Drone logo

Alternatives to Drone

Drone is a modern continuous integration platform built on container technology. Written in Go, it provides a simple, powerful CI/CD solution that uses Docker containers for builds, offering excellent performance, scalability, and ease of use for modern development workflows. Find open source and proprietary alternatives that serve similar purposes.

License:Apache-2.0
Stars:33,891
Difficulty:Easy
Pricing:Free
Hosting:Self-Hosted

Self-hosted alternatives to Drone

Open source projects that can replace Drone:

Jenkins logo

Jenkins

25,043
MIT

Jenkins is the world's leading open-source automation server that has revolutionized continuous integration and continuous delivery. With its massive plugin ecosystem, extensive customization capabilities, and proven reliability, Jenkins powers CI/CD workflows for organizations of all sizes, from startups to Fortune 500 companies.

Key Features

  • Massive Plugin Ecosystem:

    • Over 1,800 community-contributed plugins
    • Integration with virtually any tool or platform
    • Custom plugin development capabilities
    • Active plugin marketplace and community
    • Extensive third-party tool support
    • Continuous plugin updates and improvements
  • Flexible Pipeline System:

    • Declarative and scripted pipeline support
    • Pipeline as Code with Jenkinsfile
    • Multi-branch pipeline automation
    • Blue Ocean modern UI experience
    • Visual pipeline editor
    • Pipeline sharing and reuse
  • Distributed Build Architecture:

    • Master-agent distributed architecture
    • Scalable build agent management
    • Cross-platform agent support
    • Dynamic agent provisioning
    • Cloud-based agent integration
    • Resource optimization and load balancing
  • Comprehensive Build Management:

    • Flexible build scheduling and triggers
    • Comprehensive build history and reporting
    • Artifact management and archiving
    • Build promotion and deployment
    • Test result aggregation and reporting
    • Build failure analysis and notifications
  • Extensive Integration Capabilities:

    • All major version control systems (Git, SVN, etc.)
    • Testing frameworks and quality tools
    • Deployment and orchestration platforms
    • Notification systems (email, Slack, etc.)
    • Cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, GCP)
    • Container platforms (Docker, Kubernetes)
  • Enterprise-Grade Administration:

    • Comprehensive user management
    • Multiple authentication backends
    • Role-based access control (RBAC)
    • System configuration management
    • Backup and disaster recovery
    • Audit logging and compliance
  • Advanced Features:

    • Groovy-based scripting capabilities
    • REST API for automation and integration
    • Matrix builds and parallel execution
    • Build parameterization and customization
    • Workspace management and cleanup
    • Performance monitoring and optimization

Technical Specifications

  • Language: Java
  • License: MIT
  • Deployment: WAR file, Docker, packages
  • Platforms: Cross-platform (Java-based)
  • Requirements: Java Runtime Environment
  • Database: File-based (XML), optional database plugins
  • Architecture: Master-agent, distributed

Use Cases

  • Enterprise CI/CD: Large-scale continuous integration and delivery
  • Complex Workflows: Multi-stage, multi-environment deployment pipelines
  • Legacy Integration: Integrating with existing tools and systems
  • Custom Automation: Highly customized build and deployment processes
  • Multi-Platform Development: Cross-platform build and test automation
  • Compliance & Governance: Regulated industries requiring audit trails

Unique Advantages

  • Maximum Flexibility: Unparalleled customization and extensibility
  • Proven Reliability: Battle-tested in production environments worldwide
  • Massive Community: Largest CI/CD community with extensive support
  • Plugin Ecosystem: Largest collection of plugins and integrations
  • Platform Agnostic: Works with any technology stack or platform
  • Open Source: Transparent, customizable, and community-driven

Based on the Jenkins GitHub repository, this tool provides development teams with the most flexible and extensible CI/CD platform available, making it ideal for organizations that need maximum customization, extensive tool integration, and proven reliability for complex continuous integration and delivery workflows.

Woodpecker CI logo

Woodpecker CI

6,519
Apache-2.0

Woodpecker CI is a powerful, community-driven continuous integration platform that emerged as a fork of Drone. Built with Go and enhanced by community contributions, it provides container-based builds with improved features, better governance, and a focus on developer experience and extensibility.

Key Features

  • Enhanced Container Technology:

    • Docker-based build execution
    • Podman support for rootless containers
    • Complete container isolation
    • Multi-stage pipeline support
    • Custom build image support
    • Efficient resource utilization
  • Advanced Pipeline Configuration:

    • YAML-based pipeline configuration
    • Pipeline as code approach
    • Conditional step execution
    • Matrix build capabilities
    • Parallel pipeline execution
    • Reusable pipeline components
  • Comprehensive Version Control Support:

    • Native Git integration
    • GitHub and GitLab support
    • Gitea and Forgejo integration
    • Webhook-based triggers
    • Pull request builds
    • Advanced branch filtering
  • Community-Driven Enhancements:

    • Plugin marketplace and ecosystem
    • Custom plugin development
    • Advanced filtering capabilities
    • Improved user interface
    • Better documentation and guides
    • Regular feature updates
  • Security & Access Management:

