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Bamboo vs GNU Make comparison

Atlassian and GNU are both solutions in the Build Automation category. Atlassian is ranked #10 with an average rating of 7.5, while GNU is ranked #18 with an average rating of 9.0. Atlassian holds a 5.0% mindshare in BA, compared to GNU’s 1.0% mindshare. Additionally, 77% of Atlassian users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 83% of GNU users who would recommend it.
Bamboo
Read 22 Bamboo reviews
  • 1,889 Views
  • 1,813 Comparison Views
77% willing to recommend
GNU Make
Read 6 GNU Make reviews
  • 304 Views
  • 304 Comparison Views
83% willing to recommend
 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Mar 5, 2025

GNU Make and Bamboo are products competing in build automation and continuous integration. GNU Make holds an edge in simplicity and cost-effectiveness, while Bamboo stands out for its comprehensive features making it suitable for larger projects.

Features: GNU Make is efficient in automating build processes with its rule-based build paradigm and dependency management, making it ideal for smaller projects. It supports third-party integrations and nested makefile usage. Bamboo, meanwhile, offers continuous integration, delivery, and deployment capabilities with support for multiple platforms. It integrates well with the Atlassian ecosystem, providing numerous tools for modern software development.

Room for Improvement: GNU Make could benefit from an enhanced graphical user interface and broader support for non-standard makefile names. Additional features for improved integration with third-party tools would enhance its appeal. Bamboo might improve by reducing its complexity to simplify ease of use, enhancing integration with non-Atlassian products, and offering more competitive pricing options to broaden its market base.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: GNU Make offers straightforward deployment with its open-source model but relies on user expertise and self-service support. Bamboo provides a comprehensive deployment experience with dedicated professional support, valuable for environments needing integrated services and fast troubleshooting.

Pricing and ROI: GNU Make provides a low-cost entry as a free open-source tool, ideal for small to medium projects. Bamboo's higher initial setup and subscription costs are justified by its extensive features and better long-term ROI for enterprise use, enhancing productivity for larger teams.

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To learn more, read our detailed Bamboo vs. GNU Make Report (Updated: September 2025).
Buyer's Guide
Bamboo vs. GNU Make
September 2025
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Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

Bamboo
Ranking in Build Automation
10th
Average Rating
7.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
22
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
GNU Make
Ranking in Build Automation
18th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
6
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2025, in the Build Automation category, the mindshare of Bamboo is 5.0%, down from 8.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of GNU Make is 1.0%, up from 0.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Build Automation Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Bamboo5.0%
GNU Make1.0%
Other94.0%
Build Automation
 

Featured Reviews

Andrea Carella - PeerSpot reviewer
High availability, helpful support, and plenty of plugins available
I have used Google Cloud Platform and Amazon AWS for implementing Bamboo. It is not difficult to complete. The length of time it takes for deployment depends on a lot of variables, such as how the pipeline is deployed and what type of infrastructure is present. However, it typically takes only hours not days. I rate the setup of Bamboo a nine out of ten.
Read full review
reviewer2561757 - PeerSpot reviewer
Enhances productivity with efficient dependency handling and a straightforward setup
GNU Make is used as a build system tool. Most people don't use GNU Make directly but utilize other systems like CMake to generate Make files, which are then run by GNU Make. This is common for tasks like compiling C++ code. In the industry, AI developers, for example, use GNU Make in their work…
Read full review

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"The most valuable features of Bamboo are its performance and UI. Additionally, there are a lot of useful plugins, integration with other solutions, such as Bitbucket and Jira, and a helpful online community."
"Bamboo was used extensively in our organization for PCA compliance."
"Bamboo's integration with the rest of Atlassian's tech tools, like Jira, helps manage the end-to-end development and release process."
"One of the significant benefits of Bamboo is its built-in support for numerous clients and the ability to tailor its capabilities to your specific requirements. This high level of customization enables you to create pipelines that are ideally suited to your needs, making it an invaluable tool for conducting advanced testing."
"It can do the CI pipeline well."
"The tool is useful for continuous deployment."
"The platform helps us with automated and timely backup. It provides data replication as well."
"One of the big things that made us choose Bamboo, is it seamlessly integrates its APIs into NetSuite, which is our main ELP system."
More Bamboo pros
"I have not encountered any scalability issues with GNU Make. It is as scalable as the project's structure is, and then some."
"GNU Make is such an essential tool that it is almost impossible to imagine working without it. Not having it, developers would probably have to resort to doing everything manually or via shell scripts."
"The initial setup of GNU Make is straightforward."
"Full-featured syntax allows building strategies as simple or as complex as one wishes, and declarative approach fits the task really well. Wide adoption also means that everybody knows what GNU Make is and how to use it."
"Makefiles are extremely easy to work with using any preferred editor. GNU Make can be run directly from the terminal, not requiring any time wasted on clicking."
"Setup is extremely straightforward."
 

