Earthly vs TeamCity
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?
| Feature | Earthly | TeamCity |
|---|---|---|
| Category | CI/CD & Build | CI/CD & Build |
| License | MPL-2.0 | Proprietary |
| Language | Go | Java |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 4,096 MB |
| Deployment | binary, docker | docker, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 12,049 | — |
| First released | 2020 | 2006 |
| Replaces | Make, GitHub Actions | Jenkins, 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
Choose TeamCity if…
- Released under the Proprietary license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Written in Java
Frequently asked questions
Is Earthly or TeamCity better?
Neither is universally better. Earthly has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Earthly and TeamCity free and open-source?
Yes. Earthly is licensed under MPL-2.0 and TeamCity under Proprietary. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Earthly and TeamCity with Docker?
Earthly: yes. TeamCity: yes.