CircleCI vs CloudBees comparison

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CircleCI

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 11, 2025

CircleCI and CloudBees compete in continuous integration and delivery solutions. CircleCI generally leads in pricing and support, while CloudBees offers a more robust feature set worth the extra cost.

Features: CircleCI features container-based builds, integration with GitHub and BitBucket, and automation workflows for seamless continuous integration. CloudBees offers scalability for large teams, advanced security features, and integrates with various tools for application delivery automation.

Room for Improvement: CircleCI could improve its advanced feature offerings, scalability options, and security enhancements. CloudBees can enhance compatibility with different plugins, simplify the setup process for new users, and improve transparency in pricing for additional user licenses.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: CircleCI features a cloud-based deployment model that requires minimal setup, with responsive customer service. CloudBees provides both cloud and on-premises deployment options, with detailed support suitable for enterprise-level needs.

Pricing and ROI: CircleCI offers a cost-effective pricing structure ideal for small to mid-sized teams. CloudBees, despite higher costs, provides substantial ROI for large enterprises through its customizable infrastructure and performance enhancements.

To learn more, read our detailed CircleCI vs. CloudBees Report (Updated: December 2025).

CircleCI vs. CloudBees

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Helped 879,259 peers since 2012

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

CircleCI

Ranking in Build Automation

16th

Ranking in AI Software Development

32nd

Average Rating

6.8

Reviews Sentiment

7.2

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

CloudBees

Ranking in Build Automation

6th

Ranking in AI Software Development

8th

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

7.4

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Configuration Management (11th), Value Stream Management Software (2nd), DevSecOps (5th), AI-Augmented Software-Testing Tools (2nd), Feature Management (1st)

Mindshare comparison

As of December 2025, in the Build Automation category, the mindshare of CircleCI is 3.3%, down from 3.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of CloudBees is 1.6%, up from 0.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Build Automation Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
CloudBees	1.6%
CircleCI	3.3%
Other	95.1%

Build Automation

Featured Reviews

reviewer2785464

General Manager at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees

Automated CI/CD pipelines have transformed deployment speed and collaboration for my teams

CircleCI offers fast parallel builds, easy integration with GitHub, and the ability to deploy applications on Kubernetes pods, which are amazing features. Fast parallel builds and GitHub integration have definitely helped my team reach faster time to market for our applications. Previously, our deployment used to take a couple of hours when doing it manually, but with CircleCI pipeline, our hours-long job has been converted to a couple of minutes. Its simplicity, fast pipeline execution, and strong GitHub and GitLab integrations are definitely unique advantages I discovered while using CircleCI. Time saved is one of the key aspects I have seen since using CircleCI. I have noticed fewer deployment errors, and it has helped me with easy debugging. Time saved is directly proportional to the cost and effort saved. CircleCI has positively impacted my organization by integrating directly with my Git repositories as a fully managed SaaS platform. CircleCI has a great impact on my team's collaboration and communication, with around 25 to 40 developers and DevOps engineers using it daily across multiple repositories and environments, helping us use it at scale. CircleCI has significantly increased our release frequency and deployment speed compared to before I started using it. CircleCI improves security for my organization by enforcing automated checks in the pipeline and securely managing secrets through environment variables while providing auditable deployments. CircleCI integrates seamlessly with my DevOps toolchain by connecting directly to GitHub, container registries, and my cloud platform AWS, allowing the entire CI/CD flow from code commit to deployment and monitoring with minimal manual effort.

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YashBrahmani

Senior Associate at BNP Paribas CIB

Offers a clear visualization and overview of workflows and helpful in managing CI/CD processes

Improvement in the sense that they can do better in terms of management of logs and stuff like that because the console logs are very extensive, and that causes a lot of storage issues. That is one of the things which is there. Also, with respect to the traditional platform and the modern platform, many things have upgraded, and it has quite improved. But when we talk about the performance of the agents, it’s still very crucial because it’s not up to par. It takes a lot of time to provision the agent and to finish the build because of the SSH connection and the JNLP connection. Due to that, sometimes the agent doesn’t get provisioned. Those are some of the blockers that meet up the time in terms of administering the instance.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"CircleCI has significantly reduced build and deployment times, saving substantial engineering hours and effort for me, which has directly improved my productivity and release velocity, reflecting incredible ROI."

