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CircleCI vs VMware Tanzu Platform comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Mar 15, 2026

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
13th
Average Rating
6.6
Reviews Sentiment
5.8
Number of Reviews
9
Ranking in other categories
AI Software Development (199th)
VMware Tanzu Platform
Ranking in Build Automation
14th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
23
Ranking in other categories
PaaS Clouds (12th), Cloud Management (25th), Development Platforms (3rd), Container Management (6th), Service Mesh (7th), Agile and DevOps Services (3rd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of March 2026, in the Build Automation category, the mindshare of CircleCI is 3.6%, up from 3.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of VMware Tanzu Platform is 2.3%, up from 0.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Build Automation Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
CircleCI3.6%
VMware Tanzu Platform2.3%
Other94.1%
Build Automation
 

Featured Reviews

Manas Kashyap - PeerSpot reviewer
DevOps Engineer at Elevenxcapital
Automated parallel pipelines have accelerated deployments but complex configs still need simplification
CircleCI can be improved by making it less costly, as it is very expensive. The config complexity, like the YAML config, can become messy in complex projects. Making it simpler, much like having a Docker Compose YAML or Kubernetes YAML, is necessary from that perspective. Rather than keeping it a SaaS project, they can think of it through a Jenkins approach, where we can also self-host it into our environment, but it is acceptable. It is very expensive, and many organizations cannot afford it. The config complexity, like the YAML configs, can become messy in complex projects. A better DevOps person can only handle it, not a normal person. For that reason, I chose a rating of seven. It is quite expensive, to be honest. As mentioned, many organizations cannot afford it because of the parallel execution prices as well as the config complexity.
ErmiasGirma - PeerSpot reviewer
Cloud Infrastructure Engineer at Safaricom Ethiopia plc
Has supported container-based deployments and improved infrastructure visibility through monitoring tools
Aria Operations, formerly known as VMware vRealize Operations, has been renamed to vROps. We are currently using this for monitoring purposes. For orchestration, we are using VCD to automate Telco Cloud. VCD is an automation tool, and we are also using VMware Tanzu Platform for the Kubernetes environment, alongside TKG, Tanzu Kubernetes Grid. These are also other solutions for the Tanzu Kubernetes environment. For Telco Cloud, we are using it to automate our company's operations, which is for a telecom company. We are familiar with these products, especially vCenter, ESXi, VCD, vCF, and vROps. It is very easy to integrate applications when we deploy vCenter and ESXi since we can enable vSphere with Tanzu feature. We can build namespaces and provide application developers the platform to deploy their applications on pods within containerization. We can easily manage, pull results, and create containers efficiently, making it a simple way to handle applications. We provide namespace labels for application developers, and we can manage their resources along with other aspects easily. Regarding security, we use many tools such as CDX and LDAP, AD for integrating our Kubernetes cluster with the developer teams. We can manage roles and permissions simply. It is very straightforward to integrate with EDX and other third-party tools, Active Directory, to the Kubernetes cluster, allowing easy access and management.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"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."
"CircleCI has positively impacted my organization by bringing in faster deployments, which means we can release faster, receive quicker feedback, and enhance collaboration and communication across the entire team."
"CircleCI has positively impacted my organization by allowing us to build quicker and do things quicker."
"The automation workflow in CircleCI related to third-party applications is very good and allows standardization of applications."
"Running parallel jobs where dev gets automatically updated every time has helped our team significantly."
"For us, this translates to high degree of productivity, ability to detect exactly which build failed and why, and being able to push multiple builds to our production environment at a very fast rate."
"The solution offers continuous integration and continuous delivery."
"Enables us to detect exactly which build failed and why, and to push multiple builds to our production environment at a very fast rate."
"Tanzu is easy to upgrade and scale, whether we're talking about horizontal or vertical scaling. It is as smooth as possible without any downtime. The platform maintenance, upgrading, and operations part is very smooth."
"The valuable feature I have found to be the management of Kubernetes clusters in a private cloud or public clouds, such as Azure or Google Cloud Platform."
"We feel very good about these features."
"The multi-tenancy with the VCD is great."
"Tanzu Mission Control has quite a set of rich features when compared to OpenShift."
"The most popular feature of VMware Tanzu Mission Control is its graphical user interface for describing network policies on the Service Mesh, which is highly integrable with other tools commonly used in supply chains such as security."
"The Tanzu platform is highly available, scalable, and flexible."
"There are a lot of services available in VMware Tanzu Application Service, such as databases and application servers. You have everything you need in one application and you do not need to search outside of the solution."
 

