20 Popular CI/CD Tools to Simplify Your Deployment Pipeline

Developing software entails delivering quality code on time while managing commits, deployments, and testing. The pressure to streamline complex workflows while keeping your team focused and productive is real.

That’s where CI/CD tools come in. They help you automate everything from code integration to deployment pipelines so that your team delivers faster, more reliable software.

By the time you finish this article, you’ll know which CI/CD tools are essential for your team, how they simplify the software development lifecycle, and which advanced features to prioritize.

At Axify, we understand the challenges you face. Whether you’re building applications with GitHub Actions or running parallel tests on Docker images, this guide has you covered. Let’s help you transform your development workflow.

What Are CI/CD Tools?

CI/CD tools are software solutions that automate code integration and deployment processes. They make your software development workflows faster and more reliable.

These tools ensure that every code commit is seamlessly tested, integrated, and deployed with minimal manual intervention. CI/CD tools handle tasks such as automated testing, integration tests, and deployment automation, which allows you to focus on delivering high-quality software.

You can use CI/CD tools to streamline every stage of your software development process. From managing version control systems to deploying applications across different environments, these tools simplify complex workflows. Whether you're working with Axify, Travis CI, Google Cloud, or an open-source automation server, CI/CD tools are essential for creating smooth continuous integration and delivery pipelines.

With features like parallel builds, canary deployments, and role-based access control, CI/CD tools allow your DevOps teams to maintain product quality, reduce errors, and speed up deployment times. They’re a game-changer for modern development teams.

Why Use CI/CD Tools?

CI/CD tools automate software workflows, reduce errors, and speed delivery. They help you streamline everything from continuous integration to deployment, making your development process more efficient. Automation tools handle repetitive tasks such as code integration and testing, allowing you to focus on delivering better software faster.

These tools also improve collaboration between your development and operations teams. Setting up continuous delivery pipelines helps you get faster feedback, fewer bugs, and smoother deployment phases. 

Whether you're managing large projects, working with cloud platforms, or running parallel testing, CI/CD tools ensure reliable delivery. They’re essential for improving code quality, reducing deployment times, and helping your team confidently deliver high-quality software.

But here’s the caveat:

You need the right tools and the right combination.

Teams that use a mix of self-hosted and managed CI/CD platforms tend to deliver software faster and recover from failures more quickly. According to the 2024 State of CI/CD Report, 24% of these teams complete changes in under a day, compared to 17-18% for those relying on a single platform. The most significant advantage is recovery speed—41% of teams using both types of platforms restore services within an hour to a day, while only 33% of single-platform users achieve the same speed.

However, more self-hosted tools do not improve performance and may even reduce top-performing teams to 10% with three tools. That’s probably because of the added complexity.

That brings us to the next point.

Top Features of Effective CI/CD Tools

To choose the best continuous integration and continuous deployment tools, focus on features that will genuinely improve the smoothness and efficiency of your software delivery process.

The right tool will integrate seamlessly into your workflow and save you time and effort while supporting your team's growth. Here are the key features to look for:

• Integration with version control systems: You want tools that allow you to connect your repositories directly to CI/CD pipelines so you can ensure smooth code commits and deployments.
• Automated build and test capabilities: The point is to automate testing and building to catch issues early and improve code quality, whether you’re managing open-source projects or commercial tools.
• Deployment pipelines: A good tool will help you create continuous deployment workflows to simplify the deployment process. But, they can also ideally handle complex deployment strategies like blue-green deployments.
• Monitoring and rollback functionality: The best CI/CD tools track software updates, detect issues quickly, and roll back to previous versions when necessary for reliable delivery.
• Scalability for growing teams and projects: Good CI/CD tools can adapt to larger projects and integrate with cloud providers to keep your deployment workflows efficient.

With features like these, CI/CD tools become essential for DevOps engineers and software development teams. They help you achieve faster time-to-market while maintaining high product quality.

Top 20 CI/CD Tools We Like

When choosing CI/CD tools, it’s all about finding the ones that match your development needs, simplify workflows, and help you deliver software faster.

Here, we’ll highlight some of the most popular tools, show you what makes them stand out, and note where they might fall short.

Popular CI/CD Tools

These tools are highly regarded for their features and scalability, which makes them go-to solutions for development teams.

