Alternatives
Buildkite alternatives
Buildkite keeps builds on your own infrastructure under a hosted control plane. Teams look at alternatives when running the agents, or securing them, becomes the job.
Updated
We build CRACI, so weigh that in; we describe every option from its own documentation and say when another tool fits better.
Why teams look beyond Buildkite
Buildkite is a hybrid platform: its SaaS control plane orchestrates, and the agents that run jobs live on your own infrastructure, so source code and secrets stay in your environment. Hosted agents are available too, signed pipelines let agents refuse jobs modified after upload, and Test Engine handles flaky tests and test splitting.
Teams look elsewhere when their situation changes:
- Operations. The agents are yours to run, scale, patch and secure.
- Build security. Buildkite's own guidance tells you to enforce strict network egress controls on your agents; that design is yours.
- Build evidence. SBOMs come from the tools you put on your agents.
- Price. As of September 2026, Pro is $30 per active user per month, and hosted Linux agents are $0.004 per vCPU minute.
What to look for
- Where jobs run: hosted, on your own machines, or both.
- Which source control it works with, and whether your code has to move.
- What you still operate: servers, agents, upgrades and plugins.
- Operating systems you need, including Windows and macOS.
- Build evidence: SBOMs, provenance, and a record of what each job fetched.
- Egress control, and whether it is a policy on the job or network plumbing you maintain.
The options
1. CRACI with GitHub Actions (our product)
CRACI is a secure runner for GitHub Actions: you move pipelines to GitHub Actions workflows and run them on CRACI. While each job runs, a package-aware proxy records what it fetched, including packages restored from CI caches, and produces a CycloneDX or SPDX SBOM with a completeness state per job and per cache. An egress policy is validated before the job starts and fails closed, policy gates can block a build on findings, and the API returns SBOMs, network traces and provenance. CRACI's inventory view shows exactly which software versions are deployed to which products, globally. There is no controller or agent to operate.
Best for: teams moving to GitHub Actions that ship software and need to show what went into each release.
Consider if: your code is on GitHub or can move there. CRACI runs Linux jobs today; Windows, macOS, GitLab CI, Jenkins and customer-hosted runners are on the roadmap.
CRACI vs GitHub-hosted runners
2. GitHub Actions
CI/CD built into GitHub, with hosted Linux, Windows and macOS runners and self-hosted runners for your own machines. Plans include 2,000 to 50,000 minutes a month, and a standard 2-core Linux runner is $0.006 per minute as of September 2026. Around it sit the dependency graph, Dependabot and artifact attestations.
Best for: code that already lives on GitHub.
Consider if: you want hosted runners on every operating system. The SBOM it exports describes the repository, not the build.
3. GitLab CI
Part of a complete DevSecOps platform: source control, merge requests, planning and CI/CD in one product, hosted or self-managed. Basic SAST, secret detection and container scanning run in all tiers; Ultimate adds dependency scanning and the vulnerability report. As of September 2026, Free includes 400 compute minutes and Premium is $29 per user per month billed annually.
Best for: one vendor for the whole lifecycle, including self-managed installs.
Consider if: you would move source control too.
4. CircleCI
A mature hosted CI/CD platform that connects to GitHub, GitLab and Bitbucket. It runs jobs on Docker, Linux, Arm, Windows, macOS and GPU resource classes, with self-hosted runners for your own machines. Docker layer caching is on all plans, and test splitting spreads suites across parallel executors. As of September 2026, the Free plan includes 30,000 credits a month.
Best for: mixed platforms and large test suites, without moving source control.
Consider if: you are happy to add SBOMs and scanning through orbs.
5. Azure Pipelines
The CI/CD part of Azure DevOps. It builds on Linux, macOS and Windows, works with Azure Repos and GitHub, and deploys to virtual machines, containers, on-premises and cloud targets. As of September 2026, one Microsoft-hosted parallel job with 1,800 minutes a month is free, and each extra hosted job is $40 a month; one self-hosted job is free and each extra is $15.
Best for: teams already on Azure and Microsoft tooling.
6. Jenkins
The open source automation server, MIT licensed, with hundreds of plugins. You host the controller and agents, and you upgrade and secure them. It works with most source control systems through plugins.
Best for: full control on your own infrastructure, if you have the people to run it.
7. Travis CI
A hosted CI service that connects to GitHub, Bitbucket, GitLab and Assembla, with Linux on amd64 and arm64, macOS and Windows build environments, and Travis CI Server for on-premises or private cloud. It can generate SBOMs from the source code that triggers a build, with CycloneDX plugins and Syft. As of September 2026, the Usage plan starts at $15 per month with 35,000 Linux build credits, and Unlimited starts at $78 per month.
Best for: simple, config-driven builds across several source control hosts.
8. TeamCity
JetBrains' CI/CD platform, as TeamCity Cloud or TeamCity On-Premises. As of September 2026, On-Premises Professional is free forever with 3 build agents and 100 build configurations, Enterprise is about $2,783 (€2,399) per year with unlimited build configurations, and Cloud is about $17 (€15) per committer per month with 24,000 build credits.
