Capgo vs Capawesome Cloud

Two solid options for Capacitor live updates. Let's talk honestly about the differences.

💚 Credit where it's due

Robin (Capawesome founder) does great work. Good German engineering, solid plugins, and everything is actively maintained. They were inspired by Capgo when building their live updates solution - which is honestly flattering.

This isn't a "we're better at everything" page. The Capacitor ecosystem is genuinely better with multiple healthy options. Let's talk about the actual differences.

The honest differences

Experience & Scale

Capgo: Started in 2020. Serving 1B+ updates/month across 750k+ devices. Battle-tested at scale for 4+ years.

Capawesome: Live updates launched in 2024. Very new to this space. Still proving scale (no public stats).

We've been doing this much longer. 4+ years of production experience vs less than a year.

Pricing & Business Model

Capgo: $14/month to start, scales with usage (~$0.001/MAU). Live updates is our core business.

Capawesome: €9/month minimum. Their main business is paid plugins - live updates is more of a side offering.

Both are fairly priced. The difference? For us, live updates is THE product. For them, it's an add-on to their plugin business.

Open Source & Security

Capgo: 100% open source - plugin AND backend (MIT/MPL-2.0)

Plugin: github.com/Cap-go/capacitor-updater
Backend: github.com/Cap-go/capgo
Self-host, fork, audit security yourself anytime
Public security audits available

Capawesome: Plugin is open source, backend is 0% open source (fully closed)

No way to self-audit backend code
No public security audits
No self-hosting option

For compliance, healthcare, finance, or any regulated industry where you need to audit your entire stack - we're the only option.

Business Model & Stability

Capgo: Bootstrapped family business. No investors, no debt. Profitable since year one.

Legal entities in both US and Europe
Dedicated infrastructure for China
This is our livelihood - no VC pressure to "pivot" or suddenly 10x pricing
Built for the long term

Capawesome: Solo founder, sustainable business model (also good!)

Both are sustainable businesses, just different structures. After seeing Appflow shut down, this stuff matters.

Plugin Ecosystem

Capgo: We maintain 70+ Capacitor plugins - biggest provider after official Capacitor team. All free and open source.

Capawesome: They also make great plugins, quality-focused approach. Some are paid - that's their main business.

Different philosophies: we go broad with all-free plugins, they focus on paid premium plugins.

Support

Both: Human support from small teams (no chatbots!)

Capgo: Usually within hours, often minutes. Even on weekends (we can't help ourselves 😅)

Capawesome: Responsive and helpful too

Honestly, you'll be fine with either. Both small teams that care.

🤔 When Capawesome might be better for you

Fully manual control: Capawesome is 100% manual - nothing automatic. If you want to control every single aspect and not delegate anything, that's their strength. Capgo focuses on automation (though we support manual too).

GitHub/GitLab integration: They integrate directly with your git provider. If you prefer everything connected and don't mind the vendor lock-in, that's convenient.

European compliance needs: If you need invoices with GDPR compliance and all the European regulatory requirements, Capawesome is based in Germany. Capgo tries to escape European complexity to simplify business for everyone globally.

Different philosophies, both valid. Choose what fits your workflow.

What we're NOT good at

Documentation complexity: We really try to make docs clear for everyone. Basic automatic updates? Well documented and clear. But Capgo has many options (manual, half-manual, channel_default, etc.) - not all use cases are easy to understand yet. We're working on it.

Git provider integration: We don't integrate with GitHub/GitLab like Capawesome does. Philosophy difference: we don't want to lock you into a specific git provider. You handle updates in your own CI/CD, we just provide the delivery infrastructure.

Quick facts (no BS)

Capgo

✅ Started 2020
✅ 1B+ updates/month
✅ 750k+ devices
✅ $14/month start
✅ 100% open source (plugin + backend)
✅ Family business, bootstrapped
✅ 70+ free plugins
✅ Self-hosting option

Capawesome

⚠️ Live updates started 2024 (very new)
⚪ Stats not public
⚪ Stats not public
✅ €9/month minimum
❌ Plugin open, backend 0% open (closed source)
✅ Solo founder, sustainable
✅ Quality plugins (main business)
❌ No self-hosting

✅ = Strong point | ⚠️ = Depends on needs | ❌ = Not available | ⚪ = Unknown/Not disclosed

Thinking of switching?

If you're on Capawesome and considering Capgo, migration is straightforward. The Capacitor update plugin architecture is similar.

The basics:

1. Swap the plugin package
2. Update config (minor differences)
3. Update your upload process

Full migration guide: docs/upgrade/from-capawesome-to-capgo

What people say about Capgo

"The open source backend was the deciding factor. We needed to audit the security ourselves for compliance."

— Enterprise team

"Capgo's pricing scales with our app. Starting at $14/month was perfect for our MVP, and now we're happily paying more as we grow."

— Startup founder

"Support is incredible. Martin answered my weekend question in 20 minutes. Can't imagine going back to vendors with 48-hour response times."

— Indie developer

"The scale numbers (1B+ updates) gave us confidence. They've actually proven it at production load."

— Mobile team lead

More testimonials:

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Questions? Join our Discord or email us

Both Capgo and Capawesome are good options. Choose what fits your needs.

(But we think bigger scale, longer track record, and full open source matters 😊)