1. Axify

Axify isn’t technically a CI/CD tool, but it complements them by helping you measure and analyze engineering metrics like DORA. It’s built to give you valuable insights into your team’s performance and workflow so you can make better decision-making and improve collaboration.

Here are three standout features we think you’ll love:

• Value Stream Mapping (VSM): Axify's VSM feature allows you to visualize every step of your delivery pipeline so you can spot bottlenecks. The point is to streamline your processes. With clear insights into your workflow, you can solve problems to reduce delays and ensure smoother project delivery.
• Metrics dashboard: Axify connects to your existing CI/CD tools to monitor DORA metrics and other key performance indicators. This helps you pinpoint bottlenecks and track progress over time.
• Team well-being features: We prioritize your team’s morale by gathering feedback and providing insights that lead to a healthier work environment.

Axify’s strengths lie in its ability to offer insights specific to your team’s workflows and a clear view of your value stream. Although Axify is not a CI/CD tool per se, you can use our VSM function to identify where such tools can make the most impact in your delivery pipeline. Besides, Axify integrates with solid CI/CD tools, like GitLab, GitHub, Jira, and Azure DevOps.

2. GitLab CI/CD

GitLab CI/CD is your go-to DevOps tool if you’re looking for an all-in-one solution that fits seamlessly into the GitLab ecosystem. It’s perfect for managing complex workflows because it helps you streamline your development process so you can work smarter.

Let’s take a look at two features that make a difference:

• Auto DevOps: Automates application lifecycle processes to save you valuable time, from building to deployment.
• CI/CD catalog: Introduced in GitLab 17.0, this feature lets you discover and share pre-built pipeline components to boost collaboration.

However, GitLab can feel overwhelming for beginners and may lag with large projects, impacting your developer productivity.

3. Jenkins

Jenkins is a popular open-source CI/CD tool known for its vast plugin ecosystem. It adapts well to any development pipeline with the proper configuration.

Two key highlights we think you’ll appreciate:

• Extensive plugin ecosystem: With hundreds of plugins, Jenkins supports everything from version control to deployment workflows.
• Distributed builds: Jenkins lets you run builds across multiple machines by speeding up processes for large projects.

That said, Jenkins can be challenging to set up, and its user interface is typically criticized for being outdated.

4. CircleCI

CircleCI is a cloud-native CI/CD tool that excels in automation and supporting containerized builds. It’s an excellent choice for modern development teams.

• Workflows: This feature helps you orchestrate job executions and makes your CI/CD pipelines efficient and well-structured.
• Orbs: Pre-packaged configuration templates simplify project setup and integration with third-party services.

While powerful, CircleCI’s initial setup can be complex, and its user interface may take some getting used to.

5. TeamCity

TeamCity, developed by JetBrains, is known for its advanced build configurations and seamless integration with IntelliJ IDEA. It’s a top choice for teams managing larger projects.

Take a closer look at these standout features:

• Comprehensive test automation: TeamCity supports parallel testing, smart failure analysis, and test reordering to ensure high-quality builds.
• Configuration as code: You can use Kotlin DSL because it helps you define and version build configurations to allow consistency across projects.

TeamCity, however, has a steep learning curve and requires significant resources for optimal performance.

6. Azure DevOps

Azure DevOps combines CI/CD pipelines with Agile project management. It's ideal for enterprise teams using Microsoft’s ecosystem.

These two features offer unique value:

• Azure pipelines: Enables continuous integration and delivery by supporting multi-platform deployments and automation.
• Azure boards: Offers agile planning tools such as Kanban boards and customizable dashboards for streamlined project management.

New users may find Azure DevOps overwhelming due to its extensive features, and it might lack specialized capabilities found in niche tools.

7. GitHub Actions

GitHub Actions is built directly into GitHub, making it seamless for you to manage CI/CD workflows in your repository. It’s an excellent tool for teams looking for workflow automation and event-driven flexibility.

Here are two game-changing features for your team:

• Workflow automation: You can define tasks across the software development lifecycle, such as building, testing, and deploying code, using YAML files. It’s flexible and integrates perfectly with your existing Git workflows.
• Event-driven triggers: Automate workflows triggered by events such as pushes, pull requests, or scheduled jobs. This keeps your process responsive and adaptive to changes.