Best for: teams that want a self-hosted CI server with a free tier and JetBrains tooling.
9. Bitbucket Pipelines
CI/CD built into Bitbucket Cloud. As of September 2026, Bitbucket is free for up to 5 users with 50 build minutes, Standard is $3.65 and Premium $7.25 per user per month, and 1,000 extra minutes cost $10. Self-hosted runners run on Linux, Windows and macOS, and their build minutes are not charged.
Best for: teams whose code and planning already live in Atlassian tools.
Bitbucket Pipelines alternatives
Side by side
| Capability | CRACI | GitHub Actions | GitLab CI | CircleCI | Azure Pipelines | Jenkins | Travis CI | TeamCity | Bitbucket Pipelines | Buildkite |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| What it is | A secure runner for GitHub Actions | CI/CD built into GitHub | CI/CD in the GitLab platform | Hosted CI/CD | CI/CD in Azure DevOps | Open source automation server you host | Hosted CI, or Server on-premises | JetBrains CI, cloud or on-premises | CI/CD in Bitbucket Cloud | Hybrid CI with agents you host |
| Source control | GitHub | GitHub | GitLab | GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket | Azure Repos, GitHub and more | Most, through plugins | GitHub, Bitbucket, GitLab, Assembla | Not stated | Bitbucket | GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket and more |
| Dependencies recorded from the build | Observed fetches, caches included | Build data for Maven, Gradle, Python | Reads lockfiles | Not stated | Plugins you add | SBOM from source code | Not stated | Not stated | ||
| SBOM export | CycloneDX, SPDX per job | SPDX of the repository graph | CycloneDX reports | Via orbs you add | Not stated | Plugins you add | CycloneDX plugins and Syft | Not stated | Not stated | Tools on your agents |
| Build provenance | Provenance data via the API; not signed | SLSA Build L2 or L3 | SLSA 1.0 statement | Not stated | Not stated | Plugins you add | Not stated | Not stated | Not stated | SLSA L1, Enterprise |
| Build egress policy | Per job, fails closed | Azure networking, larger runners | Yours, on own runners | IP ranges for allowlisting | Yours, on self-hosted agents | Yours, on your agents | Not stated | Yours, on your agents | Yours, on self-hosted runners | Yours, on own agents |
| Windows and macOS | Linux only today | Hosted in beta | Any agent you run | Not stated | Self-hosted runners | |||||
| Runs on your own machines | Customer-hosted runners, Enterprise | Self-hosted agents | The only option | Travis CI Server | On-Premises | Runners, no minute charge | Core model | |||
| Starting price | $0.004 per 2 vCPU minute, no monthly fee | 2,000 to 50,000 minutes by plan | Free, 400 minutes; Premium $29 per user | Free, 30,000 credits; from $15 per month | 1 free hosted job, 1,800 minutes; $40 per extra job | Free (MIT); you pay for the machines | $15 per month, 35,000 Linux credits | On-Premises Professional free; Cloud about $17 (€15) per committer | Free for 5 users, 50 minutes; Standard $3.65 per user | Free plan; Pro $30 per active user |
- Included
- Partly
- Not included
- On the roadmap
"Not stated" means we could not confirm it in the vendor's public pages.
When to stay on Buildkite
- Builds must run on your own hardware or network, under your control.
- You rely on signed pipelines or Test Engine.
- You operate at a scale where owning the compute pays off.
- You can mix: the choice is per pipeline, so some builds can move while the rest stays.
Read more about CI/CD integration, build-time SBOM generation and pricing.
Buildkite alternatives FAQ
Short answers to the questions teams ask when they compare
Can Buildkite be self-hosted?
Its agents are. The agents that run jobs live on your own infrastructure, so source code and secrets stay in your environment, while Buildkite's SaaS control plane orchestrates them. Hosted agents are available too.
What are the key differences between Buildkite and CircleCI?
Where jobs run and how you pay. Buildkite runs jobs on agents you host under its SaaS control plane, with Pro at $30 per active user per month as of September 2026. CircleCI is hosted first, with self-hosted runners as an option, and its Free plan includes 30,000 credits a month.
Is Buildkite free?
Buildkite has a free plan. As of September 2026, Pro is $30 per active user per month, and hosted Linux agents cost $0.004 per vCPU minute.
Which Buildkite alternatives run on my own machines?
Jenkins runs only on your own machines, TeamCity On-Premises and Travis CI Server install on your servers, and GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, CircleCI, Azure Pipelines and Bitbucket Pipelines take self-hosted runners or agents. CRACI runs managed runners today, with customer-hosted runners on the roadmap for Enterprise.
What is CRACI, and does it work with Buildkite?
CRACI is a secure runner for GitHub Actions. Each job gets an SBOM of what it fetched and an egress policy that fails closed. It does not work with Buildkite: CRACI supports GitHub Actions today, with GitLab CI and Jenkins on the roadmap.
Move one pipeline and compare
Run one job on GitHub Actions with CRACI and set its SBOM and network trace next to what your Buildkite build tells you today.
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