AppBreakup

Travis CI alternatives: 5 apps ranked by verified data

Facts checked Oct 25, 2026AppBreakup editorialHow we rank

Common reasons people leave Travis CI: no free plan or trial at present, and much smaller community than it once had. We ranked 5 alternatives by how directly each one replaces Travis CI, then by reviews, real visits and how recently each app's facts were checked against its own website. GitHub Actions currently ranks first.

Quick comparison

#AppPricingOpen sourcePlatformsVerified factsScore
1GitHub Actions logoGitHub ActionsFree plan + paidNoWeb, Self-hosted4 of 466.5
2CircleCI logoCircleCIFree plan + paidNoWeb, Self-hosted4 of 462.6
3Semaphore logoSemaphorePaidYesWeb, Self-hosted4 of 459.6
4Buildkite logoBuildkiteFree plan + paidNoWeb, Self-hosted4 of 457.2
5AppVeyor logoAppVeyorFree plan + paidNoWeb, Self-hosted4 of 455.3
  1. GitHub Actions logo

    1. GitHub ActionsTop pick

    Best for: Teams hosting code on GitHub who want CI/CD right next to their repositories

    Free plan + paidWeb, Self-hosted

    66.5

    score / 100

    Why switch from Travis CI

    Free for public repos and where most Travis projects moved.

    Pros

    • No separate tool to set up for GitHub repos
    • Large marketplace of reusable actions
    • Free for public repositories

    Cons

    • Hosted runners are slower than specialist providers
    • YAML workflows get hard to debug at scale
    • Only works with GitHub-hosted code
    How this score is calculated
    Editorial fit ×0.3100
    Reviews ×0.363
    Clicks (90 days) ×0.150
    Freshness ×0.1585
    Votes ×0.150

    0 counted reviews, 0 up and 0 down votes. Full formula

    Is GitHub Actions a good Travis CI alternative?

    Verified facts

    4 of 4 verified
    Free usage
    Public repos and self-hosted runners
    Checked Oct 25, 2026docs.github.com(opens source in a new tab)
    Free plan minutes
    2,000/month
    Checked Oct 25, 2026docs.github.com(opens source in a new tab)
    Team plan minutes
    3,000/month
    Checked Oct 25, 2026docs.github.com(opens source in a new tab)
    Linux minute price
    $0.006 per minute
    Checked Oct 25, 2026docs.github.com(opens source in a new tab)
  2. CircleCI logo

    2. CircleCI

    Best for: Teams with large test suites that want faster builds and better insight than built-in CI

    Free plan + paidSelf-hostableWeb, Self-hosted

    62.6

    score / 100

    Why switch from Travis CI

    Faster hosted CI with a free plan and richer insights.

    Pros

    • Wide choice of machine types including macOS and GPU
    • Test splitting, caching and insights for speed
    • Works with GitHub, GitLab and Bitbucket

    Cons

    • Credit-based pricing takes effort to predict
    • Separate tool from your code host
    • Config can get complex with orbs and anchors
    How this score is calculated
    Editorial fit ×0.387
    Reviews ×0.363
    Clicks (90 days) ×0.150
    Freshness ×0.1585
    Votes ×0.150

    0 counted reviews, 0 up and 0 down votes. Full formula

    Is CircleCI a good Travis CI alternative?

    Verified facts

    4 of 4 verified
    Free plan
    Up to 6,000 build minutes/month
    Checked Oct 25, 2026circleci.com(opens source in a new tab)
    Free plan users
    Up to 5 active users
    Checked Oct 25, 2026circleci.com(opens source in a new tab)
    Performance plan
    From $15/month
    Checked Oct 25, 2026circleci.com(opens source in a new tab)
    Included credits
    30,000 on Performance
    Checked Oct 25, 2026circleci.com(opens source in a new tab)
  3. Semaphore logo

    3. Semaphore

    Best for: Teams wanting fast hosted CI, with the option to self-host the same platform

    PaidOpen sourceSelf-hostableWeb, Self-hosted

    59.6

    score / 100

    Why switch from Travis CI

    Hosted CI with per-minute pricing and an open-source edition.

    Pros

    • Fast machines with per-minute billing
    • Clear visual pipeline builder and promotions
    • Open-source Community Edition for self-hosting

    Cons

    • Support tiers cost extra on cloud
    • Smaller ecosystem than GitHub Actions
    • Self-hosting requires Kubernetes
    How this score is calculated
    Editorial fit ×0.377
    Reviews ×0.363
    Clicks (90 days) ×0.150
    Freshness ×0.1585
    Votes ×0.150

    0 counted reviews, 0 up and 0 down votes. Full formula

    Is Semaphore a good Travis CI alternative?