However, creating complex workflows with multiple steps can feel overwhelming, especially if you’re new to the platform. Some users also report resource limitations, like constrained execution time, which could slow down resource-intensive workflows.

8. Bamboo

Bamboo by Atlassian offers seamless integration with tools such as Jira and Bitbucket, which helps you create a unified environment for your development workflow. It’s perfect if you already use Atlassian’s ecosystem.

These features could reshape your processes:

• Seamless integration with Atlassian tools: You can track issues and manage version control effortlessly within the same environment.
• Automated branch merging and testing: Automatically merge and test branches to ensure code quality before deployment and reduce manual effort.

That said, its limited support for non-Java projects might be a challenge if your tech stack includes a variety of programming languages.

9. Spinnaker

Spinnaker excels in deploying applications across multiple cloud providers. If you’re embracing a multi-cloud strategy, this tool offers the flexibility you need.

Here are two key benefits we know you’ll value:

• Multi-cloud deployment: You can deploy seamlessly to AWS, Google Cloud Platform, Kubernetes, and more. This allows you to scale across diverse environments.
• Automated pipelines: Spinnaker allows you to define delivery pipelines with stages for building, testing, and deploying to ensure efficiency and reduce errors.

While Spinnaker is powerful, it has a steep learning curve during the initial setup. Its resource-intensive nature can also slow performance, especially for larger deployments.

10. Argo CD

Argo CD is a Kubernetes-native continuous delivery tool built for GitOps workflows. It’s designed to simplify managing application states in Kubernetes.

Here are two features that are worth your attention:

• Declarative GitOps workflow: Use Git as your single source of truth for application states to ensure auditable and automated deployments.
• Automated syncing and rollbacks: Argo allows you to sync changes from Git to your Kubernetes cluster and roll back to previous versions easily when needed.

However, users typically find the initial configuration intimidating, and performance can suffer at scale, especially when managing thousands of applications.

11. Buddy

Buddy stands out for its intuitive drag-and-drop interface, making it easy to create CI/CD pipelines without extensive scripting.

Here’s how Buddy delivers with these two features:

• Visual pipeline editor: You can simplify pipeline creation with a drag-and-drop interface, even if you’re not a scripting expert.
• Predefined actions and integrations: Choose from over 100 ready-to-use actions that connect with popular platforms such as AWS, Google Cloud, and GitHub.

Unfortunately, Buddy’s lower-tier plans may struggle with resource-heavy builds, and advanced features can be pricey, which might not suit smaller teams.

Free CI/CD Tools

If you’re just starting with CI/CD, these free tools are excellent options to explore. They help you streamline your workflows without adding to your budget.

12. Bitbucket Pipelines

Bitbucket Pipelines is a lightweight CI/CD tool built directly into Bitbucket. It's perfect for small teams looking for simplicity and integration.

Here are two ways Bitbucket simplifies your workflow:

• Integrated CI/CD: You can manage your development workflow entirely within Bitbucket and streamline everything from coding to deployment.
• Preconfigured pipes: These predefined configurations handle tasks such as deployments and notifications. They make it easy to automate workflows without custom scripting.

However, setting up pipelines can be tricky, especially for complex workflows. Also, the limited pipeline structure might not meet the needs of advanced configurations.

13. AWS CodePipeline

AWS CodePipeline is free for beginners and works seamlessly with AWS services. It offers a streamlined delivery process for your projects.

Here are two highlights we think you’ll find valuable:

• Workflow modeling and visualization: You can define and visualize your software release stages by making the entire process easier to manage.
• Integration with AWS services and third-party tools: CodePipeline works flawlessly with tools such as AWS CodeCommit, AWS CodeDeploy, and even GitHub. This gives you the flexibility to use your preferred tools.

Debugging issues can be time-consuming due to limited error clarity in logs. Plus, some users find its customization options restrictive for unique project needs.

14. Concourse

Concourse is an open-source CI/CD system designed for simplicity and reproducibility, which makes it a solid choice for teams focused on efficiency.

Here’s what we love about this tool:

• Pipeline-centric workflow: You can define workflows declaratively with YAML files for clear management and automation.
• Container-based execution: Every task runs in isolated containers to ensure consistency and simplify dependency management.

However, Concourse’s small plugin library can limit integrations with popular tools, and the setup process can be challenging for new users.

