CircleCI vs Jenkins

by Gralio Mar 07, 2025

CircleCI and Jenkins both offer robust CI/CD capabilities. CircleCI shines with its user-friendly cloud-based approach, while Jenkins excels in customization and flexibility through its open-source nature and vast plugin library. CircleCI is best for teams who want a turnkey solution, while Jenkins is better if you need flexibility and complete control.

At Gralio.ai we help to simplify your decision-making process by offering detailed, side-by-side software comparisons like this one, to help you confidently choose the tool that aligns with your business goals.

This comparison was created by analysing 1547 reviews and 60 websites, saving 9 hours, 5 minutes of reading.

CircleCI

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Jenkins

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About

CircleCI helps your developers release software faster and with fewer errors. It automates the building, testing, and deployment of software, so your teams can focus on creating great products. CircleCI supports various programming languages and integrates with popular developer tools. It's used by companies of all sizes to improve software quality and speed up delivery.

Jenkins is a free and customizable tool that helps businesses automate the building, testing, and deployment of software. Through its extensive plugin library, Jenkins integrates with a wide range of development tools, making it suitable for diverse projects and teams.

Summary

Main difference

CircleCI is a cloud-based CI/CD platform known for its ease of use and seamless integrations with popular developer tools, making it ideal for teams seeking a quick setup and fast deployments. Jenkins, on the other hand, is a self-hosted, open-source automation server offering extensive customization and a vast plugin library, better suited for teams needing granular control and flexibility.

Relative strengths of CircleCI (compared to Jenkins)

Easy setup and use, particularly for cloud-native projects.
Seamless integrations with popular developer tools like GitHub, GitLab, and Slack.
Fast build times and efficient scaling with cloud-based infrastructure.

Relative weaknesses of CircleCI (compared to Jenkins)

Limited customization options compared to Jenkins.
Potential vendor lock-in with cloud-based services.
Cost can increase significantly with higher usage and scaling needs.

Who should use CircleCI VS. Jenkins

CircleCI helps software teams improve quality and accelerate delivery with automated building, testing, and deployment. Users praise its ease of use, speed, and cloud integration, while some note occasional connectivity issues and billing complexities. Ideal for businesses of all sizes.

Jenkins is a free and open-source automation server that helps development teams automate building, testing, and deploying software. Users praise its extensive plugin ecosystem and customizability but note the initial setup can be complex and the interface feels outdated.

Ideal for small, medium, and large businesses seeking to enhance software quality and delivery speed.
Particularly well-suited for the Software, IT, and Telecommunications industry but also applicable to various other sectors.

Ideal for software teams of all sizes needing to automate build, test, and deployment.
Best fit for software, IT, and telecommunications companies.

CircleCI and Jenkins features

Supported

Partially supported

Not supported

Type in the name of the feature or in your own words tell us what you need

Automated testing

Supported

CircleCI fully supports automated testing within its CI/CD pipelines.

Supported

Jenkins fully supports running automated tests within CI/CD pipelines.
Kubernetes integration

Supported

CircleCI integrates with Kubernetes to automate build, test, and deployment processes.

Supported

Jenkins supports Kubernetes integration for efficient CI/CD processes.
Pipeline configuration

Supported

CircleCI allows defining and configuring custom CI/CD pipelines using configuration files and parameters.

Supported

Jenkins users can create custom CI/CD pipelines using Jenkinsfile which describes pipeline steps.
Cloud integrations

Supported

CircleCI integrates with cloud providers like AWS and Azure.

Supported

Jenkins can be integrated with cloud providers like AWS, Azure and GCP.
Continuous delivery support

Supported

CircleCI automates deployments to production with its continuous deployment feature.

Partially supported

Jenkins supports continuous delivery but might require additional tools for a comprehensive CD process.
Deployment automation

Supported

CircleCI automates deployments to various environments like development, staging, and production.

Supported

Jenkins enables automated deployments to various environments like development, staging, and production through customizable pipelines.

Qualities

Value and Pricing Transparency

No data

-0.33

Rather negative sentiment
Customer Service

No data

No data
Ease of Use

No data

-0.14

Neutral sentiment
Reliability and Performance

No data

+0.7

Strongly positive sentiment
Ease of Implementation

No data

-0.67

Rather negative sentiment
Scalability

No data

+0.5

Rather positive sentiment

CircleCI and Jenkins Pricing

No data

User sentiment

Strongly negative

-1

See full Pricing page

No data

User sentiment

Rather negative

-0.33

We couldn't find a pricing page for Jenkins.

CircleCI and Jenkins review insights

1547 reviews analysed from and

Users love

Simple to use and integrate with other technologies.
Great documentation.
Fast and speeds up releases.
Cloud plans empower the solution.
User-friendly through configuration of YAML files.

Extensive plugin ecosystem allows for integration with a wide range of tools and technologies.
Highly customizable and adaptable to various development environments and workflows.
Automates the entire software development lifecycle, including building, testing, and deployment.
Strong community support and extensive documentation make it easier to find solutions.

