Azure Pipelines
Microsoft's build and deployment service inside Azure DevOps
- #5 of 10 in best CI/CD platforms
- Free plan, paid upgrades
- Free to use
- Web
Ranked 5 of 10 in best CI/CD platforms
Microsoft's CI/CD service inside Azure DevOps, with one free parallel job of 1,800 build minutes per organization each month. It fits teams on Azure or Microsoft tooling, and extra parallel jobs and users add cost.
Best for Teams on Azure and Microsoft tooling
About Azure Pipelines
Azure Pipelines builds applications and deploys them, and the product page describes builds for web, desktop and mobile apps and deployment to any cloud or on-premises environment. It is part of Azure DevOps and sits on Microsoft's Azure product pages with links to setup and pricing.
The Azure DevOps pricing page says each organization gets one parallel job with 1,800 minutes of build time a month on Microsoft-hosted agents. Additional users are charged $6 per user a month. Azure Pipelines suits teams already on Azure or Microsoft tooling. GitHub Actions and GitLab, which are in this ranking, are the main alternatives.
Key features
- Microsoft-hosted agents
- Web, desktop and mobile builds
- Deployment to any cloud
- Azure DevOps integration
- Build minutes by plan
Strengths
- One free parallel job with 1,800 minutes a month
- Deploys to any cloud or on-premises setup
- Fits teams already using Azure DevOps
Limits
- Extra parallel jobs and users add cost
- Best fit is teams already in Microsoft tooling
Where Azure Pipelines ranks
How Azure Pipelines compares
| Product | Score | Price | Platforms | Hosting |
|---|---|---|---|---|
#3 CircleCI | 87.0 | Pay as you go | Web | Hosted, usage credits |
#4 Buildkite | 85.5 | Free plan, paid upgrades | Web | Your agents or hosted agents |
| #5Azure Pipelines | 85.0 | Free plan, paid upgrades | Web | Microsoft-hosted agents |
#6 Bitbucket Pipelines | 84.0 | Free plan, paid upgrades | Web | Bitbucket Cloud |
#7 Jenkins | 83.5 | Free and open source | WebSelf-hosted | Self-hosted |
The full comparison table for best CI/CD platforms has all 10 products.
Alternatives to Azure Pipelines
All 9 alternatives
GitHub ActionsCI/CD and workflow automation built into GitHub
GitLabIs open source.- CircleCIHosted CI/CD billed in usage credits, with a free plan
- BuildkiteCI/CD platform with agents on your own infrastructure or hosted
- Bitbucket PipelinesCI/CD built into Bitbucket Cloud with build minutes per plan
- JenkinsIs open source.
Questions about Azure Pipelines
- Is Azure Pipelines free?
- Azure Pipelines can be used without paying: One free parallel job with 1,800 build minutes a month per organization. Check the vendor’s pricing page for current limits.
- Is Azure Pipelines open source?
- No. Azure Pipelines is proprietary software; its source code is not public.
- Which platforms does Azure Pipelines support?
- Azure Pipelines is available on: Web.
- What is Azure Pipelines best for?
- Teams on Azure and Microsoft tooling. In our ranking of CI/CD platforms it is number 5 of 10 with a score of 85.0.
- What are the best alternatives to Azure Pipelines?
- The highest-ranked alternatives on listme.name are GitHub Actions, GitLab, CircleCI, Buildkite.
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