"Some of the most valuable features include container-based builds, integration with Bit Bucket and being able to store artifacts."

"CircleCI has positively impacted the organization, as it has been used for many years and serves as the main source for application deployment."

"The solution offers continuous integration and continuous delivery."

"The ability to automate the build process in a seamless way and run workflows effortlessly. It supports parallel builds so it can scale well. Also, it covers the basics of any build and integration tool, including email notifications (especially when tests are fixed), project insights, etc."

"Enables us to detect exactly which build failed and why, and to push multiple builds to our production environment at a very fast rate."

"It's a stable product."

"The automation workflow in CircleCI related to third-party applications is very good and allows standardization of applications."

"One recent product feature that stands out is the pipeline explorer, which is providing significant value for us right now."

"The solution's most valuable feature is its flexibility."

"The most valuable features are Java features, microservice communication, payment validation, Jenkins Sonar, management master to CloudBees, Blue Ocean, JobConfig, and support."

"CloudBees updates its features frequently, so if we need something like SSL login, they enable it."

"The customer support is good. You get good representatives from CloudBees to help you and understand your requirements."

"CloudBees is a user-friendly tool."

"Scalability largely depends on how the tool is set up within your infrastructure"

"I find the automation feature most valuable. CloudBees is highly scalable and supports both small and large teams. The deployment process is also faster when compared to on-premise."

More CloudBees pros

Cons

"A return on investment with CircleCI has not been observed, and no relevant metrics such as time saved or fewer employees needed can be shared."

"The solution’s pricing could be better."

"There needs to be some improvement in the user interface of CircleCI."

"Billing is a mess."

"I believe debugging complex pipelines and managing credits can sometimes be challenging, especially for large workflows, so these areas can be improved."

"Integration with Microsoft Azure is one area for improvement. Azure is growing in its user base, and supports various cloud infrastructure components such as Service Fabric, App Service, etc. Some of Azure’s deployment models (like Kudu) require a steep learning curve, but if CircleCI would come up with such features (deployment to App Service) out of the box, it would be amazing."

"The platform could integrate better with other tools and support external tools directly."

"The problem with CloudBees is that when you merge it, the pipelines would randomly fail multiple times."

"To use the tool, you need to be familiar with the tool itself and with how it will be incorporated into the culture."

"The setup is somewhat complicated. You need a cloud architect and engineer to set it up properly. The initial setup will take time, so you need a good engineer and architect to handle it."

"I noticed that CloudBees runs too slowly because some applications run more than 50 pipelines."

"I would like to see improved speed and availability."

"The user interface of CloudBees is good but could be even more intuitive. Improving the user-friendliness of the interface and having simpler setup configurations would greatly benefit new users."

"One challenge I'd like to highlight is that with CloudBees CI growing bigger and bigger, there are limitations in terms of managing old plugins and services and upgrading them with time."

More CloudBees cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The price of CircleCI could be less expensive."

Information not available

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

18%

Financial Services Firm

10%

Comms Service Provider

University

Financial Services Firm

22%

Manufacturing Company

11%

Legal Firm

Computer Software Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	2
Midsize Enterprise	2
Large Enterprise	4

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	1
Midsize Enterprise	3
Large Enterprise	17

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for CircleCI?

There is not much experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing because that is managed by the legal team.

What needs improvement with CircleCI?

CircleCI's Orbs are not as easy to use as they could be. If CircleCI implemented a function approach similar to GitHub Actions, it would be significantly better. CircleCI could be improved if it co...

What advice do you have for others considering CircleCI?

For others looking into using CircleCI, study thoroughly about CircleCI's Orbs because they are quite complicated. The overall review rating for CircleCI is 6 out of 10.

What needs improvement with CloudBees?

There are connection issues with CloudBees, specifically between Sybase and CloudBees. We often encounter connection problems, and there are issues with the pipelines.

What is your primary use case for CloudBees?

