Dagger
Dagger provides a programmable, local-first CI/CD platform that replaces YAML with language-native pipelines (Go, TypeScript, Python), serving engineering, DevOps, and platform teams, and monetizes via Dagger Cloud subscriptions and the Daggerverse module marketplace.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2018
- HeadquartersSan Francisco, United States
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What Dagger does
Dagger provides a programmable CI/CD platform that replaces shell scripts and proprietary YAML with language-native pipelines, targeting software engineering, DevOps, and platform engineering teams. The platform's core is the Dagger Engine — a runtime built on top of BuildKit that executes workflows inside containers with fine-grained caching, sandboxed functions, and a GraphQL-based language-agnostic system API. Official SDKs expose the engine in Go, TypeScript, and Python, with a community PHP SDK and experimental SDKs for Java, Elixir, and Rust; an interactive REPL is provided for iterative development. The architecture is local-first by design, claiming identical execution semantics across developer laptops, AI sandboxes, CI servers, and cloud infrastructure.
The company monetizes primarily through Dagger Cloud, a "bring your own compute" SaaS control plane offering workflow visualization (Traces), operational insights, and telemetry aggregation, complemented by professional services for enterprise implementations. The go-to-market is product-led growth: the engine is open source, distributed via Homebrew and direct download, with community engagement through GitHub and Discord, while Dagger Cloud is sold via Order Form subscription. The Daggerverse marketplace and 12+ technology and consulting partners extend the ecosystem. Named enterprise users include Ubisoft, CERN OpenLab, Grafana Labs, Adobe, Leidos, Cast AI, Ford, Flipt, HPE, Replicated, Sony, Depot, NVIDIA, Databricks, Anduril, and GoFundMe.
Founded in 2018, Dagger is incorporated in California as Dagger, Inc., with founders Solomon Hykes (Docker creator, CEO), Andrea Luzzardi, and Samuel Alba. The company has raised approximately $30 million across seed (2019), Series A (2021), and Series B (2022) rounds, with investors including Redpoint, Y Combinator, New Wave, SV Angel, Quiet Capital, and Wayfinder Ventures. The company maintains CCPA and GDPR compliance positioning.
Dagger firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Dagger
- Legal name
- Dagger, Inc.
- Website
- https://dagger.io
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2018
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Dagger provides a programmable, local-first CI/CD platform that replaces YAML with language-native pipelines (Go, TypeScript, Python), serving engineering, DevOps, and platform teams, and monetizes via Dagger Cloud subscriptions and the Daggerverse module marketplace.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Dagger industry classification
Industry- Product category
- CI/CD and DevOps Automation Platform
- NAICS
- Software Publishers (5132)
- SIC
- Services-Prepackaged Software (7372)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Build, CI/CD, Version Control & DevOps Tools for Games (MPAFAFAG)
Keywords
Where Dagger is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- San Francisco
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices2 records
Markets served
Dagger business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Operations
Revenue model
- Dagger Cloud Subscription: Dagger Cloud provides workflow visualization and operational insights as a SaaS subscription. It is a 'bring your own compute' service where customers run their own Dagger Engines while Dagger provides the control plane.
- Professional Services: Upon written agreement, Dagger may perform additional technical, supplemental, or professional services for customers at published pricing rates or mutually agreed rates.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | Monthly | Enterprise subscription with custom pricing via Order Form |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels7 records
Dagger product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Dagger provides a programmable CI/CD platform that lets developers author build, test, and deployment pipelines in Go, TypeScript, or Python instead of YAML or shell scripts. The open-source Dagger Engine executes these pipelines in containers locally, in CI servers, or in the cloud with fine-grained caching, while Dagger Cloud adds a SaaS control plane for workflow visualization (Traces), operational insights, and telemetry aggregation. The Daggerverse module marketplace and SDKs in seven additional languages extend the platform's functionality for engineering and DevOps teams.
Product overview
Dagger is a DevOps operating system providing an integrated platform for orchestrating application delivery from code to cloud. The platform consists of three levels: the core Dagger Platform (encompassing the Dagger Engine runtime and Dagger Cloud control plane), the Dagger SDKs (official SDKs for Go, Python, and TypeScript with full support; community SDK for PHP; and experimental SDKs for Java, Elixir, and Rust), and the Daggerverse community module registry. The Dagger Engine executes CI/CD workflows in containers with default caching and fine-grained cache control, while Dagger Cloud provides workflow visualization (Traces) and operational insights as a bring-your-own-compute SaaS layer.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Dagger Cloud: A production-grade control plane that complements the Dagger Engine with workflow visualization and operational insights.
- Daggerverse
- Dagger SDKs
Products and services
- Dagger Platform An integrated platform for orchestrating the delivery of applications from code to cloud. Provides a programmable, local-first, repeatable, and observable CI/CD abstraction layer that replaces shell scripts and proprietary YAML with SDK-based automation. Targets software engineering, DevOps, and platform engineering teams.
- Dagger Engine The runtime component of the Dagger Platform that executes CI/CD workflows. Runs tests in containers, orchestrates sandboxed functions, builds intermediate artifacts just-in-time, and provides fine-grained cache control with default caching. Open-source and downloadable via Homebrew or GitHub releases.
- Dagger Cloud A production-grade SaaS control plane that complements the Dagger Engine with workflow visualization (Traces), operational insights, telemetry aggregation, and CI/local classification. Operates as a 'bring your own compute' service that does not host customer Dagger Engines. Sold under Order Form subscriptions.
- Daggerverse A community-driven module registry and marketplace for Dagger, where users can publish, discover, and install modules that extend Dagger functionality with integrations such as Cerbos, Chainloop, Civo, Depot, Infisical, Jozu, Tracetest, Okteto, and LocalStack.
