Indie Alternatives

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Indie alternatives to GitHub Actions

5 products made by independent developers and small teams that do what GitHub Actions does, 5 of them with a free plan. Free and open-source options come first.

At a glance

ProductPriceOpen sourceSelf-hostPlatforms
Woodpecker CIFreeYesYesSelf-hosted
BuildkiteFree plan–YesWeb, Linux, Mac, Windows
CircleCIFree plan––Web
DaggerFree planYes–Linux, Mac, Windows
SemaphoreFree planYesYesWeb, Self-hosted

The alternatives

1. Woodpecker CI

Simple community-run open-source CI/CD engine

Woodpecker is a lightweight, container-based CI/CD system that integrates with Gitea, Forgejo, GitHub and GitLab and is configured with YAML pipelines.

Free · Self-hosted · Website ↗

2. Buildkite

CI/CD with hosted control plane and your own build agents

Buildkite runs CI/CD pipelines on agents you host or Buildkite-hosted agents, aimed at large and fast-moving engineering teams.

Free plan · Web, Linux, Mac, Windows · Website ↗

3. CircleCI

Hosted continuous integration and delivery

CircleCI runs build, test and deploy pipelines defined in YAML across Linux, macOS, Windows and Arm machines.

Free plan · Web · Website ↗

4. Dagger

Write CI/CD pipelines as code that run anywhere

Dagger lets you define build and test pipelines in code using containers, so they run the same locally and in any CI system.

Free plan · Linux, Mac, Windows · Website ↗

5. Semaphore

CI/CD platform, now with an open-source community edition

Semaphore is a CI/CD service with visual pipeline editing, test reports and a self-hostable open-source edition.

Free plan · Web, Self-hosted · Website ↗

Questions

Is there a free alternative to GitHub Actions?

Yes. 5 of the 5 indie alternatives listed here have a free plan or are free: Woodpecker CI, Buildkite, CircleCI, Dagger and 1 more.

Is there an open-source alternative to GitHub Actions?

Woodpecker CI, Dagger and Semaphore are open source.

Can I self-host an alternative to GitHub Actions?

Yes: Woodpecker CI, Buildkite and Semaphore can run on your own server.

Which GitHub Actions alternatives work on Mac, Windows, iPhone or Android?

On Mac: Buildkite and Dagger. On Windows: Buildkite and Dagger. On Linux: Buildkite and Dagger. On the web: Buildkite, CircleCI and Semaphore.

What makes these alternatives to GitHub Actions “indie”?

They are built by independent developers or small teams rather than large companies. Each one is listed because it does the same core job as GitHub Actions.

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