, and eliminate risk.

Pricing information for Chainguard is supplied by the software provider or retrieved from publicly accessible pricing materials. Final cost negotiations to purchase Chainguard must be conducted with the seller.
Visit https://www.chainguard.dev/pricing for more information.

Pricing information was last updated on July 01, 2026

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## Pricing Insights

Averages based on real user reviews.

### Time to Implement

3 months

### Return on Investment

8 months

## Chainguard Pricing FAQs

Generated using AI

Is Chainguard free, or does it offer a free trial?

Chainguard does not offer a permanent free plan, but it does provide a free trial that lets users to test the product before committing to a paid plan. Trial availability and duration may vary, so users should review the seller's official pricing page for the most current details.

How much does Chainguard cost in 2026?

Pricing details for Chainguard are not publicly listed. Users should visit the Chainguard's official pricing page or contact the vendor directly for current pricing information.

Who is Chainguard pricing best suited for?

Chainguard's pricing is best suited for mid-market and enterprise organizations in regulated or security-sensitive industries. G2 reviewers from defense, financial services, healthcare, aviation, and government contracting dominate the review base, consistently citing FedRAMP, FIPS, and SOC2 compliance as primary drivers. The per-image tier fits teams adopting a targeted subset of hardened images, while the Catalog tier suits larger engineering organizations standardizing across all containerized workloads. G2 reviews indicate smaller teams find the cost challenging but still defensible when factoring in avoided engineering overhead. Chainguard Libraries pricing targets Python, Java, and JavaScript-heavy organizations facing software supply chain risk beyond container images alone.

What are the key differences between the free and paid versions of Chainguard?

Chainguard's free tier provides up to five container images per organization with unlimited pulls, SLSA L3 build infrastructure, Sigstore signing, and SBOMs, but only covers upstream-supported versions and excludes EOL images, FIPS-validated images, STIG-hardened images, and EmeritOSS images. G2 reviewers note the free tier is limited to latest tags, making it unsuitable for production environments requiring pinned or stable versions. Chainguard's paid tiers add contractual CVE SLAs (7 days critical, 14 days high/med/low), FIPS and STIG access, EOL grace periods, Custom Assembly tooling, a private APK repository, console-based management, and full catalog access. The Catalog tier further adds the ability to request net-new images at no additional cost.

Is Chainguard considered good value for its pricing?

G2 reviewers broadly consider Chainguard a premium but justified investment. High ratings averaging 4.5/5 coexist with recurring cost complaints, particularly around per-image pricing. Multiple G2 reviewers from mid-market and small business segments flag the cost as steep, with one noting a costly mistake purchasing an unneeded image. Yet the same reviewers consistently cite strong ROI: eliminating engineer hours spent on CVE triage, accelerating FedRAMP and FIPS compliance, and reducing vulnerability counts by 70-80%. G2 reviews of Chainguard from defense, financial services, and healthcare enterprises frame the pricing as worthwhile given contractual CVE SLAs and supply chain security guarantees that would cost far more to replicate internally.

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## Chainguard Pricing Reviews
(2)

  

 ![Verified User in Accounting](/assets/icons/anonymous-avatar-purple-4ae1032bdb50ee5682003170c8184aee790d25958bd397abbd384ba52c596a7b.svg "Verified User in Accounting")
UA

Verified User in Accounting

Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

3/17/2026

"Strong Security and a Great Experience So Far"

5/5

What do you like best about Chainguard?

Chainguard is getting a lot of attention because it solves a very real (and growing) problem: software supply chain security—basically making sure the code and containers you run aren’t quietly compromised. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Chainguard?

Nothing yet it can be expensive. Learn g curve Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What problems is Chainguard solving and how is that benefiting you?

Chainguard is getting a lot of attention because it solves a very real (and growing) problem: software supply chain security—basically making sure the code and containers you run aren’t quietly compromised. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Show More

Validated ReviewerSource: Organic

  

TG

Taruj G.

1/13/2026

"Secured Workloads with Excellent Support"

4/5

What do you like best about Chainguard?

I like the hardened images and their support for debugging and other channels. I appreciate the vLLM and OSS support along with the images that we need major upgrades for. I also like their release cadence and find their customer support to be good. I value the minimal, hardened, continuously patched base images that work with vLLM, which has a fast release cadence and evolving dependencies. I also like the immutable image tags, SBOM, and continuous rebuild features. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Chainguard?

I find the lack of easy migration guides and more FDE support frustrating. Also, the initial setup was problematic for GPU services as core NVIDIA images are not supported. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What problems is Chainguard solving and how is that benefiting you?

I use Chainguard for hardened images, better CVE metrics, securing workloads without root access, and aligning with compliance requirements. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Show More

Validated ReviewerIncentivizedSource: G2 invite on behalf of seller

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[Container Security](https://www.g2.com/categories/container-security-tools)[Software Supply Chain Security Tools](https://www.g2.com/categories/software-supply-chain-security-tools)

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