- Dagger SDKs Software development kits that translate SDK calls into Dagger's GraphQL API, allowing pipelines to be authored in familiar languages. Includes official SDKs for Go, Python, and TypeScript; a community-maintained SDK for PHP; and experimental SDKs for Java, Elixir, and Rust. Distributed as part of the Dagger Platform.
- Dagger Professional Services Optional technical, supplemental, or professional services performed under written agreement at published pricing rates or mutually agreed rates, including consulting support for designing, implementing, and optimizing Dagger workflows.
Companies that use Dagger
Customer profileNamed customers16 records
Segments3 records
Ideal customer profiles2 records
Dagger technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- Yes
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration5 records
Feature10 records
Dagger partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Three partnerships are on record, tiered minor.
- PuzzleminorConsulting partner providing expert services to help teams design, implement, and optimize workflows using Dagger.
- AgencyServices AIminorConsulting partner providing expert services for Dagger implementation and optimization.
- CodeToCloudminorConsulting partner providing expert services for Dagger implementation.
Scale indicators1 record
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Dagger competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Drone.io: Drone is a container-native CI/CD platform built on Docker — directly comparable to Dagger in its container-first, declarative-pipeline approach for engineering teams seeking self-hosted or cloud runners.
- Buildkite: Buildkite is a hybrid CI/CD platform that combines hosted orchestration with customer-managed agents — architecturally and philosophically the closest direct competitor to Dagger, both targeting engineering teams that want programmable pipelines without vendor lock-in.
- Earthly Technologies: Earthly offers a programmable, container-based build automation framework (Earthfile) with repeatable, language-agnostic builds — overlapping strongly with Dagger's container-isolated, repeatable-execution positioning and targeting the same 'CI/CD without YAML' developer audience.
- Harness: Harness is a modern CI/CD and software delivery platform with continuous integration, feature flags, and deployment pipelines — competing with Dagger for the same enterprise DevOps buyer and increasingly offering programmable pipeline definitions.
- CircleCI: CircleCI is a hosted CI/CD platform with strong language and framework support, directly competing with Dagger for the same developer-tooling seat; both target teams that want repeatable, containerized build pipelines.
- CloudBees: CloudBees commercializes enterprise Jenkins and CI/CD offerings, directly competing with Dagger in the enterprise CI/CD market — particularly for large organizations seeking managed, secure delivery pipelines.
- Spinnaker: Spinnaker is an open-source continuous-delivery platform originating from Netflix — competing with Dagger for engineering teams that need multi-cloud deployment orchestration, and serving a similar 'CI/CD beyond Jenkins' developer audience.
Broad incumbents
- GitHub Actions: GitHub Actions is the CI/CD offering bundled into GitHub — the largest developer distribution channel. It is a broad incumbent that competes head-on with Dagger for the same workflows, with the pricing advantage of free public-repo usage.
- GitLab CI: GitLab CI is part of GitLab's broader DevOps platform — a broad incumbent that bundles source control, CI/CD, and security, competing with Dagger at the workflow-orchestration layer inside an integrated suite.
- Jenkins: Jenkins is the long-standing open-source CI/CD server with a vast plugin ecosystem — a broad incumbent whose declarative-pipeline YAML pain point Dagger explicitly attacks, and which dominates on-prem enterprise CI/CD deployments.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat6 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Dagger social profiles
Digital presenceDagger compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance2 records
Dagger financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Dagger leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles4 records
Dagger funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds3 records
Investors6 records
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Dagger M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Dagger
What does Dagger do?
Dagger provides a programmable CI/CD platform that lets developers author build, test, and deployment pipelines in Go, TypeScript, or Python instead of YAML or shell scripts. The open-source Dagger Engine executes these pipelines in containers locally, in CI servers, or in the cloud with fine-grained caching, while Dagger Cloud adds a SaaS control plane for workflow visualization (Traces), operational insights, and telemetry aggregation. The Daggerverse module marketplace and SDKs in seven additional languages extend the platform's functionality for engineering and DevOps teams.
Is Dagger a public or private company?
Dagger is a private company. It is classified as venture growth investor backed and is currently operating.
When was Dagger founded?
Dagger was founded in 2018. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Dagger based?
Dagger is headquartered in San Francisco, United States, in the North America region.
How does Dagger make money?
Two revenue lines are on record. Dagger Cloud Subscription is the primary driver. The others are professional Services.
Who are Dagger's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Drone.io, Buildkite, Earthly Technologies, Harness, CircleCI, CloudBees and Spinnaker. Broad incumbents are GitHub Actions, GitLab CI and Jenkins.
Does Dagger have an API?
Yes. Dagger provides a GraphQL API as its primary programmatic interface. The GraphQL API is language-agnostic and can be accessed from any language that supports GraphQL, or via the Dagger CLI. SDKs internally translate SDK calls into GraphQL API calls, so users do not need to know GraphQL to use Dagger. The API supports queries for core functionality including container management, cache volumes, directories, Git operations, host environment access, HTTP requests, secrets management, LLM initialization, module management, and version information. Notable API types include Container (OCI-compatible container management), Directory (filesystem operations), CacheVolume (persistent cache), GitRepository (version control), Host (host environment access), LLM (large language model initialization), Secret (secret management), and Module (Dagger module management). Developer documentation is at docs.dagger.io/api/reference.
What industry is Dagger in?
Dagger's product category is CI/CD and DevOps Automation Platform. Its primary akta.pro industry code is MPAFAFAG, Build, CI/CD, Version Control & DevOps Tools for Games. Its NAICS code is 5132 and its SIC code is 7372.