    Verified facts

    4 of 4 verified
    Linux machine price
    $0.0075/min (2 vCPU x64)
    Checked Oct 25, 2026semaphore.io(opens source in a new tab)
    Arm machine price
    $0.003/min (2 vCPU)
    Checked Oct 25, 2026semaphore.io(opens source in a new tab)
    Basic support
    $50/month
    Checked Oct 25, 2026semaphore.io(opens source in a new tab)
    Editions
    Cloud, Community and Enterprise
    Checked Oct 25, 2026docs.semaphore.io(opens source in a new tab)
  4. Buildkite logo

    4. Buildkite

    Best for: Engineering teams with large build volumes who want builds on their own infrastructure

    Free plan + paidWeb, Self-hosted

    57.2

    score / 100

    Why switch from Travis CI

    Bring your own hardware for unusual architectures.

    Pros

    • Builds run on your own machines, keeping code private
    • Scales to very high concurrency
    • Dynamic pipelines suit large monorepos

    Cons

    • You manage the agent infrastructure unless you pay for hosted agents
    • Per-user pricing adds up for big orgs
    • More setup than all-hosted CI
    How this score is calculated
    Editorial fit ×0.369
    Reviews ×0.363
    Clicks (90 days) ×0.150
    Freshness ×0.1585
    Votes ×0.150

    0 counted reviews, 0 up and 0 down votes. Full formula

    Is Buildkite a good Travis CI alternative?

    Verified facts

    4 of 4 verified
    Free plan
    $0 for solo developers and small teams
    Checked Oct 25, 2026buildkite.com(opens source in a new tab)
    Pro plan
    $30 per active user/month
    Checked Oct 25, 2026buildkite.com(opens source in a new tab)
    Free trial
    30 days, no card
    Checked Oct 25, 2026buildkite.com(opens source in a new tab)
    Self-hosted agents
    Yes
    Checked Oct 25, 2026buildkite.com(opens source in a new tab)
  5. AppVeyor logo

    5. AppVeyor

    Best for: Windows and .NET projects, especially open-source ones, that need rich Windows build images

    Free plan + paidSelf-hostableWeb, Self-hosted

    55.3

    score / 100

    Why switch from Travis CI

    Hosted CI free for open source, strong on Windows.

    Pros

    • Broad Windows images with many Visual Studio versions
    • Free for public projects
    • Self-hosted server option

    Cons

    • Slow-moving product from a small company
    • Private plans limited by concurrent jobs
    • Smaller ecosystem than GitHub Actions
    How this score is calculated
    Editorial fit ×0.363
    Reviews ×0.363
    Clicks (90 days) ×0.150
    Freshness ×0.1585
    Votes ×0.150

    0 counted reviews, 0 up and 0 down votes. Full formula

    Is AppVeyor a good Travis CI alternative?

    Verified facts

    4 of 4 verified
    Free plan
    Open source: unlimited public projects
    Checked Oct 25, 2026appveyor.com(opens source in a new tab)
    Basic plan
    $29/month, 1 private project
    Checked Oct 25, 2026appveyor.com(opens source in a new tab)
    Pro plan
    $59/month
    Checked Oct 25, 2026appveyor.com(opens source in a new tab)
    Free trial
    14 days
    Checked Oct 25, 2026appveyor.com(opens source in a new tab)

The best Travis CI alternative for…

The highest-ranked app in this list for each need.

GitHub Actions logo

Best Travis CI alternative for most people

GitHub Actions

Free for public repos and where most Travis projects moved.

CircleCI logo

Best Travis CI alternative for a free plan you can upgrade

CircleCI

Faster hosted CI with a free plan and richer insights.

Semaphore logo

Best Travis CI alternative for open source

Semaphore

Hosted CI with per-minute pricing and an open-source edition.

AppVeyor logo

Best Travis CI alternative for self-hosting

AppVeyor

Hosted CI free for open source, strong on Windows.

Buildkite logo

Best Travis CI alternative for working in the browser

Buildkite

Bring your own hardware for unusual architectures.

Travis CI alternatives: common questions

What is the best alternative to Travis CI?

GitHub Actions ranks first right now. Free for public repos and where most Travis projects moved. CircleCI and Semaphore follow it in our ranking.

Is there a free alternative to Travis CI?

Yes. GitHub Actions (free plan + paid), CircleCI (free plan + paid), Buildkite (free plan + paid) and AppVeyor (free plan + paid) have a free option. Check each app's verified facts for current plan limits.

Is there an open-source alternative to Travis CI?

Yes: Semaphore. Semaphore can also be self-hosted.

Why do people switch from Travis CI?

The complaints we hear most: no free plan or trial at present; much smaller community than it once had; slower feature development than rivals.

How is this list ranked?

Every app is scored with the same published formula: how directly it replaces Travis CI, reviews (weighted by verification), visits from AppBreakup, how recently its facts were checked against its own website, and reader votes.