Concourse CI vs Laminar
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted ci/cd & build options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Concourse CI | Laminar |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Read-the-docs project |
| Health score | 92 · Excellent | 77 · Good |
| Category | CI/CD & Build | CI/CD & Build |
| License | Apache-2.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Language | Go | C++ |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 2,048 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | docker, kubernetes, helm | bare-metal, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 7,906 | ★ 354 |
| First released | 2014 | 2016 |
| Replaces | Jenkins, CircleCI | Jenkins |
What are Concourse CI and Laminar?
Concourse CI
Concourse is an open-source CI/CD system built around the principles of declarative pipelines and reproducible builds. Every task runs in an isolated container for consistent, debuggable builds.
- Declarative YAML pipelines
- Container-isolated tasks
- Visual pipeline graph
- Resource-based design
Laminar
Laminar is a fast, lightweight CI service that runs build jobs defined as simple shell scripts. It avoids heavy configuration in favor of plain scripts and a minimal web dashboard.
- Scripts as build jobs
- Tiny resource footprint
- Real-time job output
- No web configuration needed
Concourse CI vs Laminar: key differences
Concourse CI is written in Go, while Laminar is built with C++. Licensing differs — Apache-2.0 for Concourse CI versus GPL-3.0 for Laminar. Laminar is the lighter option, starting around 128 MB of RAM against 2,048 MB for Concourse CI. Concourse CI is the more established project (first released 2014), while Laminar arrived in 2016. Concourse CI has the considerably larger community, at 7,906 GitHub stars versus 354. Concourse CI lists first-class Docker deployment; Laminar does not.
Why pick each one
Choose Concourse CI if…
- Reproducible builds
- Strong isolation
Watch out for
- Steep learning curve
Choose Laminar if…
- Released under the GPL-3.0 license
- Written in C++
- Tiny footprint — runs in 128 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is Concourse CI or Laminar better?
Neither is universally better. Concourse CI has the larger community, while Laminar is simpler to set up (medium difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Concourse CI and Laminar free and open-source?
Yes. Concourse CI is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Laminar under GPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Concourse CI and Laminar with Docker?
Concourse CI: yes. Laminar: check the project docs for container support.
Which is lighter on resources, Concourse CI or Laminar?
Laminar has the smaller minimum footprint at 128 MB of RAM, compared to about 2,048 MB for Concourse CI. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.