PreviewDrop vs Shipyard
Branch previews without an enterprise contract
Shipyard does ephemeral environments at an enterprise scale — and enterprise price point. PreviewDrop is a self-serve tool for the same problem, with public pricing and a free tier.
TL;DR
Shipyard is excellent for regulated or large organisations that need deep Kubernetes integration, audit logs, and an enterprise sales cycle. PreviewDrop is for the 95% of teams who just need a preview URL on every PR without getting on a sales call.
Feature-by-feature
| Feature | PreviewDrop | Shipyard |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Public: $0 / $19 / $79 / $149 / from $499 | Quote-only |
| Free tier | Forever free | None |
| Self-serve signup | 5 minutes | Sales call required |
| Per-branch preview URLs | Built-in | Built-in |
| Docker support | Any Dockerfile | Docker Compose, k8s manifests |
| Multi-service stacks | One project per service | Compose / k8s natively |
| Kubernetes required | No | Yes (often) |
| Time to first preview | ~5 min | Days (onboarding + quota) |
| Audit logs / SSO | Enterprise plan | Standard |
| Support model | Email · priority on Pro · dedicated on Enterprise | Dedicated CSM |
Comparison last verified April 2026. Pricing and feature details change — for current numbers check Shipyard's own pricing page.
What's actually different
Public pricing vs sales call
Shipyard doesn't publish prices. You book a demo, get scoped, get a quote. For large teams with budget and procurement already in place, that's fine. For a four-person startup evaluating tools on a Tuesday afternoon, it's a wall. PreviewDrop lets you ship your first preview before lunch.
Complexity you need vs complexity you don't
Shipyard leans into Kubernetes — Helm charts, manifests, multi-service meshes. If your production runs on k8s, that depth is real leverage. If your app is a Dockerfile and a database, you're paying for complexity you don't have.
Multi-service support
Shipyard handles complex multi-service stacks via Compose or k8s manifests. PreviewDrop approaches the same problem by treating each service as its own project — the same repo can have a
web project and an api project, each with its own preview URL. Simpler for most teams; less powerful for deeply networked internal services.When Shipyard is the better fit
Regulated industries (finance, healthcare) where SOC2/HIPAA + dedicated CSM + on-prem options matter. Platform teams at mid-market+ companies with existing k8s infrastructure. If that's you, Shipyard is a mature, capable tool. PreviewDrop fills the gap for everyone below that bar — which is most teams.
Need enterprise features?
PreviewDrop's Enterprise plan covers unlimited previews, 7-day lifetimes, dedicated Slack support, and SSO / audit logs on the roadmap. See Pricing or email support@previewdrop.dev.Try PreviewDrop free
Connect a repo, push a branch, get a preview URL. No credit card, no trial clock.
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