Cons

"Bamboo can improve by providing more with scripting, such as they have with Jenkins. Bamboo is more UI-driven at this time, Jenkins is going in that direction too."
"Scalability depends on the use case. If it is really a big customer with a lot of tests, it might not be a scalable option for them."
"The solution needs to support more customization in the training. What's offered is pretty generic. They need better training and should offer more guidance."
"It's a little outdated. It's three years old."
"It should be much easier to use. It shouldn't require a lot of reading to be able to use it. It should have just two or three screens rather than hundreds of screens requiring a lot of clicking. It also requires a lot of integration. It has a steep learning curve. It takes a lot of time to understand and put in the data. There is also no proper training."
"One area that could be enhanced is the governance process, particularly with regard to building approvals and transitions between stages. In comparison to other solutions, such as Jira, which features a workflow that supports approval processes, this capability is not natively available in Bamboo. To implement this functionality, integration with other solutions, such as GSM may be necessary. Although some add-ons, such as Adaptavist ScriptRunner, are available in the market to circumvent this limitation, they may not offer the exact functionality needed. Therefore, there is certainly room for improvement in this area."
"The marketing strategy of Bamboo is an area of concern where improvements are needed."
"The performance around the deployment feature could be improved."
More Bamboo cons
"GNU Make requires using the Tab symbol as the first symbol of command line for execution. In some text editors this can be problematic, as they automatically insert spaces instead of tabs."
"GNU Make does not provide traditional customer support."
"Vanilla GNU Make does not support any kind of colored output. A wrapper named colormake exists to work around this, but native (opt-in) support would be welcome."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The server products for small teams used to offer excellent pricing. However, Atlassian has since changed the offering and the pricing is more expensive. I do still think the solution offers good value for money."
"The price of Bamboo is reasonable."
"If Bamboo could provide more flexibility on pricing, that would help. On the agent side, if you want to increase the number of agents it should be less expensive. If they can provide some better pricing model, it will help, whether we are going to use it or are already using it."
"I rate the product’s pricing a five out of ten."
"There is a subscription required to use Bamboo."
"I rate the solution's pricing a three out of five."
"GNU Make is free and open source software."
"There is no price for this product. No licensing. It’s open-source."
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Comparison Review

it_user217035 - PeerSpot reviewer
May 27, 2015
Bamboo vs. Jenkins
A biased and subjective comparison of Bamboo and Jenkins as CI servers for mobile development, based on practical experience with both. Continuous Integration and Continuous Deployment (Delivery, Distribution) has been around for quite a while. But surprisingly enough on a global scale it pretty…
Read full review
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
17%
Manufacturing Company
12%
Government
12%
Computer Software Company
11%
No data available
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business7
Midsize Enterprise6
Large Enterprise9
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Bamboo?
Bamboo's integration with the rest of Atlassian's tech tools, like Jira, helps manage the end-to-end development and release process.
See all answers
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Bamboo?
I rate the solution's pricing a three out of five.
See all answers
What needs improvement with Bamboo?
Integrating workflows with other platforms can be challenging. The capabilities of these platforms sometimes fall short compared to others. Initially, it was difficult for us because the plugins we...
See all answers
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for GNU Make?
GNU Make is a free solution that comes with Linux, which positively impacts operational costs by eliminating licensing fees.
See all answers
What needs improvement with GNU Make?
I am not familiar enough with it to suggest any specific new features or areas for improvement. It occupies its niche well.
See all answers
What is your primary use case for GNU Make?
GNU Make is used as a build system tool. Most people don't use GNU Make directly but utilize other systems like CMake to generate Make files, which are then run by GNU Make. This is common for task...
See all answers
 

Comparisons

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Compared 26% of the time
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Compared 14% of the time
Harness vs Bamboo Logo
Harness vs Bamboo
Compared 12% of the time
Jenkins vs Bamboo Logo
Jenkins vs Bamboo
Compared 11% of the time
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Jenkins vs GNU Make Logo
Jenkins vs GNU Make
Compared 63% of the time
Bazel vs GNU Make Logo
Bazel vs GNU Make
Compared 37% of the time
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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide
Bamboo
October 2025
Bamboo reportDownload Bamboo product report
Buyer's Guide
Build Automation
September 2025
GNU Make reportDownload GNU Make product report
 

Overview

Bamboo is a continuous integration and delivery tool that ties automated builds, tests and releases together in a single workflow. It works great alongside JIRA and Stash providing a fully traceable deployment pipeline.
Atlassian
Make is a tool which controls the generation of executables and other non-source files of a program from the program's source files.
GNU
 

Sample Customers

Neocleus, MuleSoft, Interspire
Information Not Available
Buyer's Guide
Bamboo vs. GNU Make
September 2025
Free Report: Bamboo vs. GNU Make
Find out what your peers are saying about Bamboo vs. GNU Make and other solutions. Updated: September 2025.
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