DNSControl
DNSControl is rewriting its record internals in public, one release candidate at a time
Comparison · Infra & APIs
Depot vs Nebula
A side-by-side editorial comparison of Depot and Nebula — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
Depot vs Nebula: at a glance
| Feature | Depot | Nebula |
|---|---|---|
| Sector | Infra & APIs | Infra & APIs |
| Velocity score | 6.3 | 2.5 |
| Sparks · 30d | 1 | 0 |
| Top themes | ci-cd, build-acceleration, test-analytics, source-control | mesh-vpn, overlay-network, certificates, ipv6 |
| Last editorial update | 18h ago | 2h ago |
| Website | — | Visit → |
What is Depot?
Depot is expanding from faster builds into the whole CI stack — tests, source control, and its own metal.
Depot has spent the last month building outward from build acceleration. Test results went generally available with JUnit ingest, org-wide flaky and slow test analytics, and timing-based shard balancing. Underneath that, Depot Metal moved CI and Sandboxes onto bare-metal microVMs the company controls end to end, and Depot Code entered private beta as a diskless git server backed by blob storage. The smaller releases fill in the surrounding surface: Tailscale access to private networks, GitLab OIDC, Datadog CI Visibility, stacked pull requests, and macOS 26 runners on M4.
What is Nebula?
Overlay network that rewrote its certificate format, then spent a year fixing what it exposed.
Nebula is a peer-to-peer mesh VPN built around a certificate authority model. The v1.10.0 release was the pivot: IPv6 and multiple addresses in the overlay, plus a new v2 ASN.1 certificate format with a unified interface for external implementations. Everything since has been consequence management — a P256 signature malleability issue that allowed blocklist bypass, a source-IP acceptance flaw tied to the new multi-address certificates, and a run of fixes around route tables and Windows listeners.
Depot vs Nebula: editorial side-by-side
Depot
6.3INFRA · APIS
Depot is expanding from faster builds into the whole CI stack — tests, source control, and its own metal.
◆ Current state
Depot has spent the last month building outward from build acceleration. Test results went generally available with JUnit ingest, org-wide flaky and slow test analytics, and timing-based shard balancing. Underneath that, Depot Metal moved CI and Sandboxes onto bare-metal microVMs the company controls end to end, and Depot Code entered private beta as a diskless git server backed by blob storage. The smaller releases fill in the surrounding surface: Tailscale access to private networks, GitLab OIDC, Datadog CI Visibility, stacked pull requests, and macOS 26 runners on M4.
◆ Where it's heading
Each layer Depot adds is one it previously rented — compute from cloud runners, source hosting from GitHub, test insight from nothing at all. Owning the storage and hypervisor tiers is what makes the performance claims possible, and owning test data is what turns a build accelerator into something that reports on the pipeline rather than just running it faster. The pattern suggests Depot is positioning as the full CI platform, with speed as the entry point rather than the product.
◆ Prediction
Depot Code should move from private to open beta with tighter Depot CI integration, since a git server the company controls is what makes source-aware caching and test selection possible. Expect the test analytics to grow toward selecting which tests to run, not only how to split them.
Nebula
2.5INFRA · APIS
Overlay network that rewrote its certificate format, then spent a year fixing what it exposed.
◆ Current state
Nebula is a peer-to-peer mesh VPN built around a certificate authority model. The v1.10.0 release was the pivot: IPv6 and multiple addresses in the overlay, plus a new v2 ASN.1 certificate format with a unified interface for external implementations. Everything since has been consequence management — a P256 signature malleability issue that allowed blocklist bypass, a source-IP acceptance flaw tied to the new multi-address certificates, and a run of fixes around route tables and Windows listeners.
◆ Where it's heading
The project has moved from single-IPv4-per-node assumptions toward a genuinely flexible addressing model, and the security fixes since v1.10.0 map directly onto that change — the new certificate features widened what the code has to validate. v1.11.0 shifts attention to the operational surface instead: structured logging, corrected firewall reject-versus-drop semantics, and Windows WFP filters installed by default.
◆ Prediction
The stated plan to assert low-s signature form when validating certificates is the concrete next step visible in these entries; expect it to land as a breaking validation change in a future release.
Alternatives to Depot and Nebula
Other Infra & APIs products tracked by Sparkpulse, ranked by recent ship velocity. Each card links to a full editorial trajectory and lets you pivot into a head-to-head comparison with either Depot or Nebula.
Fission
Fission's release feed carries only RC tags, and none of them say what shipped
Kaniko
Kaniko's release feed stops dead in June 2024 after a patch that undid its own change
mod_auth_openidc
mod_auth_openidc audited itself, found eight holes, and broke every session on the way out
Antrea
Kubernetes CNI maintaining four release branches at once, mostly to carry CVE fixes back.
KeeWeb
KeePass-compatible password manager frozen mid-patch-run since 2021.
See all Depot alternatives → · See all Nebula alternatives →
Recent activity from Depot and Nebula
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
- 1d agoDepotmacOS 26 is now the default macOS version for GitHub Actions runners
- 8d agoDepotDepot CI now supports native GitHub stacked pull requests
- 13d agoDepotTest results are now generally available ⚡
- 18d agoNebulaBreaking: slog logging, corrected firewall reject/drop directions, Windows WFP filters
- 21d agoDepotAI analysis available for all Depot CI workflows and jobs
- 27d agoDepotSplit CI test suites with historical timing data (beta)
- 1mo agoDepotDepot CI now supports Tailscale
- 6mo agoNebulaP256 signature malleability allowed blocklist bypass
- 6mo agoNebulaFix panic in use_system_route_table introduced by the previous release
- 6mo agoNebulaRoute-reload, handshake, and Windows listener fixes after the v1.10 rework
- 8mo agoNebulaIPv6 and multiple addresses in the overlay, plus a v2 certificate format ⚡
- 10mo agoNebulaPackets accepted from erroneous source IPs with unsafe_routes or multi-IP certificates
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between Depot and Nebula?
They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. Depot is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 6.3 vs 2.5), with 1 editorial sparks in the last 30 days against 0. See the at-a-glance table above for a side-by-side breakdown of velocity, recent sparks, and editorial themes.
Is Depot better than Nebula?
Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. Depot is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 6.3 vs 2.5), with 1 editorial sparks in the last 30 days against 0. For your specific use case, the alternatives sections above list other Infra & APIs products to evaluate alongside.
What are the best alternatives to Depot?
Top Depot alternatives in Infra & APIs are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "Depot alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/depot for the full list with editorial commentary on each.
What are the best alternatives to Nebula?
Top Nebula alternatives in Infra & APIs are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "Nebula alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/nebula-networking for the full list with editorial commentary on each.