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ard-kit vs shpyrd
shpyrd offers deployment hosting, while ard-kit is a discovery/catalog tool.
ard-kitSelf-hosted Agentic Resource Discovery: catalogues local…
shpyrdEasily deploy your projects. Hosting, databases and auth included.Which to pick
Pick ard-kit if you want…
- Local script catalog and search for AI agents
- A free, open-source tool
- Integrations with Python (on ard-kit's list, not shpyrd's)
Pick shpyrd if you want…
- Deploy-and-run platform with built-in auth and sleep
- Project deployment platform
- Integrations with Claude Code, Codex or Cursor (on shpyrd's list, not ard-kit's)
Side by side
- What it is
- ard-kit:Self-hosted tool that catalogs local scripts into an ai-catalog.json and serves a well-known manifest with a POST /search endpoint.
- shpyrd:Shpyrd lets you deploy web apps, APIs and AI agents with built-in hosting, PostgreSQL, Redis, sign-in and automatic sleep.
- Best for
- ard-kit:Local script catalog and search for AI agents
- shpyrd:Deploy-and-run platform with built-in auth and sleep
- Who it’s for
- ard-kit:Developers building AI agents that need offline script discovery and resource lookup.
- shpyrd:Developers and teams who want simple deployment with auth, databases and usage-based billing.
- Pricing
- ard-kit:Open source
- shpyrd:Freemium
- Plans
- ard-kit:—
- shpyrd:Free $0 · Starter $5 per month minimum, then usage · Pro $49 per month minimum, then usage · Business $499 per month minimum, then usage
- Open source
- ard-kit:Yes
- shpyrd:Yes, 140 GitHub stars
- Works with
- ard-kit:Python
- shpyrd:Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, VS Code, Git, Dockerfile, Buildpacks, PostgreSQL
ard-kit features
- Script catalog generation. Scans specified directories and creates an ai-catalog.json of local scripts.
- Well-known manifest serving. Provides the specification’s well-known manifest over HTTP.
- POST /search endpoint. Accepts search queries to retrieve matching script entries.
- Standard-library only. Implemented using only Python’s standard library, no external dependencies.
- Self-hosted deployment. Runs locally without sending data to external services.
shpyrd features
- One-click deployment. Deploy from a project folder or Git using Claude Code, Codex, Cursor or VS Code CLI.
- Built-in auth (Security Door). Add a sign-in page and role-based access without writing authentication code.
- Integrated databases. PostgreSQL and Valkey are provisioned per project and exposed via DATABASE_URL and REDIS_URL.
- Automatic sleep. Apps idle for a configurable period sleep, consuming no CPU or memory until woken.
- Metrics & logs. View request latency, errors, CPU, memory and release history in a single dashboard.
- Self-hostable open source core. Run Shpyrd on your own Kubernetes cluster under the MPL-2.0 license.
- Custom domains & TLS. Attach your own domain with automatic TLS certificates.
- Rollback & releases. Create releases on each deploy and roll back to previous versions with a single command.
ard-kit vs shpyrd FAQ
Is ard-kit or shpyrd free?+
ard-kit is free and open source. shpyrd has a free plan and paid plans.
Is ard-kit or shpyrd open source?+
Yes, both are open source: ard-kit and shpyrd (shpyrd-io/shpyrd on GitHub, MPL-2.0 license).
Do ard-kit and shpyrd integrate with the same tools?+
Their integration lists don't overlap: ard-kit lists Python; shpyrd lists Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, VS Code and 5 more.
On DevHunt
Based on each tool's website and DevHunt data. Details may change; check the official sites.