Github Actions vs TeamCity: What are the differences?

GitHub Actions and TeamCity are both powerful continuous integration and continuous delivery (CI/CD) platforms used for automating software development workflows and ensuring code quality. Let's explore the key difference between them.

1. Integration: GitHub Actions is tightly integrated with GitHub and provides native support for repositories hosted on GitHub, allowing developers to easily automate their workflows within the platform itself. On the other hand, TeamCity is a standalone Continuous Integration (CI) and Continuous Deployment (CD) server that can be installed on-premises or in cloud environments, providing a broader range of integration options with different development platforms.

2. Workflow Definition: GitHub Actions uses a YAML-based configuration file called "workflow" which defines the steps, events, and conditions for automation. It offers a more declarative and intuitive approach to define workflows, making it easier for developers to understand and maintain the automation logic. In contrast, TeamCity uses a visual interface to create build configurations and define the build steps, making it suitable for developers who prefer a more visual approach.

3. Supported Platforms: GitHub Actions has built-in support for a wide range of platforms, including different operating systems (Windows, Linux, macOS), programming languages (Java, Python, JavaScript, etc.), and cloud providers (Azure, AWS, Google Cloud, etc.). TeamCity, being a standalone server, is more flexible in terms of platform support and can be used with a wide variety of development frameworks, languages, and environments.

4. Community and Marketplace: GitHub Actions benefits from the strong GitHub community and has a rich ecosystem of actions, workflows, and integrations shared by the community. Developers can leverage these pre-built actions to accelerate their automation efforts. TeamCity also has a vibrant community, but it primarily focuses on plugins and extensions to enhance the functionality of the server rather than predefined automation actions.

5. Scalability and Deployment: With GitHub Actions, the automation workflows run on GitHub infrastructure, which provides scalability and effortless deployment. It can handle parallel workflows, scale with the number of events, and provide multi-platform support. TeamCity, on the other hand, needs to be configured and managed separately, which requires more manual effort for scalability and deployment in distributed or complex environments.

6. Pricing Model: GitHub Actions offers a generous free tier for public repositories and provides a certain amount of build minutes and storage for private repositories. Additional capacity can be purchased based on usage. TeamCity follows a different pricing model as it is a separate CI/CD server, which typically involves a license fee based on the number of build agents and features required.

In summary, GitHub Actions offers tight integration with GitHub, uses YAML-based workflows, and supports a wide range of platforms with a vibrant marketplace and community. TeamCity, on the other hand, is a standalone CI/CD server with a visual interface, flexible platform support, and a different pricing model.