Users dislike

Occasional connectivity issues.
Nonsense 137 OOM and infrastructure failure which result in build failures.
Support engineers do not thoroughly read and understand issues.
Billing is a mess and a nightmare!
No transparency on how many build minutes and credits are spent each day.
Difficult to track usage and burndown of subscription and total outstanding refill amounts.

Initial setup can be complex and time-consuming, especially for large-scale projects.
The user interface feels outdated and can be cumbersome to navigate at times.
Managing and updating a large number of plugins can be cumbersome.
Some plugins are outdated or poorly maintained, leading to compatibility issues.

CircleCI and Jenkins Ratings

G2

4.4/5

(502)
Glassdoor

3.3/5

(143)

G2

4.4/5

(496)
Capterra

4.5/5

(555)

Company health

Employee growth

31% decrease in the last year

10% decrease in the last year

Web traffic

2% decrease in the last quarter

38% increase in the last quarter

Financing

February 2021 - $315M

No data

How do CircleCI's "nonsense 137 OOM errors" impact reliability?

CircleCI's "nonsense 137 OOM errors and infrastructure failures" directly and negatively impact its reliability. These errors, indicating processes exceeding memory limits and broader infrastructure problems, lead to failed builds and disrupted workflows. This undermines the core value proposition of a CI/CD tool, which is to provide consistent and dependable automated software delivery.

Which product offers easier initial setup for complex projects?

CircleCI offers easier initial setup for complex projects. Jenkins users specifically note that initial setup can be complex and time-consuming for larger projects, while CircleCI is praised for its ease of use and integration with other technologies.

What are the advantages of CircleCI?

CircleCI is praised for its ease of use and integration with other technologies, speeding up releases through its cloud plans and user-friendly YAML configuration. While Jenkins offers a highly customizable experience with a vast plugin ecosystem, its initial setup can be complex. CircleCI's streamlined approach may be more advantageous for teams prioritizing a faster start and simpler integration with existing workflows.

What are the disadvantages of CircleCI?

CircleCI users report occasional connectivity issues, infrastructure failures leading to build failures, unhelpful support engineers, and a confusing billing system lacking transparency in usage and costs. Some users find it difficult to track build minutes and credit consumption against their subscription.

Alternatives to CircleCI and Jenkins

Travis CI

Travis CI is a cloud-based platform that helps software developers test and deploy their code automatically. It works with projects of all sizes and integrates with popular cloud platforms. Using simple instructions, developers can set up automatic testing in multiple environments. Travis CI is known for its ease of use, speed, and trusted reputation among developers. It's particularly helpful for catching errors early in the development process and speeding up software releases.

Azure Pipelines

Azure Pipelines is a cloud-based service that automates software building and deployment. It allows developers to test code automatically, ensuring higher quality and faster releases. Azure Pipelines integrates with various programming languages and tools, making it suitable for diverse development teams and projects.

Bitrise

Bitrise is a cloud-based platform built specifically to help mobile app development teams build, test, and release apps faster and more reliably. It provides automated tools to manage the entire process, from integrating code changes to deploying finished apps to app stores. It focuses on simplifying and speeding up mobile-specific tasks like building different versions of an app for iOS and Android and running automated tests on those platforms. Bitrise is known for being easy to use, even for teams without deep technical expertise, and it's trusted by many well-known mobile app companies.

AWS Developer Tools

AWS Developer Tools is a collection of services designed to help developers build, test, and deploy software applications on the Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud platform. It offers a wide array of tools including code editors, continuous integration and delivery services, infrastructure automation, and monitoring tools. AWS Developer Tools focuses on making the software development process faster and more efficient regardless of company size or industry. Its promise is to provide a comprehensive suite of services that support the entire software development lifecycle.

Azure DevOps Server

Azure DevOps Server is a comprehensive, on-premises toolset designed to streamline software development. It enables your teams to manage code, track work progress, and automate software releases. With built-in features for version control, code reviews, continuous integration, and continuous delivery, it offers a centralized platform for managing your entire software development lifecycle. Geared towards enterprise-level needs, it seamlessly integrates with popular development tools.

GitHub

GitHub is a website and cloud-based service that helps developers store and manage their code. It's like Google Docs for software development, where teams can work together on projects, track changes, and prevent errors. GitHub is known for its user-friendly interface and is used by companies of all sizes to build and maintain software.

Page co-authored by

Michal Kaczor

CEO at Gralio

Michal has worked at startups for many years and writes about topics relating to software selection and IT management. As a former consultant for Bain, a business advisory company, he also knows how to understand needs of any business and find solutions to its problems.

Tymon Terlikiewicz

CTO at Gralio

Tymon is a seasoned CTO who loves finding the perfect tools for any task. He recently headed up the tech department at Batmaid, a well-known Swiss company, where he managed about 60 software purchases, including CX, HR, Payroll, Marketing automation and various developer tools.

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