Bamboo vs Woodpecker CI

A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted ci/cd & build options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.

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FeatureBambooWoodpecker CI
CategoryCI/CD & BuildCI/CD & Build
License⊘ ProprietaryApache-2.0
LanguageJavaGo
Setup difficultyMediumMedium
Min. RAM512 MB256 MB
Deploymentbare-metaldocker, kubernetes
GitHub stars★ 7,650
First released20202019
ReplacesJenkins, CircleCI

Why pick each one

Choose Bamboo if…

  • Released under the ⊘ Proprietary license
  • Written in Java
  • Lightweight — runs in 512 MB RAM
Bamboo details

Choose Woodpecker CI if…

  • Easy to set up
  • Lightweight CI
  • Good Git integrations
Woodpecker CI details

Frequently asked questions

Is Bamboo or Woodpecker CI better?

Neither is universally better. Woodpecker CI has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.

Are Bamboo and Woodpecker CI free and open-source?

Yes. Bamboo is licensed under ⊘ Proprietary and Woodpecker CI under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run Bamboo and Woodpecker CI with Docker?

Bamboo: check the project docs for container support. Woodpecker CI: yes.

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