Self-host CircleCI

Hosted CI/CD · Category: git hosting, CI & dev tooling

CircleCI is a hosted CI provider — push to git, run pipelines defined in `.circleci/config.yml`, billed per-minute on managed Linux/macOS/GPU runners. The self-hostable replacements all do pipeline-as-code + runner orchestration; CircleCI's pre-built executor images and free tier are the parts you give up.

CircleCI pricing anchor: Free 6000 build-minutes/mo; Performance from $15/user/mo + per-minute usage; Scale tier custom.

Drone CI harness/drone alive

GitHub: ★ 35.6k · last commit 1d ago · 91 open issues
License: Apache-2.0
Acquired by Harness; OSS edition remains Apache-2.0; Enterprise adds RBAC and secrets manager.
Setup time: 20min docker-compose (Drone server + at least one runner)
Monthly cost: $10-20/mo VPS for the server; runners are separate (one $5 VPS per concurrent build).

Migration sketch. Pull `drone/drone:2` and `drone/drone-runner-docker:1` via the official compose at docs.drone.io. Configure with your git provider OAuth (GitHub / GitLab / Gitea / Bitbucket). Pipeline conversion: CircleCI's `jobs/steps/workflows` map cleanly to Drone's `pipeline/steps/depends_on`; rewrite `.circleci/config.yml` as `.drone.yml`. Most CircleCI orbs have direct Drone plugin equivalents (S3, Slack, Docker).

Good fit forContainer-native pipelines where every step is a Docker image — Drone is the most natural fit for that mental model.

Weak atmacOS / iOS builds need self-hosted runners with manual setup; GPU builds similarly bring-your-own.

Woodpecker CI woodpecker-ci/woodpecker alive

GitHub: ★ 7.00k · last commit today · 342 open issues
License: Apache-2.0
Community fork of Drone (pre-Harness acquisition); fully open source with no enterprise tier.
Setup time: 20min docker-compose (server + runner)
Monthly cost: $10/mo VPS for the server; runners on $5 boxes.

Migration sketch. Pull `woodpeckerci/woodpecker-server` and `woodpeckerci/woodpecker-agent`. Pipeline syntax is Drone-derived (`.woodpecker.yml`); CircleCI conversion is the same exercise. Woodpecker is the right pick if you want pure OSS without the looming risk of a license shift on the upstream Drone codebase.

Good fit forTeams that valued Drone but want a guaranteed-OSS path — Woodpecker has no commercial-tier overhang.

Weak atSmaller community than Drone; documentation and integrations slightly thinner.

Concourse concourse/concourse alive

GitHub: ★ 7.83k · last commit 2d ago · 80 open issues
License: Apache-2.0
Setup time: 30min docker-compose (web + worker + Postgres)
Monthly cost: $15-30/mo VPS — workers eat resources during builds.

Migration sketch. Pull `concourse/concourse:7` with the `quickstart` compose from concourse-ci.org. Concourse is opinionated: pipelines, jobs, resources (everything is a resource — git repo, Docker image, S3 bucket), and tasks. Migrating a CircleCI config is a redesign rather than a port — write the equivalent pipeline in Concourse YAML. Higher learning curve, but the pipeline-as-data model scales well at large orgs.

Good fit forPlatform / SRE teams that want declarative pipeline-as-data and reproducible builds with explicit resource versioning.

Weak atSteep learning curve; the resource/task abstraction is unfamiliar to teams coming from CircleCI's job/step model.

In a terminal? npx os-alt circleci prints this table — how the CLI works →