Bitbucket Pipelines vs TeamCity: What are the differences?

Introduction

This article compares the key differences between Bitbucket Pipelines and TeamCity, two popular continuous integration and continuous delivery (CI/CD) tools. Below are the specific differences between these two tools in Markdown format for use on a website.

1. Integration with Source Code Management (SCM): Bitbucket Pipelines tightly integrates with Atlassian's Bitbucket, a popular SCM tool, allowing for seamless integration and easier setup. On the other hand, TeamCity is a standalone CI/CD tool that can integrate with various SCM systems, but requires additional configuration and setup to establish connections.

2. Hosting Options: Bitbucket Pipelines is a cloud-based solution, hosted on the Atlassian platform, making it easier to set up and manage without the need for dedicated servers. In contrast, TeamCity can be hosted on-premises or in the cloud, giving organizations more flexibility to choose their preferred hosting environment.

3. Build Configurations: Bitbucket Pipelines uses a YAML-based declarative syntax to define pipelines, making it easy to version and manage pipeline configurations alongside code. TeamCity, on the other hand, provides a graphical user interface (GUI) for configuring build pipelines, which can make it more accessible for non-technical users but may require additional effort for versioning and managing configurations.

4. Ecosystem and Plugin Support: Bitbucket Pipelines has a limited ecosystem of plugins and integrations compared to TeamCity. TeamCity has a rich ecosystem of plugins and integrations, allowing users to extend its functionality and integrate with various external tools and services.

5. Notifications and Reporting: Bitbucket Pipelines provides basic notifications and reporting capabilities, allowing users to receive email notifications and view build status directly within the Bitbucket interface. In comparison, TeamCity offers more advanced notification and reporting features, including integrations with popular communication tools like Slack and extensive reporting capabilities for tracking build history and performance.

6. Pricing Model: Bitbucket Pipelines offers a simple pricing model based on the number of users and build minutes, making it suitable for small to medium-sized teams. TeamCity, on the other hand, follows a complex licensing model based on the number of build agents and build configurations, which can be more expensive for larger teams or organizations with complex CI/CD requirements.

In summary, Bitbucket Pipelines is tightly integrated with Bitbucket SCM, hosted in the cloud, and uses a declarative YAML syntax for defining pipelines. It has a simpler pricing model but a more limited ecosystem of plugins and integrations. TeamCity, on the other hand, can integrate with various SCM systems, can be hosted on-premises or in the cloud, and offers a graphical user interface for configuring pipelines. It has a rich ecosystem of plugins, advanced notification and reporting features, but follows a more complex licensing model.