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  1. Stackups
  2. DevOps
  3. Continuous Integration
  4. Continuous Integration
  5. Drone.io vs GitLab CI

Drone.io vs GitLab CI

OverviewDecisionsComparisonAlternatives

Overview

Drone.io
Drone.io
Stacks884
Followers456
Votes258
GitLab CI
GitLab CI
Stacks2.3K
Followers1.6K
Votes75
GitHub Stars0
Forks0

Drone.io vs GitLab CI: What are the differences?

Key Differences between Drone.io and GitLab CI

Drone.io and GitLab CI are two popular continuous integration and continuous deployment (CI/CD) tools used by software development teams. While both platforms offer similar functionality, there are key differences that make each unique.

  1. Architecture and technology stack: Drone.io is built as a microservices architecture that uses lightweight containers for running tasks. It leverages Docker to provide a scalable and modular solution. In contrast, GitLab CI is tightly integrated with the GitLab ecosystem and relies on shared runners to execute CI/CD pipelines.

  2. Ease of setup and configuration: Drone.io's user interface is simpler and more intuitive, making it easier to set up and configure. Its configuration file, written in YAML, is easy to understand and modify. GitLab CI, on the other hand, can be more complex to configure due to its tightly integrated nature and extensive feature set.

  3. Integration with version control systems: GitLab CI is tightly integrated with GitLab, a popular Git-based repository management platform. This integration allows seamless collaboration between code repositories and CI/CD pipelines. Drone.io, on the other hand, supports a wider range of version control systems beyond Git, including Mercurial and Subversion.

  4. Community and ecosystem: GitLab CI benefits from being part of the larger GitLab ecosystem, which has a large and active community. This means there is a wealth of resources, plugins, and community-contributed integrations available to enhance the functionality of GitLab CI. While Drone.io also has an active community, it may not have the same level of resources and integrations as GitLab CI.

  5. Pricing and deployment options: GitLab CI is part of the GitLab platform, which offers both self-hosted and cloud-hosted options. This gives users the flexibility to choose their preferred deployment method. Drone.io, on the other hand, is primarily self-hosted, which means users need to set up and maintain their own infrastructure.

  6. Supported platforms and integrations: GitLab CI supports a wide range of platforms and integrations, including cloud providers, container registries, and deployment targets. It also has built-in support for multiple runners, allowing parallel execution of pipelines. Drone.io, while it supports popular platforms and integrations, may have a more limited set of options compared to GitLab CI.

In summary, Drone.io and GitLab CI differ in their architecture, ease of setup, integration with version control systems, community support, pricing and deployment options, and supported platforms and integrations. These differences make each tool suitable for different use cases and preferences.

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Advice on Drone.io, GitLab CI

Somnath
Somnath

Engineering Leader at Altimetrik Corp.

Jun 25, 2020

Needs adviceonCircleCICircleCIDrone.ioDrone.ioGitHub ActionsGitHub Actions

I am in the process of evaluating CircleCI, Drone.io, and GitHub Actions to cover my #CI/ #CD needs. I would appreciate your advice on comparative study w.r.t. attributes like language-Inclusive support, code-base integration, performance, cost, maintenance, support, ease of use, ability to deal with big projects, etc. based on actual industry experience.

Thanks in advance!

1.82M views1.82M
Comments
Stratos
Stratos

Jan 13, 2020

Needs advice

We are a mid-size startup running Scala apps. Moving from Jenkins/EC2 to Spinnaker/EKS and looking for a tool to cover our CI/CD needs. Our code lives on GitHub, artifacts in nexus, images in ECR.

Drone is out, GitHub actions are being considered along with Circle CI and GitLab CI.

