Buildkite Agent vs Earthly
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted ci/cd & build options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Not the right match-up?
Buildkite Agent
Self-hosted CI/CD agent for your own infrastructure
VS
Earthly
Repeatable, container-based builds for CI
| Feature | Buildkite Agent | Earthly |
|---|---|---|
| Category | CI/CD & Build | CI/CD & Build |
| License | MIT | MPL-2.0 |
| Language | Go | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | docker, binary, bare-metal | binary, docker |
| GitHub stars | ★ 1,035 | ★ 12,049 |
| First released | 2014 | 2020 |
| Replaces | GitHub Actions, CircleCI | Make, GitHub Actions |
Why pick each one
Choose Buildkite Agent if…
- Released under the MIT license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (1k GitHub stars)
- Written in Go
Choose Earthly if…
- Released under the MPL-2.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Mature project with 12k GitHub stars
- Written in Go
Frequently asked questions
Is Buildkite Agent or Earthly better?
Neither is universally better. Earthly has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Buildkite Agent and Earthly free and open-source?
Yes. Buildkite Agent is licensed under MIT and Earthly under MPL-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Buildkite Agent and Earthly with Docker?
Buildkite Agent: yes. Earthly: yes.