We use CloudBees for deploying the code in higher environments, such as QA, C2, staging, and production.

What advice do you have for others considering CloudBees?

I would recommend CloudBees to others because building jobs is much easier than with other solutions.

GitHub Actions vs CircleCI

Comparisons

Tekton vs CircleCI

Compared 14% of the time

GitLab vs CircleCI

Compared 11% of the time

TeamCity vs CircleCI

Compared 10% of the time

Harness vs CircleCI

Compared 8% of the time

Compared 8% of the time

More CircleCI Competitors

GitLab vs CloudBees

Compared 20% of the time

Harness vs CloudBees

Compared 20% of the time

Jenkins vs CloudBees

Compared 16% of the time

Digital.ai Release vs CloudBees

Compared 16% of the time

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Product Reports

Build Automation

Download CircleCI product report

Download CloudBees product report

Overview

CircleCI is a continuous integration and delivery platform that automates software development, streamlining the process for engineers and developers. It's valued for its ability to enhance development speed while maintaining high software quality.

Known for its robust CI/CD capabilities, CircleCI supports a wide range of programming languages and integrations, allowing teams to build and deploy code with efficiency and reliability. Its flexibility and automation features help teams quickly adapt to changing project requirements. CircleCI's cloud-based architecture ensures scalability and accessibility, making it an attractive option for modern development environments.

What are CircleCI's key features?

Continuous Integration: Automates code integration with testing to catch errors early.
Continuous Deployment: Simplifies the process of deploying code to production environments.
Customizable Workflows: Offers flexibility in defining build, test, and deployment stages.
Parallel Execution: Speeds up builds by running multiple tasks at once.
VCS Integration: Seamlessly integrates with platforms like GitHub and Bitbucket.

What benefits can users expect when using CircleCI?

Increased Efficiency: Streamlines development workflows, reducing the time to market.
Improved Code Quality: Early error detection through automation increases overall quality.
Scalability: Ability to handle growing workloads as development needs evolve.
Enhanced Collaboration: Facilitates teamwork through shared visibility and control over development processes.

In tech-driven industries, CircleCI enables efficient software development pipelines. Its ability to run automated tests and manage deployments effectively is particularly beneficial in fast-paced, innovation-driven fields like fintech, mobile app development, and SaaS platforms. Offering tools that meet high-demand environments, it supports teams in delivering timely and quality software products.

CircleCI

CloudBees provides a highly scalable and secure platform that supports seamless integration and automation across multiple environments. It excels in managing Jenkins instances and offers flexible deployment options, enhancing efficiency for large teams.

CloudBees is recognized for its integration with Jenkins, SonarQube, and Ansible, allowing companies to leverage its robust automation capabilities for continuous integration and deployment. With its strong support for Docker and Kubernetes, teams benefit from streamlined code management and operational efficiency. Its scalable architecture, real-time feedback, and premium vendor support help manage large-scale applications and microservices. Despite its strengths, users report challenges with pipeline setup, service availability, and GUI accessibility, which suggest room for improvement in these areas.

What are the key features of CloudBees?

User-friendly interface: Simplifies navigation and improves workflow efficiency.
Robust scalability: Supports growth and large-scale application management.
Advanced security: Ensures data security and compliance.
Integration capabilities: Seamlessly integrates with Jenkins, SonarQube, and Ansible.
Flexible deployment: Adapts to different infrastructure needs across environments.

What benefits should users expect in reviews?

Enhanced efficiency: Automation reduces manual workload.
Real-time feedback: Provides immediate insights into pipeline performance.
Vendor support: Offers assistance for troubleshooting and growth.
Scalable architecture: Accommodates business expansion requirements.

In tech and software industries, companies implement CloudBees for managing complex CI/CD pipelines. Its integration with DevOps tools facilitates automation and workflow optimization. Industries with large teams managing thousands of microservices use CloudBees to maintain high availability, streamline processes, and ensure security compliance, driving efficient production workflows.

Sample Customers

Shopify, Zenefits, Concur Technologies, CyberAgent

Capital One, PEGA, vistaprint, HSBC, BOSCH, Starbucks Coffee

CircleCI vs. CloudBees