Drone CI

drone.io
DevOps
Weekend Project

Automate Software Testing and Delivery

How to Replace Drone CI

Overview

Drone is a self-service Continuous Integration platform designed for busy development teams. It automates software build and testing through configuration-as-code pipelines that run in isolated Docker containers. Drone integrates with multiple source code managers and supports any language, database, or service that runs in Docker.

Features

12 features across 10 categories

Automation(1)

Auto-Provisioning

Choose from thousands of Docker images and Drone will auto-provision your environment

Also in: monday.com, Notion, Airtable

Build Isolation(1)

Isolated Docker Containers

Each Pipeline step is executed inside an isolated Docker container that is automatically downloaded at runtime

Compatibility(1)

Language Agnostic

Drone works with any language, database or service that runs inside a Docker container

Configuration Management(2)

Configuration as Code

Pipelines are configured with a simple, easy-to-read file that you commit to your git repository

YAML Syntax ExtensionsPremium

Extend YAML syntax for advanced customization

Extensibility(1)

Plugin System

Create & Share Plugins - Drone uses containers to drop pre-configured steps into your pipeline. Choose from hundreds of existing plugins, or create your own

Also in: Labelbox, Obsidian, WordPress.com

Integration(1)

Multi Source Code Manager Support

Drone integrates seamlessly with GitHub, GitHub Enterprise, Bitbucket, and GitLab

Also in: monday.com, Notion, Airtable

Platform Support(1)

Multi-Platform Support

Drone natively supports multiple operating systems and architectures, including Linux x64, ARM, ARM64 and Windows x64

Scalability(1)

Automatic Scaling

Installs from a single binary and scales automatically

Security(2)

Custom Access ControlsPremium

Implement custom access controls to manage who can access and execute pipelines

Secret ManagementPremium

Manage secrets and sensitive data securely

Workflow Management(1)

Approval WorkflowsPremium

Set up approval workflows for pipeline execution

Cost Calculator

Pricing data not available for Drone CI. Check their website for current pricing.

Build vs Buy

Should you build a Drone CI alternative or buy the subscription? Estimate based on 12 features.

Buy Drone CI

Better Value
Monthly costContact Sales
3-year totalVaries
Time to deployDays

Build Your Own

Development cost$12,000
Maintenance$180/mo
3-year total$18,480
Dev time~1 months

Buying Drone CI saves ~$18,480 over 3 years vs building.

Estimates based on 12 features and a BuildScore of 5/5. Actual costs vary.

Integrations

13 known integrations

AWS ECRAWS S3BitbucketDockerGitHubGitHub EnterpriseGitHub PagesGitHub ReleaseGitLabKubernetesNetlifyNPM PublishSlack Notifications