Software · head to head
Buildkite vs Visual Studio
The short version
- Each has a real cost: Buildkite free plan caps at 5 users and 10 concurrent jobs, with 2,000 Linux vCPU minutes per month and 30 day build retention; Visual Studio community edition is free only for individual developers, classroom use, academic research and open-source contribution, not general commercial use
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Buildkite and Visual Studio actually diverge.
| Attribute | Buildkite | Visual Studio |
|---|
Identical on both: starting price (Free), pricing model (freemium), free tier (Yes), platforms (Web), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Unknown).
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
Buildkite
- Free plan caps at 5 users and 10 concurrent jobs, with 2,000 Linux vCPU minutes per month and 30 day build retention
- Pro plan is $30 per active user per month, capped at 50 users, with only 10 of the up to 250 concurrent agents included before extra usage
- Enterprise plan enforces a 30 user minimum even though pricing itself is custom
- Hosted compute beyond included minutes is metered at $0.004 per vCPU minute on Linux and $0.02 per vCPU minute on Mac
Visual Studio
- Community edition is free only for individual developers, classroom use, academic research and open-source contribution, not general commercial use
- Monthly subscriptions are $45 per user per month for Professional and $250 per user per month for Enterprise, and do not include perpetual use rights the way annual Standard subscriptions do
- A standalone perpetually licensed Visual Studio Professional 2022 costs $499 as a one-time purchase, separate from the subscription tiers
Pricing, plan by plan
Buildkite
FreeNo published plan breakdown. See the Buildkite review.
Visual Studio
FreeNo published plan breakdown. See the Visual Studio review.
Which should you pick?
Questions people ask
- Is Buildkite or Visual Studio better?
- Neither clearly leads. Buildkite starts at Free and Visual Studio at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Buildkite or Visual Studio?
- Buildkite starts at Free and Visual Studio at Free.
- Does Buildkite or Visual Studio run on more platforms?
- Both run on Web, so platform support will not decide this one for you.
- Can I use Buildkite for free?
- Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
Related pages
More on Visual Studio
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