# Drone vs Semaphore

**Leader by vioscaleAI score:** Semaphore

| Attribute | Drone | Semaphore |
|---|---|---|
| **vioscaleAI score** | 49.9 (18% (low)) | 62.5 (70% (medium)) |
| content.faq | `[{"answer":"Drone is a continuous integration server that provides a unified interface for multiple source control management systems, supports Docker image building and publishing, includes customizable runner infrastructure with automatic scaling, and enables pipeline configuration through code. It is indexed under CI/CD Tools.","source":"https://www.drone.io","question":"What is Drone?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Drone offers a free tier, so you can start without paying. Pricing changes often, so verify at source before relying on it.","source":"https://www.drone.io","question":"Is Drone free?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have confirmed browser-based access to Drone. That is the extent of what we could verify from public sources, so it may well offer desktop or mobile clients we have not indexed.","source":"https://www.drone.io","question":"What platforms does Drone support?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Yes. Drone can be deployed self-hosted, so it does not have to run on the vendor's infrastructure.","source":"https://www.drone.io","question":"Can Drone be self-hosted?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have confirmed 5 integrations for Drone, including GitHub, Bitbucket, GitLab, Docker and MySQL. This is what we could verify from public sources, so the vendor may support others we have not indexed.","source":"https://www.drone.io","question":"What does Drone integrate with?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Drone is available worldwide. The vendor is headquartered in the United States.","source":"https://www.drone.io","question":"Where is Drone available?","confidence":0.75}]` | `[{"answer":"An all-in-one continuous integration and delivery platform designed for modern cloud development, offering both open-source self-hosted and cloud-hosted options for building and deploying applications. It is indexed under CI/CD Tools.","source":"https://semaphore.io/","question":"What is Semaphore?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Semaphore offers a free tier, so you can start without paying. Paid plans start at $0.00. Pricing changes often, so verify at source before relying on it.","source":"https://semaphore.io/","question":"Is Semaphore free?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have confirmed browser-based access to Semaphore. That is the extent of what we could verify from public sources, so it may well offer desktop or mobile clients we have not indexed.","source":"https://semaphore.io/blog/2013/03/07/semaphore-pricing-update-with-higher-plans.html","question":"What platforms does Semaphore support?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Yes. Semaphore can be deployed cloud / SaaS and self-hosted, so it does not have to run on the vendor's infrastructure.","source":"https://semaphore.io/","question":"Can Semaphore be self-hosted?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have independently confirmed SOC 2 and ISO 27001 for Semaphore. Certifications we do not list are ones we have not been able to verify from public sources, which is not the same as Semaphore not holding them. Always confirm compliance directly before you rely on it.","source":"https://semaphore.io/","question":"What security certifications does Semaphore have?","confidence":0.48}]` |
| deployment.options | `{"self_hosted":true}` | `{"cloud":true,"self_hosted":true}` |
| description.long | A CI/CD server featuring a web interface, programmatic API, auto-scaling instance management, and extensibility through Docker builds and custom runners. | A delivery platform that combines CI/CD capabilities with AI-driven features through a command-line interface. |
| features.capabilities | `{"hosting":"both","marketplace":true,"yaml_pipelines":true,"container_native":true,"secrets_management":true,"deploy_environments":true,"self_hosted_runners":true}` | `{"hosting":"both","matrix_builds":true,"yaml_pipelines":true,"container_native":true,"self_hosted_runners":true}` |
| integrations.count | 2 | 1 |
| integrations.list | `[{"name":"GitHub"},{"name":"GitHub Enterprise"},{"name":"Bitbucket"},{"name":"GitLab"},{"name":"Docker"},{"name":"MySQL"},{"name":"Source code management systems","native":true}]` | `[{"name":"Flowdock"}]` |
