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.
| Feature | Buildkite Agent | Tekton |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Read-the-docs project |
| Health score | 83 · Excellent | 92 · Excellent |
| 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 | ★ 1,078 | ★ 9,066 |
| First released | 2014 | 2018 |
| Replaces | GitHub Actions, CircleCI | Jenkins, GitHub Actions |
What are Buildkite Agent and Tekton?
Buildkite Agent
The Buildkite Agent is an open-source build runner that executes pipeline jobs on your own machines while Buildkite coordinates orchestration. It lets teams keep build infrastructure private and scalable.
- Runs builds on your own hardware
- Cross-platform agent
- Parallel job execution
- Artifact handling
Tekton
Tekton is a Kubernetes-native open-source framework for creating CI/CD systems. It provides pipelines, tasks, and triggers as Kubernetes custom resources for portable automation.
- Kubernetes-native pipelines
- Reusable tasks and steps
- Event-driven triggers
- Cloud-portable
Buildkite Agent vs Tekton: key differences
Both projects are written in Go. Licensing differs — MIT for Buildkite Agent versus Apache-2.0 for Tekton. Buildkite Agent is the lighter option, starting around 256 MB of RAM against 1,024 MB for Tekton. Buildkite Agent is the more established project (first released 2014), while Tekton arrived in 2018. Tekton has the considerably larger community, at 9,066 GitHub stars versus 1,078. Buildkite Agent lists first-class Docker deployment; Tekton does not.
Why pick each one
Choose Buildkite Agent if…
- Released under the MIT license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (1.1k GitHub stars)
- Written in Go
Choose Tekton if…
- Released under the Apache-2.0 license
- Kubernetes-ready with Helm charts available
- Mature project with 9.1k 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.
Which is lighter on resources, Buildkite Agent or Tekton?
Buildkite Agent has the smaller minimum footprint at 256 MB of RAM, compared to about 1,024 MB for Tekton. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.