Dagger 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.
Woodpecker CI
Simple, container-native continuous integration
| Feature | Dagger | Woodpecker CI |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 95 · Excellent | 92 · Excellent |
| Category | CI/CD & Build | CI/CD & Build |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | Go | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 1,024 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | docker, binary | docker, kubernetes |
| GitHub stars | ★ 16,298 | ★ 7,909 |
| First released | 2022 | 2019 |
| Replaces | GitHub Actions, CircleCI | Jenkins, CircleCI |
What are Dagger and Woodpecker CI?
Dagger
Dagger is an open-source CI/CD engine that lets developers define pipelines as code in their preferred language and run them anywhere with a containerized engine. It can be self-hosted to power portable build pipelines.
- Pipelines as code
- Runs anywhere with containers
- Multi-language SDKs
- Built-in caching
Woodpecker CI
Woodpecker CI is a simple, community fork of Drone offering container-native continuous integration pipelines. It targets developers who want lightweight CI alongside their Git server. It is deployed via Docker.
- Container-native pipelines
- Simple YAML configuration
- Integrates with Gitea and GitHub
- Lightweight footprint
Dagger vs Woodpecker CI: key differences
Both projects are written in Go. Woodpecker CI is the lighter option, starting around 256 MB of RAM against 1,024 MB for Dagger. Woodpecker CI is the more established project (first released 2019), while Dagger arrived in 2022. Dagger has the considerably larger community, at 16,298 GitHub stars versus 7,909.
Why pick each one
Choose Dagger if…
- Pipelines as real code
- Runs identically anywhere
- Container-level caching
Watch out for
- New concepts to learn
- Container runtime required
Choose Woodpecker CI if…
- Easy to set up
- Lightweight CI
- Good Git integrations
Watch out for
- Fewer features than big CI tools
- Smaller plugin ecosystem
Frequently asked questions
Is Dagger or Woodpecker CI better?
Neither is universally better. Dagger has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Dagger and Woodpecker CI free and open-source?
Yes. Dagger is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Woodpecker CI under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Dagger and Woodpecker CI with Docker?
Dagger: yes. Woodpecker CI: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Dagger or Woodpecker CI?
Woodpecker CI has the smaller minimum footprint at 256 MB of RAM, compared to about 1,024 MB for Dagger. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.