| market.availability | `{"hqCountry":"US","primaryMarkets":[],"availabilityScope":"global","availableCountries":[],"notAvailableCountries":[]}` | - |
| platform.support | `{"web":true}` | `{"cli":true}` |
| pricing | `{"type":"free","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://www.drone.io","retrievedAt":"2026-08-13T18:17:03.047Z"}` | `{"type":"usage","plans":[{"free":false,"name":"Compute - Ubuntu ARM","summary":"$0.003–$0.012/min depending on vCPU","components":[{"per":{"qty":1,"unit":"minute"},"kind":"metered","amount":0.003,"currency":"USD","specification":"2vCPU"},{"per":{"qty":1,"unit":"minute"},"kind":"metered","amount":0.006,"currency":"USD","specification":"4vCPU"},{"per":{"qty":1,"unit":"minute"},"kind":"metered","amount":0.012,"currency":"USD","specification":"8vCPU"}],"contactSales":false,"includedLimits":{"concurrent_jobs":"20 by default"}},{"free":false,"name":"Compute - Ubuntu x64","summary":"$0.0075–$0.015/min depending on vCPU","components":[{"per":{"qty":1,"unit":"minute"},"kind":"metered","amount":0.0075,"currency":"USD","specification":"2vCPU"},{"per":{"qty":1,"unit":"minute"},"kind":"metered","amount":0.015,"currency":"USD","specification":"4vCPU"}],"contactSales":false,"includedLimits":{"concurrent_jobs":"20 by default"}},{"free":false,"name":"Compute - MacOS","summary":"$0.09/min","components":[{"per":{"qty":1,"unit":"minute"},"kind":"metered","amount":0.09,"currency":"USD","specification":"4vCPU"}],"contactSales":false,"includedLimits":{"concurrent_jobs":"20 by default"}},{"free":false,"name":"Compute - Self-Hosted","summary":"$0.0025/min","components":[{"per":{"qty":1,"unit":"minute"},"kind":"metered","amount":0.0025,"currency":"USD"}],"contactSales":false,"includedLimits":{"concurrent_jobs":"contact for limits"}}],"addOns":[{"name":"Dedicated Cache Server","components":[{"kind":"fixed","amount":400,"period":"month","currency":"USD"}]},{"name":"Private Docker Registry","components":[{"kind":"fixed","amount":400,"period":"month","currency":"USD"}]},{"name":"Support - Basic","components":[{"kind":"fixed","amount":50,"period":"month","currency":"USD"}]},{"name":"Support - Priority Response","components":[{"kind":"fixed","amount":250,"period":"month","currency":"USD"}]},{"name":"Support - SLA Standard","components":[{"kind":"fixed","amount":500,"period":"month","currency":"USD"}]},{"name":"Support - SLA Premium","components":[{"kind":"fixed","amount":750,"period":"month","currency":"USD"}]},{"name":"Success - Visibility","components":[{"kind":"fixed","amount":125,"period":"month","currency":"USD"}]},{"name":"Success - Performance","components":[{"kind":"fixed","amount":300,"period":"month","currency":"USD"}]},{"name":"Success - Scale","components":[{"kind":"fixed","amount":1000,"period":"month","currency":"USD"}]},{"name":"Success - Alliance","components":[{"kind":"fixed","amount":2000,"period":"month","currency":"USD"}]},{"name":"Engineering Access","components":[{"kind":"one_time","amount":900,"currency":"USD"},{"kind":"one_time","amount":1250,"currency":"USD"},{"kind":"one_time","amount":2000,"currency":"USD"}]}],"summary":"Pay-per-minute metered compute: $0.0025/min (self-hosted) to $0.09/min (MacOS). Includes 20 concurrent jobs, $15/month free credits, 9.6 GB cache, and free support. Optional modular support and success services.","currency":"USD","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://semaphore.io/","retrievedAt":"2026-08-03T20:21:00.253Z","startingPrice":{"amount":0.0025,"period":"month","currency":"USD"},"billingPeriods":["month","year"]}` |
| pricing.free_tier | yes | yes |
| pricing.model | free | freemium |
| pricing.price_level | free | low |
| pricing.transparent | - | no |
| reliability.status_page | - | yes |
| security.iso27001 | - | yes |
| security.pci | - | yes |
| security.soc2 | - | yes |

## Capabilities (CI/CD Tools)

| Capability | Drone | Semaphore |
|---|:--:|:--:|
| **Deployment** |  |  |
| Hosting | Cloud + self-hosted | Cloud + self-hosted |
| Self-hosted runners | ✓ | ✓ |
| **Core** |  |  |
| Config-as-code pipelines | ✓ | ✓ |
| Matrix / parallel builds | - | ✓ |
| **Build** |  |  |
| Container-native builds | ✓ | ✓ |
| **Performance** |  |  |
| Build caching | - | - |
| **Security** |  |  |
| Secrets management | ✓ | - |
| **Delivery** |  |  |
| Deployment environments & approvals | ✓ | - |
| **Ecosystem** |  |  |
| Reusable actions / marketplace | ✓ | - |

*Source: vioscaleAI. Generated 2026-10-16T21:41:23.729Z. "-" = undocumented, not absent.*