Where CircleCI's free tier stops
CircleCI CircleCI's free tier stops at 30,000 credits per month, 5 active users, 2 GB of storage, 5 flaky tests detected in Insights, and 5 concurrent self-hosted runner tasks. It does include broad environment access, Docker layer caching, private orbs, and deploys, but the free allowance is still finite. The concurrency ceiling is 30 concurrent jobs for Docker, Linux VM, Arm VM, and Windows VM, with only 1 concurrent macOS job. If your workflow needs more users, more storage, or more runner tasks, the free tier runs out quickly.
Switch table
| CircleCI | Run My Job | Buildkite | Appcircle | GitLab | Bitrise | Cirun | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| active users | Up to 5 active users | 1 integration per GitLab or GitHub organization | 1 active user | Not stated | Up to 5 licensed users | A team of one | Unlimited public repositories |
| monthly credits or minutes | 30,000 credits/month | 400 vCPU-minutes/month and 800 GB-minutes/month | 500 Linux hosted-agent minutes/month | 20 builds per month | 400 compute minutes/month | 300 credits/month | Not stated |
| concurrent jobs | 30 concurrent jobs for Docker, Linux VM, Arm VM, and Windows VM; 1 concurrent macOS job | 10 concurrent jobs | 3 concurrent jobs | 1 concurrent build | Not stated | Not stated | Unlimited runners |
| storage | 2 GB storage | No storage quota stated | 1 GB package storage and bandwidth | Not stated | 10 GiB storage per project | Not stated | Not stated |
| specialized runners | Docker, Windows, Linux, Arm, and macOS environments | GitHub and GitLab CI runners in KVM microVMs | Linux hosted agents, including up to 6 vCPU concurrency | iOS, Android, React Native, and Flutter app workflows | Not stated | Linux Medium and macOS Medium build machines | ARM-based runners and GPU runners |
| self-hosted runner tasks | Up to 5 concurrent self-hosted runner tasks | Not stated | Not stated | Not stated | Not stated | Not stated | Not stated |
| Card required | - | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes | No |
| First paid tier | - | Business, €50/m | Pro, $30 USD per active user/mo | Starter, Always Free | Premium, $29 per user/month, billed annually | Starter, From $89 per month when billed annually or $99 per month when billed monthly | Startup, $29 per month |
The alternatives
Run My Job
FTV 60 / 100Run My Job is free for one GitLab or GitHub organization integration, with 10 concurrent jobs, 12 vCPU and 32 GB memory per job, 400 vCPU-minutes included monthly, and 800 GB-minutes included monthly. It is a good fit if your bottleneck is job concurrency or per-job compute rather than broad environment variety. The free tier is narrower in access, since GitHub runners work with organization accounts only, and a credit card is required, but it gives a clearer monthly compute allowance for runner-heavy pipelines. Switch if you want more job parallelism and explicit CPU and memory headroom.
- Beats CircleCI: More monthly compute headroom per job and 10 concurrent jobs
- Falls short: Requires a card and has narrower GitHub access than CircleCI
- Who should switch: Switch if your builds are runner-heavy and you care more about compute capacity than CircleCI-style environment breadth.
Buildkite
FTV 60 / 100Buildkite's free Personal plan includes 3 concurrent jobs, 1 active user, 90-day build retention, community support, 50k test executions per month, 1 Test Engine workflow, 1 GB of package storage and bandwidth, and 500 Linux hosted-agent minutes per month. It also includes custom agent images, Git mirror volumes, team permissions, and GitHub authentication. This is a good free option for a solo maintainer who wants hosted-agent minutes plus self-hosted flexibility in one place. It falls short of CircleCI on concurrency and does not match CircleCI's broader environment list, but it is very usable for a single-user setup.
- Beats CircleCI: Includes test execution quotas and build retention controls
- Falls short: Lower concurrency and a much smaller user allowance
- Who should switch: Switch if you are a solo builder who wants hosted minutes, test tracking, and long retention more than CircleCI's broader environment support.
Appcircle
FTV 39 / 100Appcircle's free Starter plan gives 1 concurrent build, 30 minutes maximum build time per build, 20 builds per month, 1000 CodePush updates per month, 100 Testing Distribution downloads per month, 100 Enterprise App Store downloads per month, and 5 publishes to stores per month. It is clearly aimed at mobile release workflows rather than general CI. The free tier is far smaller than CircleCI on raw build volume, but it includes app distribution actions that CircleCI does not center on. Choose it if your free usage is mostly about mobile signing, distribution, and store publishing, not general-purpose pipeline throughput.
