Depot
Remote Docker build acceleration service. Depot replaces `docker build` with `depot build` and runs builds on fast, persistent-cache remote machines with native ARM64 support. Typical result: 10-40x faster Docker builds due to persistent layer caches across builds and team members. Drop-in replacement for Docker BuildKit — no Dockerfile changes required. REST API and GitHub Actions integration for CI pipeline acceleration.
Score Breakdown
⚙ Agent Friendliness
🔒 Security
SOC2 Type II. Build context sent to Depot's remote infrastructure — review for sensitive data in build context. Docker secrets (--secret) handled securely and not cached in layers. Ephemeral build environments per build. API tokens scoped to project.
⚡ Reliability
Best When
Your Docker builds in CI take more than 2-5 minutes and you want faster builds without changing Dockerfiles or managing BuildKit infrastructure.
Avoid When
Your builds are already fast, or you need full control over build infrastructure without external service dependencies.
Use Cases
- • Accelerate CI pipeline Docker builds by 10-40x using Depot's persistent remote cache without changing Dockerfiles or CI configuration structure
- • Build multi-architecture Docker images (linux/amd64 + linux/arm64) natively without QEMU emulation — critical for Apple Silicon compatibility and ARM deployments
- • Share Docker layer cache across team members and CI runs so everyone benefits from cached layers rather than rebuilding from scratch
- • Reduce CI costs by shortening Docker build duration — faster builds = fewer CI runner minutes consumed for the same workload
- • Integrate Depot into agent-driven build pipelines via CLI (depot build) or GitHub Actions to accelerate containerized application packaging
Not For
- • Non-Docker build systems — Depot only accelerates Docker builds; use Earthly or Bazel for broader build system acceleration
- • Fully air-gapped environments — Depot requires connectivity to Depot's remote builder infrastructure
- • Teams with trivial Dockerfiles — if builds take under 30 seconds, Depot's overhead may not provide meaningful improvement
Interface
Authentication
Depot uses API tokens for authentication. Tokens generated per organization in Depot dashboard. CI integration via DEPOT_TOKEN environment variable. Project-level tokens available for scoped access.
Pricing
Pricing is per build minute on Depot's infrastructure. Cost typically lower than equivalent CI runner minutes because Depot builds are much faster — fewer minutes for same work. Free tier is generous for small teams.
Agent Metadata
Known Gotchas
- ⚠ Depot requires the Depot CLI installed alongside Docker — agent execution environments must have depot CLI available (`curl -L https://depot.dev/install-cli.sh | sh`)
- ⚠ First build per project warms the cache — expect normal Docker build times on first run; subsequent builds benefit from persistent cache
- ⚠ Multi-architecture builds (--platform linux/amd64,linux/arm64) are significantly faster on Depot than locally but still take longer than single-arch builds
- ⚠ DEPOT_TOKEN must be set in environment — builds fail silently or fall back to local Docker if token is missing or invalid
- ⚠ Cache invalidation follows standard Docker layer rules — changing early layers invalidates all downstream cached layers; agent-generated Dockerfiles should order cache-stable layers first
- ⚠ Concurrent build limits per plan — agent systems that trigger many parallel builds may hit concurrency limits and queue builds
- ⚠ Build context upload time depends on context size — agents building large repositories should configure .dockerignore to minimize build context upload overhead
Alternatives
Full Evaluation Report
Detailed scoring breakdown, competitive positioning, security analysis, and improvement recommendations for Depot.
Scores are editorial opinions as of 2026-03-06.