4 top picks · 0 audience rankings

Best open source CI/CD tools

The best open source CI/CD tool is Drone (Apache-2.0, 38,743 GitHub stars, Docker image). Jenkins stands out for a permissive MIT license, and GitLab stands out for the most commits in the last 12 months (2,376).

Updated Oct 28, 2026 · data from GitHub, refreshed daily

Rank 1:
Drone
harness/harness
Container-native continuous integration platform.
Active · last commit Oct 27, 2026
CI/CD & DeploymentGoDocker
Stands out for the most GitHub stars. Drone has 38,743 GitHub stars, uses the Apache-2.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 534 commits in the last year; it replaces GitHub Actions / CircleCI.
Rank 2:
Jenkins
jenkinsci/jenkins
The leading open-source automation server for building, testing and deploying software.
Active · last commit Oct 28, 2026
CI/CD & DeploymentJavaDocker
Stands out for a permissive MIT license. Jenkins has 26,703 GitHub stars, uses the MIT license, ships a Docker image and had 1,140 commits in the last year; it replaces GitHub Actions / CircleCI.
Rank 3:
GitLab
gitlabhq/gitlabhq
DevOps platform with Git hosting, CI/CD, issue tracking and security scanning in one app.
Active · last commit Oct 23, 2026
Project ManagementRubyDocker
Stands out for the most commits in the last 12 months (2,376). GitLab has 24,546 GitHub stars, uses the MIT license, ships a Docker image and had 2,376 commits in the last year; it replaces GitHub Actions / CircleCI.

At a glance

Open source CI/CD tools compared

Ranked on GitHub stars, commits in the last year, Docker images, open-source licenses and recent commits across the 4 apps in the CI/CD & deployment category. Projects with fewer than 12 commits in the last 12 months rank below every more active project.

Top 4 picks compared, data as of Oct 28, 2026
App	Stands out for	License	GitHub stars	Commits (12 mo)	Last commit	Docker image
Drone	the most GitHub stars	Apache-2.0	38,743	534	Oct 27, 2026	Yes
Jenkins	a permissive MIT license	MIT	26,703	1,140	Oct 28, 2026	Yes
GitLab	the most commits in the last 12 months (2,376)	MIT	24,546	2,376	Oct 23, 2026	Yes
Woodpecker CI	a permissive Apache-2.0 license	Apache-2.0	8,061	1,396	Oct 28, 2026	Yes

Full ranking

All 4 picks, ranked

4 of the 4 apps in the CI/CD & deployment category.

1
Drone
Container-native continuous integration platform.
CI/CD & DeploymentDocker
Stands out for the most GitHub stars. Drone has 38,743 GitHub stars, uses the Apache-2.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 534 commits in the last year; it replaces GitHub Actions / CircleCI.
2
Jenkins
The leading open-source automation server for building, testing and deploying software.
CI/CD & DeploymentDocker
Stands out for a permissive MIT license. Jenkins has 26,703 GitHub stars, uses the MIT license, ships a Docker image and had 1,140 commits in the last year; it replaces GitHub Actions / CircleCI.
3
GitLab
DevOps platform with Git hosting, CI/CD, issue tracking and security scanning in one app.
Project ManagementDocker
Stands out for the most commits in the last 12 months (2,376). GitLab has 24,546 GitHub stars, uses the MIT license, ships a Docker image and had 2,376 commits in the last year; it replaces GitHub Actions / CircleCI.
4
Woodpecker CI
Simple yet powerful container-based CI/CD engine.
CI/CD & DeploymentDocker
Stands out for a permissive Apache-2.0 license. Woodpecker CI has 8,061 GitHub stars, uses the Apache-2.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 1,396 commits in the last year; it replaces GitHub Actions / CircleCI.

How we ranked

Ordering rule: Ranked on GitHub stars, commits in the last year, Docker images, open-source licenses and recent commits across the 4 apps in the CI/CD & deployment category. Projects with fewer than 12 commits in the last 12 months rank below every more active project.

Candidates: the 4 apps in the CI/CD & deployment category. Archived projects and projects with no commit in the last two years are left out.
Base score: GitHub stars on a log scale plus commits in the last 12 months (log scale, capped at 1,000).
Bonus points for a published Docker image, an OSI-approved open-source license and a commit in the last 90 days.
Projects with fewer than 12 commits in the last 12 months rank below every more active project.
Each "Best for" section re-ranks the same apps with that audience's profile (for example startups add points for permissive licenses, project websites and recent commits; small business for Docker images and deploy guides).
Source-available apps can rank, but they are labelled and never described as open source.

No pick on this page is sponsored.

Questions and answers

Still curious? Email info@appsgit.com.

Is Drone free?

Yes. Drone is open-source software released under the Apache-2.0 license, so you can self-host it at no cost. You only pay for the server it runs on, and some projects also offer an optional paid cloud plan.

Can I self-host these CI/CD tools with Docker?

Yes, all of them. Drone, Jenkins and GitLab publish Docker images, so you can run them on a VPS or home server with Docker Compose.

Are all of these CI/CD tools open source?

All 4 apps on this list are open source. You can self-host and modify each one under its license.

Which of these CI/CD tools is the most actively developed?

GitLab, with 2,376 commits in the last 12 months. Activity is a good sign that bugs and security issues get fixed.

How is this list ranked?

The weekly digest

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Best open source CI/CD tools

Top picks

Drone

Jenkins

GitLab