- Beats CircleCI: Built-in mobile distribution and publishing quotas
- Falls short: Far fewer builds and only 1 concurrent build
- Who should switch: Switch if your main free-tier need is mobile app release management rather than general CI/CD runs.
GitLab
FTV 58 / 100GitLab's free plan includes source code management and CI/CD access, up to 5 licensed users, 400 compute minutes per month, and 10 GiB of storage per project. It is the most natural choice if you want your repository and pipeline in the same place, with free SCM included. Compared with CircleCI, the tradeoff is a much smaller compute allowance and less CI-specific environment breadth, but the integrated workflow can reduce tool switching. Use it if your team wants one free home for code hosting and pipelines, and your monthly compute needs are modest.
- Beats CircleCI: Combines source code management with CI/CD in one free product
- Falls short: Only 400 compute minutes per month, much less than CircleCI
- Who should switch: Switch if you want a single free platform for code hosting and CI, and your pipeline volume is light enough to fit the minute cap.
Bitrise
FTV 55 / 100Bitrise's free Hobby plan includes access to one private app, access for a team of one, community support, Linux Medium and macOS Medium build machines, unlimited public apps, a 90-minute build timeout, and 300 credits per month. It is built for mobile teams and gives you a clear path for iOS and Android work. The free tier is tighter than CircleCI on team size and private-app capacity, but it is more focused on mobile builds and includes macOS in the free offering. Choose it if your free CI needs are centered on a single mobile app.
- Beats CircleCI: Better fit for mobile app builds with free macOS coverage
- Falls short: Only one private app and one team member
- Who should switch: Switch if you need a free mobile CI setup for a solo app rather than CircleCI's broader general-purpose pipeline model.
Cirun
FTV 100 / 100Cirun is free for open source projects and includes unlimited public repositories, unlimited runners, ARM-based runners, GPU runners, and all supported cloud providers. It is the most generous option here for open source work because the free tier is unbounded for public repos and includes specialized runner types that can be hard to find for free. It is also the closest match if you want to run GitHub Actions on your own cloud infrastructure. It falls short for private-repo use, since the free tier is limited to open source projects, but for public projects it gives the most headroom by far.
- Beats CircleCI: Unlimited runners with ARM and GPU support for open source projects
- Falls short: Free use is limited to open source projects only
- Who should switch: Switch if your project is open source and you want the most free capacity and the widest runner options.
Two quick picks
GitLab
GitLab is the closest drop-in for teams that want code hosting and CI/CD in one place. It keeps the workflow centered on repositories and pipelines, so switching usually means less process change than moving to a runner-only service.
Cirun
Cirun gives the most free headroom because open source projects get unlimited public repositories and unlimited runners, plus ARM and GPU support. For public projects, there is no stated usage cap on the free offer.
Frequently asked questions
Which alternative is closest to CircleCI for a team that wants Git hosting too?
GitLab is the closest fit because its free plan combines source code management and CI/CD, so you can keep code and pipelines together instead of splitting them across products.
Which free alternative has the most runway before I have to pay?
Cirun, for open source projects. Its free tier is unlimited for public repositories and runners, so there is no stated cap on the free offer for that use case.
Which option is best if I only need mobile app builds?
Bitrise or Appcircle. Bitrise is better for a solo mobile app with macOS build support, while Appcircle is more focused on release distribution, signing, and publishing workflows.
Do any of these free plans avoid a credit card?
Yes. CircleCI, Buildkite, GitLab, and Cirun list no credit card requirement. For Run My Job, Appcircle, and Bitrise, a card is required.
Bottom line
For most teams leaving CircleCI because the free tier is too tight, GitLab is the best first alternative. It gives you free CI/CD plus source code management in the same product, which makes the switch simpler than moving to a specialized runner service. If your main goal is more free capacity rather than a closer workflow match, Cirun is the stronger headroom pick for open source projects, while Buildkite is a good solo-friendly fallback for hosted minutes and retention.
Read the full listing for CircleCI. Scores use the FTV methodology at /ftv. Browse more alternatives on /alternatives, or head-to-head comparisons on /compare.