We primarily need:

  • Fast SBT builds (caching)
  • Low maintenance overhead (ideally serverless)
  • Everything as code
  • Ease of use
181k views181k
Comments
Anonymous
Anonymous

Feb 14, 2020

Decided

Buddy is one of the most easy-to-use tools for CI I ever met. When I needed to set up the pipeline I was really impressed with how easy it is to create it with Buddy with only a few moments. It's literally like:

  1. Add repo
  2. Click - Click - Click
  3. You're done and your app is on prod :D The top feature that I've found is a simple integration with different notification channels - not only Slack (which is the one by default), but Telegram and Discord. The support is also neat - guys respond pretty quickly on even a small issue.
157k views157k
Comments

Detailed Comparison

Drone.io
Drone.io
GitLab CI
GitLab CI

Drone is a hosted continuous integration service. It enables you to conveniently set up projects to automatically build, test, and deploy as you make changes to your code. Drone integrates seamlessly with Github, Bitbucket and Google Code as well as third party services such as Heroku, Dotcloud, Google AppEngine and more.

GitLab offers a continuous integration service. If you add a .gitlab-ci.yml file to the root directory of your repository, and configure your GitLab project to use a Runner, then each merge request or push triggers your CI pipeline.

Free for open-source;GitHub, BitBucket integration;Browser testing;Deplot with Amazon, Heroku, Google AppEngine;Flexible scripting;Team billing;
-
Statistics
GitHub Stars
-
GitHub Stars
0
GitHub Forks
-
GitHub Forks
0
Stacks
884
Stacks
2.3K
Followers
456
Followers
1.6K
Votes
258
Votes
75
Pros & Cons
Pros
  • 51
    Open source
  • 50
    Built on docker
  • 27
    Free for open source
  • 23
    GitHub integration
  • 18
    Easy Setup
Cons
  • 3
    Very basic documentation
Pros
  • 22
    Robust CI with awesome Docker support
  • 13
    Simple configuration
  • 9
    All in one solution
  • 7
    Source Control and CI in one place
  • 5
    Free and open source
Cons
  • 2
    Works best with GitLab repositories
Integrations
Docker
Docker
Bitbucket
Bitbucket
Google App Engine
Google App Engine
Heroku
Heroku
GitHub
GitHub
Amazon S3
Amazon S3
dotCloud
dotCloud
GitLab
GitLab

What are some alternatives to Drone.io, GitLab CI?

Jenkins

Jenkins

In a nutshell Jenkins CI is the leading open-source continuous integration server. Built with Java, it provides over 300 plugins to support building and testing virtually any project.

Travis CI

Travis CI

Free for open source projects, our CI environment provides multiple runtimes (e.g. Node.js or PHP versions), data stores and so on. Because of this, hosting your project on travis-ci.com means you can effortlessly test your library or applications against multiple runtimes and data stores without even having all of them installed locally.

Codeship

Codeship

Codeship runs your automated tests and configured deployment when you push to your repository. It takes care of managing and scaling the infrastructure so that you are able to test and release more frequently and get faster feedback for building the product your users need.

CircleCI

CircleCI

Continuous integration and delivery platform helps software teams rapidly release code with confidence by automating the build, test, and deploy process. Offers a modern software development platform that lets teams ramp.

TeamCity

TeamCity

TeamCity is a user-friendly continuous integration (CI) server for professional developers, build engineers, and DevOps. It is trivial to setup and absolutely free for small teams and open source projects.

wercker

wercker

Wercker is a CI/CD developer automation platform designed for Microservices & Container Architecture.

GoCD

GoCD

GoCD is an open source continuous delivery server created by ThoughtWorks. GoCD offers business a first-class build and deployment engine for complete control and visibility.

Shippable

Shippable

Shippable is a SaaS platform that lets you easily add Continuous Integration/Deployment to your Github and BitBucket repositories. It is lightweight, super simple to setup, and runs your builds and tests faster than any other service.

Buildkite

Buildkite

CI and build automation tool that combines the power of your own build infrastructure with the convenience of a managed, centralized web UI. Used by Shopify, Basecamp, Digital Ocean, Venmo, Cochlear, Bugsnag and more.

Snap CI

Snap CI

Snap CI is a cloud-based continuous integration & continuous deployment tool with powerful deployment pipelines. Integrates seamlessly with GitHub and provides fast feedback so you can deploy with ease.

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