Depot

What is Depot?

Depot is a remote Docker build service that swaps in for docker build and docker buildx in your CI pipeline, running your builds on dedicated remote machines with a persistent, shared build cache instead of your CI runner's ephemeral disk. Because the cache survives between runs and the machines are provisioned specifically for build workloads, layer caching that would normally be invalidated on every fresh runner actually sticks, which is where most of the speedup comes from.

Key features

• Drop-in replacement for docker build, minimal changes needed to an existing Dockerfile-based pipeline
• Persistent build cache shared across CI runs, so unchanged layers stay cached instead of rebuilding from scratch
• Native multi-platform builds (amd64/arm64) without QEMU emulation slowdown
• Integrates with GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, CircleCI, and other common CI providers
• Also offers accelerated remote runners for GitHub Actions more broadly, beyond just Docker builds

Who it's for

Teams whose CI time is dominated by slow Docker image builds, especially with deep dependency layers or multi-platform targets. If your builds are already fast or infrequent, the cost of a dedicated build service isn't likely to pay for itself.

Pricing

Usage-based, tied to build minutes and cache storage, with a free tier for small projects and paid plans that scale with usage.