Buildkite Agent vs Tekton
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
Tekton
Cloud-native CI/CD building blocks for Kubernetes
| Feature | Buildkite Agent | Tekton |
|---|---|---|
| Category | CI/CD & Build | CI/CD & Build |
| License | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | Go | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 1,024 MB |
| Deployment | docker, binary, bare-metal | kubernetes, helm |
| GitHub stars | ★ 1,035 | ★ 9,030 |
| First released | 2014 | 2018 |
| Replaces | GitHub Actions, CircleCI | Jenkins, 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 Tekton if…
- Released under the Apache-2.0 license
- Kubernetes-ready with Helm charts available
- Mature project with 9k GitHub stars
- Written in Go
Frequently asked questions
Is Buildkite Agent or Tekton better?
Neither is universally better. Tekton has the larger community, while Buildkite Agent is simpler to set up (medium difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Buildkite Agent and Tekton free and open-source?
Yes. Buildkite Agent is licensed under MIT and Tekton under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Buildkite Agent and Tekton with Docker?
Buildkite Agent: yes. Tekton: check the project docs for container support.