Earthly vs Jenkins
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?
Earthly
Repeatable, container-based builds for CI
VS
Jenkins
Extensible open-source automation server for CI/CD
| Feature | Earthly | Jenkins |
|---|---|---|
| Category | CI/CD & Build | CI/CD & Build |
| License | MPL-2.0 | MIT |
| Language | Go | Java |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 1,024 MB |
| Deployment | binary, docker | docker, bare-metal, helm |
| GitHub stars | ★ 12,049 | ★ 26,434 |
| First released | 2020 | 2011 |
| Replaces | Make, GitHub Actions | CircleCI |
Why pick each one
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 Earthly or Jenkins better?
Neither is universally better. Jenkins has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Earthly and Jenkins free and open-source?
Yes. Earthly is licensed under MPL-2.0 and Jenkins under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Earthly and Jenkins with Docker?
Earthly: yes. Jenkins: yes.