Compare
CircleCI vs Jenkins
CircleCI is a hosted SaaS CI platform; Jenkins is self-hosted and extensible via plugins.
CircleCICI/CD platform for building, testing and deploying
JenkinsOpen-source automation server for CI/CDWhich to pick
Pick CircleCI if you want…
- AI-powered continuous integration
- Hosted CI service
- Integrations with GitHub, GitLab or Bitbucket (on CircleCI's list, not Jenkins')
Pick Jenkins if you want…
- Extensible CI/CD automation server
- A free, open-source tool
- Integrations with Java, Windows or Linux (on Jenkins' list, not CircleCI's)
Side by side
- What it is
- CircleCI:CircleCI is a CI/CD platform that automates building, testing, and deploying code with AI-enhanced automation.
- Jenkins:Jenkins is an open-source automation server for building, testing and deploying software via CI/CD pipelines.
- Best for
- CircleCI:AI-powered continuous integration
- Jenkins:Extensible CI/CD automation server
- Who it’s for
- CircleCI:Developers, platform engineers, security engineers, and engineering managers.
- Jenkins:Developers and DevOps teams needing customizable CI/CD automation.
- Pricing
- CircleCI:Freemium
- Jenkins:Open source
- Plans
- CircleCI:Free $0 per month · Performance $15 per month
- Jenkins:—
- Open source
- CircleCI:—
- Jenkins:Yes, 26,610 GitHub stars
- Works with
- CircleCI:GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket, AWS, GCP, Kubernetes
- Jenkins:Java, Windows, Linux, macOS, Unix
CircleCI features
- Execution environments. Run jobs in Docker, Linux, Windows, macOS, Arm and GPU containers.
- Build optimization. Layer caching and resource classes speed up builds and reduce compute usage.
- Autoscaling. Automatically adds resources to handle peak workloads.
- Technical services. Provides release management, rollback, and deployment orchestration.
- Orbs registry. Reusable, shareable YAML packages for common CI tasks.
Jenkins features
- Hundreds of plugins. Integrates with virtually any tool in the CI/CD toolchain through its plugin ecosystem.
- Easy installation. Self-contained Java program with packages for Windows, Linux, macOS and Unix.
- Web UI configuration. Set up and manage pipelines via a web interface with built-in help and error checks.
- Distributed builds. Distribute work across multiple machines to speed up builds, tests and deployments.
- Extensible architecture. Plugin-based design allows infinite customization and extension of functionality.
- Community driven. Open-source project supported by a global community of contributors and users.
CircleCI vs Jenkins FAQ
Is CircleCI or Jenkins free?+
CircleCI has a free plan; paid plans start at $15/month (Performance). Jenkins is free and open source.
Which is cheaper, CircleCI or Jenkins?+
Jenkins is free, so it costs less. CircleCI starts at $15/month (Performance).
Is CircleCI or Jenkins open source?+
Jenkins is open source (jenkinsci/jenkins on GitHub, MIT license). DevHunt has no public source repository on record for CircleCI.
Do CircleCI and Jenkins integrate with the same tools?+
Their integration lists don't overlap: CircleCI lists GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket, AWS and 2 more; Jenkins lists Java, Windows, Linux, macOS and 1 more.
On DevHunt
Based on each tool's website and DevHunt data. Details may change; check the official sites.