Is CircleCI or Katalon better?

Neither clearly leads. CircleCI starts at Free and Katalon at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.

Which is cheaper, CircleCI or Katalon?

CircleCI has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for CircleCI and On request for Katalon.

Does CircleCI or Katalon run on more platforms?

CircleCI runs on Web. Katalon runs on Web, Windows, macOS.

Can I use CircleCI for free?

Yes. CircleCI has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Katalon starts at On request.

What is CircleCI best used for?

CircleCI is most often used for continuous integration pipelines for application code, parallel test execution across containers, docker-based builds with layer caching, deployment pipelines with approval gates. Of those, continuous integration pipelines for application code and parallel test execution across containers are not what Katalon is typically brought in for.

What can CircleCI do that Katalon cannot?

Katalon covers Low-code test recording, Built on Selenium and Appium, Object repository, AI-assisted test generation.

Testing · head to head

CircleCI vs Katalon

CircleCI

Testing

The leading CI/CD platform

From: Free
Rated: -

Full review Website

Katalon

Testing

Commercial low-code test automation platform built on Appium and Selenium, priced per seat plus separate cloud session add-ons

From: On request
Rated: -

Full review Website

The short version

Only CircleCI has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
Each has a real cost: CircleCI the free plan covers 6,000 build minutes and 5 active users a month; Katalon real cost stacks three separate charges, per-seat authoring licence, the True Platform add-on for test management, and per-session cloud execution, so the advertised seat price significantly understates total spend for a team running cloud tests regularly.
Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which CircleCI and Katalon actually diverge.

Attributes where CircleCI and Katalon differ
Attribute	CircleCI	Katalon
Starting price	Free	On request
Pricing model	subscription	Per seat per month, plus separate per-session cloud execution charges
Free tier	Yes	No
Platforms	Web	Web, Windows, macOS
Founded	2011	Unknown

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated), category (Testing).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in CircleCI

Nothing recorded that Katalon does not also cover.

Only in Katalon

Low-code test recording
Built on Selenium and Appium
Object repository
AI-assisted test generation
TestCloud execution
TestOps management

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

CircleCI

Continuous integration pipelines for application codenot Katalon
Parallel test execution across containersnot Katalon
Docker-based builds with layer cachingnot Katalon
Deployment pipelines with approval gatesnot Katalon
Self-hosted runners for private infrastructurenot Katalon

Katalon

A QA team wanting a lower-code authoring layer over Selenium and Appium for testers without deep coding backgroundsnot CircleCI
An organisation wanting test management and AI-assisted test maintenance bundled with automation authoring in one commercial productnot CircleCI
A team needing occasional cross-browser or device cloud sessions without maintaining its own device lab or Selenium Gridnot CircleCI
An enterprise wanting a single vendor and support contract for test authoring, management and cloud execution togethernot CircleCI

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

CircleCI

The free plan covers 6,000 build minutes and 5 active users a month
Active users are billed at $15 each beyond the included five, and an active user is anyone who commits to a project
Everything runs on credits, so compute, Docker layer caching at 200 credits a job and IP ranges at 450 credits per GB all draw from the same pool
Network and storage overage costs 420 credits per GB
Free credits expire monthly with no rollover, and paid credits expire after a year
Scale is annual billing only

Katalon

Real cost stacks three separate charges, per-seat authoring licence, the True Platform add-on for test management, and per-session cloud execution, so the advertised seat price significantly understates total spend for a team running cloud tests regularly.
Since it is built on Selenium and Appium underneath, a team with strong automation engineers can replicate most of the core capability for free, paying only for optional cloud execution elsewhere, making Katalon's value proposition mainly about authoring speed rather than unique capability.
The steep first-three-seats discount versus the fourth-seat-and-beyond price means cost per seat rises sharply as a team scales past three testers on Katalon Studio alone.
Low-code recorded tests can become brittle and hard to maintain at scale in the same way any record-and-playback approach does, requiring the team to still write real code for complex scenarios.
Enterprise pricing is quote-only, so the largest deployments lose the pricing transparency the published seat tiers otherwise offer.