15. Buildbot

Buildbot is a Python-based, open-source tool suited for complex CI/CD workflows, offering customization flexibility.

Here’s what makes Buildbot a game-changer:

• Scalability: It supports multiple concurrent builds and parallel task execution, perfect for scaling your projects.
• Flexibility: You can define custom-build steps, tests, and deployment strategies tailored to your needs.

Buildbot’s configuration requires Python knowledge, which can make the setup challenging. It also lacks seamless integration with popular Git platforms (this could hinder collaboration).

16. Google Cloud Build

Google Cloud Build is a high-performance CI/CD platform with a free tier. Because of this, it's ideal for small projects that need fast builds and reliable automation.

Here are two features that help you do more with less effort:

• Extremely fast builds: Google’s infrastructure reduces build times with parallel execution and powerful machine types.
• Automated deployments: Seamlessly integrates with Google Kubernetes Engine, Cloud Run, and other services to create efficient pipelines.

Debugging can be a challenge due to generic error messages. Plus, its lack of support for Windows-based builds might be a limitation for certain teams.

Advanced CI/CD Tools for Specific Needs

When your projects demand advanced features or cater to niche use cases, these tools step in to handle enterprise-grade performance and containerized workflows.

17. Codefresh

Codefresh is a CI/CD platform built for Kubernetes, Docker, and Helm workflows, making it perfect for managing containerized applications.

Here’s why Codefresh deserves your attention:

• GitOps integration: You can manage deployments declaratively with Git repositories to ensure consistency and enable automated rollbacks when needed.
• Kubernetes and Helm support: Codefresh allows you to handle Kubernetes clusters and package management seamlessly. This saves time and simplifies container orchestration.

However, Codefresh’s email-only support can feel slow when dealing with critical issues. The initial setup can also be intimidating if you’re new to CI/CD platforms.

18. Bitrise

Bitrise is tailor-made for mobile app development. It offers tools to streamline your iOS and Android CI/CD pipelines.

Let’s break down why Bitrise is worth considering:

• Mobile-specific testing: To debug efficiently, you can test your apps on real devices, simulators, and emulators while reviewing visual artifacts such as screenshots and videos.
• Automated code signing: Bitrise helps you simplify code signing with automatic management during build time and eliminates manual errors.

That said, workflow change tracking can be tricky due to limited visibility into version history. Also, resource-intensive builds may require higher-tier plans for smoother performance.

19. GoCD

GoCD is an open-source CI/CD tool designed for complex workflows. This is a strong choice for teams tackling intricate deployment pipelines.

Here’s why GoCD could transform your workflow:

• Value Stream Mapping (VSM): You can track every step of your delivery pipeline with a visual map to identify bottlenecks and improve processes.
• Complex workflow modeling: Define detailed workflows with advanced pipeline modeling, parallel execution, and dependency management.

GoCD’s reliance on XML configuration files can make managing pipelines cumbersome as projects grow. Its smaller plugin ecosystem may also require custom development to meet integration needs.

20. Shippable

Shippable excels at automating Dockerized workflows and offers a cloud-based CI/CD solution for teams deploying containerized applications.

Here’s how Shippable delivers results for your team:

• Comprehensive CI/CD automation: You can automate your entire delivery pipeline, accelerate releases, and reduce manual tasks from integration to deployment.
• Extensive integration support: The tool allows you to deploy seamlessly to AWS, Azure, Google Cloud, and more, with support for various languages and frameworks.

However, Shippable’s documentation is limited, which can make troubleshooting frustrating. Some users have also reported performance bottlenecks when handling complex or resource-heavy pipelines.

How to Choose the Right CI/CD Tool

Choosing the right CI/CD tool can transform how you manage workflows and deliver software. You need to find a tool that aligns with your team’s needs and the complexity of your projects. 

Steal our template to ensure you make the right choice.

Wrapping Up: Best Practices for CI/CD Tools Implementation

Implementing CI/CD tools effectively can make your software delivery process better and more efficient. Following best practices ensures you get the most out of your tools and avoid common pitfalls. Here’s how you can streamline your CI/CD implementation:

• Standardize workflows for consistency
• Use version control for configuration files
• Regularly update tools and plugins
• Monitor pipelines and set up alerts for failures

Ready to take your CI/CD workflows to the next level? Book a demo today and see how we can simplify your software delivery process!