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."
"CircleCI can be improved by making it less costly, as it is very expensive."
"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."
"I rated CircleCI six out of ten because I think they need more transparency in pricing, as there are instances of unclear network data transfer and storage costs related to caching and workspaces."
"There needs to be some improvement in the user interface of CircleCI."
"Billing is a mess."
"For half year we have used circleCI, then we go back to jenkins."
"The solution’s pricing could be better."
"Customers have noticed a considerable price increase after VMware's acquisition by Broadcom."
"We want to see a new feature that helps build more security architecture like Zero Trust Security or shifting left in Kubernetes."
"Customers have noticed a considerable price increase after VMware's acquisition by Broadcom."
"VMware Tanzu Service Mesh could add better integration with other cloud platforms, such as vRealize Automation or VMware vCloud Director for cloud providers."
"Tanzu provides better manageability as compared to OCP, but when it comes to tagging it with other products, it's a bit rigid. If I have to bring in any new product or something out of the box from a different vendor, working with Tanzu becomes a little difficult. For example, if I want to use the F5 services, I have to add one more layer of Avi, but I don't want to do that. If I have a list of the products that I want to use, such as for firewall services, with Tanzu, I will have to go through another layer, which creates complexity."
"Another area of improvement is pricing."
"It is not easy to build a solution with containers. It has a graphical user interface, but you need to have a lot of knowledge of Linux and how to work in the command mode. Its support can also be improved. Currently, its biggest disadvantage is that it is a new product, and the clients prefer to go for a solution that has been in the market for a long time. There are not that many people who know this product."
"One potential area for expansion would be leveraging AI capabilities, which my customer might be interested in exploring as they grow."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The price of CircleCI could be less expensive."
"The license for VMware Tanzu Application Service is expensive. The license should be cheaper."
"It is not the most expensive option, and I believe the capabilities align well with the value it provides."
"The least expensive licensing cost for VMware is around $350 per core."
"There are different licenses available. You have to upgrade your license if you want to scale the solution more."
"The product is not expensive, but it is not cheap."
"Its pricing is very competitive. We get around 70% or 75%, sometimes even 80%, discount on the product. I would rate it a four out of five in terms of pricing."
"The price of VMware Tanzu Mission Control is greater than that of Red Hat's competitor solution"
"Since we were at a large data center, the price might not have been a concern for us."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
11%
Financial Services Firm
10%
University
9%
Comms Service Provider
8%
Financial Services Firm
15%
Computer Software Company
11%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Government
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business3
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise6
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business10
Midsize Enterprise3
Large Enterprise10
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for CircleCI?
My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing is that I only used CircleCI on the free tier.
What needs improvement with CircleCI?
CircleCI can be improved by making it less costly, as it is very expensive. The config complexity, like the YAML config, can become messy in complex projects. Making it simpler, much like having a ...
What advice do you have for others considering CircleCI?
My advice to others looking into using CircleCI is to just not get overwhelmed by the complexity, particularly the config complexity. Just try to learn it, as now AI tools will definitely be there ...
Which is better - OpenShift Container Platform or VMware Tanzu Mission Control?
Red Hat Openshift is ideal for organizations using microservices and cloud environments. I like that the platform is auto-scalable, which saves overhead time for developers. I think Openshift can b...
What do you like most about VMware Tanzu Mission Control?
It definitely gives the end customer a good overview and perspective of running applications in terms of overall workload footprint. TMC provides a very detailed description of your cloud-native ap...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for VMware Tanzu Mission Control?
The price of VMware Tanzu Mission Control is greater than that of Red Hat's competitor solution. I would rate the pricing of VMware Tanzu Mission Control as four out of ten.
 

Also Known As

No data available
Tanzu Application Catalog, Application Platform, Application Service, Hub, Mission Control, Service Mesh, Build Service, Concourse for VMware Tanzu
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Shopify, Zenefits, Concur Technologies, CyberAgent
Verizon, Cerner, Zipcar, Avarteq
Find out what your peers are saying about CircleCI vs. VMware Tanzu Platform and other solutions. Updated: March 2026.
884,933 professionals have used our research since 2012.