GravityKit
GravityKit folds every GravityView extension into one Pro plugin.
Comparison · Infra & APIs
Drone vs Hatchet
A side-by-side editorial comparison of Drone and Hatchet — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
Drone vs Hatchet: at a glance
What is Drone?
Drone's source now ships as Harness Open Source, and it last released in August 2025.
Both tracked releases are tagged Harness Open Source from the harness/harness repo, which is where Drone's code now lives. v3.2.0 added Git LFS, PR revert, retargeting and Code Owner auto-assignment; v3.3.0 added favorite repos, tag protection rules and a fix for a Git LFS path-traversal issue. Nothing has shipped since August 2025.
What is Hatchet?
Hatchet chases DAG crash loops through three engine patches in a day.
Hatchet added sandboxes, Labs switches and cloud MFA in early November. The week since has been engine reliability: v0.120.3 batches DAG step triggers, v0.120.4 fixes stranded match rows and prunes database partitions before locking, and v0.120.5 removes another cause of DAG crash loops. Python SDK 1.46.0 makes it easier to unit-test tasks and passes failures to cleanup dependencies.
Drone vs Hatchet: editorial side-by-side
Drone
0.0INFRA · APIS
Drone's source now ships as Harness Open Source, and it last released in August 2025.
◆ Current state
Both tracked releases are tagged Harness Open Source from the harness/harness repo, which is where Drone's code now lives. v3.2.0 added Git LFS, PR revert, retargeting and Code Owner auto-assignment; v3.3.0 added favorite repos, tag protection rules and a fix for a Git LFS path-traversal issue. Nothing has shipped since August 2025.
◆ Where it's heading
The product has moved from a CI engine toward a full code-hosting platform with PR workflows and branch/tag governance. The 14-month gap since v3.3.0 points to slow or paused open-source releases.
◆ Prediction
The entries give no sign of a next release; another quiet period is the base case.
Hatchet
6.3INFRA · APIS
Hatchet chases DAG crash loops through three engine patches in a day.
◆ Current state
Hatchet added sandboxes, Labs switches and cloud MFA in early November. The week since has been engine reliability: v0.120.3 batches DAG step triggers, v0.120.4 fixes stranded match rows and prunes database partitions before locking, and v0.120.5 removes another cause of DAG crash loops. Python SDK 1.46.0 makes it easier to unit-test tasks and passes failures to cleanup dependencies.
◆ Where it's heading
After a burst of features, Hatchet is tuning the engine under load: fewer locks, batched triggers and crash-loop fixes. The SDKs are getting testing and correctness work to match.
◆ Prediction
Expect more v0.120.x patches on DAG handling, then a sandbox package out of release candidate.
Alternatives to Drone and Hatchet
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 Drone or Hatchet.
Payload CMS
Payload's v4 beta.9 keeps every past image crop and raises the Node floor again.
Nautobot
Nautobot 3.3 alpha 2 adds test helpers and a cable location filter after 3.2.9's token-leak fix.
Clair
Clair 4.10 RC can read SBOMs to match Java vulnerabilities.
Shuffle
Shuffle tags builds almost daily, but the notes are empty.
KrakenD
KrakenD's community edition is shipping only dependency bumps.
See all Drone alternatives → · See all Hatchet alternatives →
Recent activity from Drone and Hatchet
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
- 16h agoHatchetHatchet v0.120.5 fixes another DAG crash loop
- 16h agoHatchetPython SDK 1.46.0
- 20h agoHatchetHatchet v0.120.4 fixes stranded match rows
- 21h agoHatchetv0.120.4 alpha prunes partitions before locking
- 1d agoHatchetHatchet sandbox package 0.1.5 release candidate
- 1d agoHatchetHatchet v0.120.3 batches DAG step triggers
- 1y agoDronev3.3.0 | Harness Open Source
- 1y agoDronev3.2.0 | Harness Open Source
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between Drone and Hatchet?
They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. Hatchet is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 6.3 vs 0.0), with 0 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 Drone better than Hatchet?
Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. Hatchet is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 6.3 vs 0.0), with 0 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 Drone?
Top Drone alternatives in Infra & APIs are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "Drone alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/drone for the full list with editorial commentary on each.
What are the best alternatives to Hatchet?
Top Hatchet alternatives in Infra & APIs are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "Hatchet alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/hatchet for the full list with editorial commentary on each.