Comparison

Buildkite vs Jenkins

On the evidence we track, Buildkite leads this comparison with a composite score of 65/100. Scores are only directly comparable because these tools share a category; the full breakdown and every source is below.

Machine formatsMarkdownJSONGraphQLMarkdown is open. JSON and GraphQL need a free key.
★Buildkite65
Jenkins55
Score
vioscaleAI score
Buildkite65 / 100medium · 72%
Jenkins55 / 100high · 75%
Pricing
Free tier
Buildkite✓
Jenkins✓
Model
Buildkitefreemium
Price level
Buildkitelow
Jenkinsfree
Transparent
Buildkite✓
Jenkins✓
Integrations
Count
Buildkite25
Jenkins1
Security
Certifications
Jenkins–
Disclosure policy
Buildkite✓
Jenkins✓
Gdpr
Buildkite✓
Jenkins–
Scorecard
Buildkite–
Jenkins6.7
Soc2
Buildkite✓
Jenkins✓
Reliability
Sla pct
Buildkite99.95
Jenkins–
Status page
Buildkite✓
Jenkins✓
Adoption
Dependent repos
Buildkite–
Jenkins0
Github stars
Buildkite–
Jenkins26,648
Activity
Commits last 30d
Buildkite–
Jenkins100
Release
Cadence days
Buildkite–
Jenkins5
History
Buildkite–
Jenkins20 items
License
Spdx
Buildkite–
JenkinsMIT
Language
Primary
Buildkite–
JenkinsJava
Content
Faq
Buildkite7 items
Jenkins6 items

Capabilities

Feature-by-feature on the axes that matter for ci/cd tools. “-” means undocumented, not absent.

Deployment
Hosting
BuildkiteCloud + self-hosted
JenkinsSelf-hosted only
Self-hosted runners
Buildkite✓
Jenkins✓
Core
Config-as-code pipelines
Buildkite✓
Jenkins✓
Matrix / parallel builds
Buildkite✓
Jenkins✓
Build
Container-native builds
Buildkite✓
Jenkins✓
Performance
Build caching
Buildkite✓
Jenkins-
Security
Secrets management
Buildkite✓
Jenkins-
Delivery
Deployment environments & approvals
Buildkite✓
Jenkins✓
Ecosystem
Reusable actions / marketplace
Buildkite✓
Jenkins✓

What each one is

The product in its own terms, so the numbers below have context.

Buildkite

Leader

A continuous integration and deployment platform that automates software workflows with support for both cloud-hosted and self-managed build agents, test execution, and artifact management.

Independently observed

Jenkins

A self-contained Java application that automates building, testing, and deployment workflows. Extensible through hundreds of community-maintained plugins and supports distributing work across multiple machines.

Independently observed

Pricing

List pricing as published by each vendor, with the date we read it. Always verify at the source before you buy.

Buildkite

Leader
SubscriptionFree tier30-day trial

Free tier with 30-day all-access trial. Pro plan per active user/month. Enterprise with custom pricing. Metered usage for hosted agents ($0.004/Linux vCPU-min, $0.02-$0.24/Mac vCPU-min).

  • FreeFree
    • Up to 2,000 Linux vCPU minutes/month
    • Up to 250k test executions/month
    • Dynamic pipelines
    • Community support
    • 1 workflow
  • ProPer active user/month (amount not specified in source)
    • 4,000 Linux vCPU minutes/month included
    • 1M test executions/month
    • macOS agents access
    • Priority email support
    • 250k/month test history
    • +1 more
  • EnterpriseContact sales
    • Full Buildkite platform access
    • 99.95% platform uptime SLA
    • Buildkite-hosted agents with remote Docker builders
    • Private container registry
    • Custom storage and retention policies
    • +8 more
as of verify ↗

Jenkins

Open source
as of verify ↗

Platform & deployment

Where each product runs and how it can be hosted. A dash means undocumented, not unsupported.

Platforms
Web
Buildkite✓
Jenkins✗
macOS
Buildkite✗
Jenkins✓
Windows
Buildkite✗
Jenkins✓
Linux
Buildkite✗
Jenkins✓
CLI
Buildkite✓
Jenkins✗
Deployment
Cloud / SaaS
Buildkite✓
Jenkins✗
Self-hosted
Buildkite✓
Jenkins✓
Hybrid
Buildkite✓
Jenkins✗

Integrations

What each product connects to. Counts come from the vendor's own integration directory where one exists.

Buildkite

Leader
48 total
  • GitHub
  • GitHub Enterprise
  • Bitbucket Server
  • AWS ECR
  • AWS S3
  • AWS CloudFormation
  • AWS IAM
  • AWS CloudWatch
  • Docker
  • Kubernetes
  • Jenkins
  • CircleCI
  • NPM
  • PyPI
  • RubyGems
  • Maven
  • Apt
  • RPM
  • Helm
  • Alpine
  • Jest
  • Mocha
  • Cypress
  • Playwright
  • +24 more
Independently observed

Jenkins

1 total
  • Subversion
Independently observed
Still deciding?

Buildkite or Jenkins: which one depends on you

A composite score cannot know your constraints. Describe them and both get re-weighted against what you actually need, with the evidence behind every position.

Free to run, no account needed to start. How the evaluation works

Comparison generated from independently-sourced facts. Every value links to its source and retrieval date. See the method.