Pricing, plan by plan

CircleCI

Free

FreeFree
- Up to 6,000 build minutes (small Docker resource class)
- Up to 5 active users per month
- 30,000 free credits per month
Performance$15/month
- 30,000 credits included monthly
- 5 active users included (additional users $15/month each)
- 80x concurrency
Scale$null/year
- Custom number of credits
- Customizable user limits
- Unlimited concurrency

Katalon

On request

Katalon Studio$84/month
- Annual billing, first three seats at 84 US dollars a seat a month
- Fourth seat and beyond at 150 US dollars a seat a month
- Low-code recording, object repository, Selenium and Appium engine underneath
True Automation$167/month
- Annual billing, per seat
- Includes Studio features plus test management and AI agents
- True Platform TestOps and TestCloud sold as a further add-on at 700 US dollars a seat a year
Enterprise$undefined/year
- Custom quote for private SaaS and hybrid licensing
- Dedicated support
- Negotiated cloud session volume

Which should you pick?

Choose CircleCI if

You want to start without paying.

CircleCI review

Choose Katalon if

You need low-code test recording.
You work on Web, Windows, macOS.
You also want built on selenium and appium.

Katalon review

Questions people ask

Is CircleCI or Katalon better?: Neither clearly leads. CircleCI starts at Free and Katalon at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, CircleCI or Katalon?: CircleCI has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for CircleCI and On request for Katalon.
Does CircleCI or Katalon run on more platforms?: CircleCI runs on Web. Katalon runs on Web, Windows, macOS.
Can I use CircleCI for free?: Yes. CircleCI has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Katalon starts at On request.
What is CircleCI best used for?: CircleCI is most often used for continuous integration pipelines for application code, parallel test execution across containers, docker-based builds with layer caching, deployment pipelines with approval gates. Of those, continuous integration pipelines for application code and parallel test execution across containers are not what Katalon is typically brought in for.
What can CircleCI do that Katalon cannot?: Katalon covers Low-code test recording, Built on Selenium and Appium, Object repository, AI-assisted test generation.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

CircleCI: How much does CircleCI Performance plan cost?

CircleCI Performance plan costs $15 USD per month and includes 30,000 credits, 5 active users, 80x concurrency, 5 GB network, and 2 GB storage. Additional users beyond 5 cost $15 each per month.

Source

Katalon: Is Katalon free?

No, though a 30-day free trial with no credit card is offered; the product is commercial with per-seat licensing.

CircleCI: Can I purchase additional credits on CircleCI Performance plan?

Yes, additional credits are available at $15 for every 25,000 credits purchased. Paid credits roll over month to month and expire after one year; free plan credits expire monthly without rollover.

Source

Katalon: Does Katalon replace Selenium and Appium?

No, it is built on top of them; Katalon adds a low-code authoring layer, test management and cloud execution rather than a different automation engine.

CircleCI: What is included in the CircleCI free plan?

The free plan includes up to 6,000 build minutes per month (small Docker resource class), 5 active users, 30,000 free credits monthly, 30x concurrency, 1 GB network, 2 GB storage, and community support. No credit card required.

Source

Katalon: Is cloud execution included in the seat price?

No, TestCloud cross-browser and mobile sessions are billed separately, at 197 US dollars a session monthly or 1,899 annually per session.

CircleCI: What are the Scale plan limits and pricing?

CircleCI Scale plan offers custom pricing billed annually with unlimited concurrency, 50 GB network, 200 GB storage, customizable credits and users, enterprise controls, and GPU environment access. Requires contacting sales for a quote.

Source

CircleCI vs Katalon

CircleCI

Katalon

The short version

Where they differ

What each one covers

Only in CircleCI

Only in Katalon

What people use each for

CircleCI

Katalon

Where each one falls short

CircleCI

Katalon

Pricing, plan by plan

CircleCI

Katalon

Which should you pick?

Choose CircleCI if

Choose Katalon if

Questions people ask

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Related pages

More on CircleCI

More on Katalon

Keep looking

Other head to heads