    • Encrypted secret management
    • Role-based access control
    • User and organization management
    • Audit logging capabilities
    • Secure build environments
    • Fine-grained permissions
  • Developer Experience:

    • Clean, modern web interface
    • Real-time build logs and status
    • Build status notifications
    • CLI tools and API access
    • Extensive plugin ecosystem
    • Comprehensive documentation
  • Community Benefits:

    • Transparent community governance
    • Regular and predictable releases
    • Active development and maintenance
    • Responsive community support
    • Open roadmap and planning
    • Contributor-friendly environment

Technical Specifications

  • Language: Go
  • License: Apache-2.0
  • Deployment: Binary, Docker, Kubernetes
  • Platforms: Cross-platform
  • Requirements: Docker or Podman
  • Database: SQLite, PostgreSQL, MySQL
  • Architecture: Microservices, container-native

Use Cases

  • Modern Development: CI/CD for contemporary development workflows
  • Container Applications: Building and deploying containerized applications
  • Open Source Projects: CI/CD for open source development
  • Small to Medium Teams: Efficient CI/CD for growing development teams
  • Self-Hosted Solutions: Organizations requiring self-hosted CI/CD
  • Community Projects: Projects benefiting from community-driven tools

Unique Advantages

  • Community-Driven: Active community governance and development
  • Enhanced Features: Improvements over original Drone functionality
  • Better Support: Responsive community and regular updates
  • Modern Architecture: Container-native with modern best practices
  • Extensible: Rich plugin ecosystem and customization options
  • Open Source: Transparent, community-focused development

Based on the Woodpecker CI GitHub repository, this tool provides development teams with a community-enhanced CI/CD platform that combines the simplicity of container-native builds with improved features and governance, making it ideal for organizations that want modern CI/CD capabilities with active community support and transparent development.

Buildbot logo

Buildbot

5,431
GPL-2.0

Buildbot is a mature, highly flexible continuous integration framework built with Python that provides comprehensive automation for software build, test, and release processes. With its master-worker architecture and extensive customization capabilities, it's ideal for complex CI/CD workflows requiring distributed builds across multiple platforms.

Key Features

  • Distributed Build Architecture:

    • Master-worker distributed architecture
    • Multi-platform build support (Linux, Windows, macOS)
    • Build scheduling and queuing
    • Parallel build execution
    • Resource management and allocation
    • Cross-platform build coordination
  • Flexible Configuration System:

    • Python-based configuration files
    • Flexible build step definitions
    • Custom build factory creation
    • Dynamic configuration updates
    • Conditional build logic
    • Template and inheritance support
  • Comprehensive Version Control Integration:

    • Git, SVN, Mercurial, Bazaar support
    • Multiple repository monitoring
    • Webhook and polling triggers
    • Branch and tag-based builds
    • Change detection and filtering
    • Commit-triggered builds
  • Advanced Web Interface:

    • Real-time web dashboard
    • Build status visualization
    • Live build progress updates
    • Comprehensive build history
    • Force build capabilities
    • Mobile-responsive design
  • Extensive Extensibility:

    • Rich plugin ecosystem
    • Custom build step creation
    • Custom reporter development
    • Custom scheduler implementation
    • API extensions and integrations
    • Third-party tool integration
  • Enterprise-Ready Features:

    • Multiple authentication backends
    • Role-based authorization
    • LDAP and Active Directory integration
    • Database backend support (SQLite, PostgreSQL, MySQL)
    • Horizontal scalability
    • High availability deployment
  • Notification & Reporting:

    • Email notifications
    • IRC bot integration
    • Slack and Discord webhooks
    • Custom notification systems
    • Build result reporting
    • Metrics and analytics

Technical Specifications

  • Language: Python
  • License: GPL-2.0
  • Deployment: Python package, Docker
  • Platforms: Cross-platform (Linux, Windows, macOS)
  • Requirements: Python 3.6+
  • Database: SQLite, PostgreSQL, MySQL
  • Architecture: Master-worker, distributed

Use Cases

  • Complex CI/CD Pipelines: Multi-stage, multi-platform build workflows
  • Distributed Development: Teams with distributed build requirements
  • Legacy System Integration: Integrating with existing build systems
  • Research & Academia: Academic projects requiring flexible automation
  • Enterprise Development: Large-scale software development projects
  • Cross-Platform Development: Applications targeting multiple platforms

Unique Advantages

  • Maximum Flexibility: Python-based configuration allows unlimited customization
  • Distributed Architecture: Native support for distributed builds
  • Multi-Platform: Excellent cross-platform build support
  • Mature & Stable: Long-established project with proven reliability
  • Extensible: Highly extensible with rich plugin ecosystem
  • Open Source: Transparent, customizable, and community-driven

Based on the Buildbot GitHub repository, this tool provides development teams with a highly flexible and powerful continuous integration framework that excels in complex, distributed build environments, making it ideal for organizations that need maximum customization and control over their CI/CD processes across multiple platforms and environments.

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