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Browser Extensions · head to head

FireMonkey vs Jenkins

FireMonkey logo

FireMonkey

Browser Extensions

User scripts and user styles in one Firefox extension

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Jenkins logo

Jenkins

Technology

A self-hosted automation server that can build almost anything, through a plugin ecosystem that is also its main liability.

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: FireMonkey firefox only, and requires a recent one: version 93 on desktop, 113 on Android.; Jenkins the controller is stateful and, in the open source distribution, has no high availability: build history, configuration and plugin state live on one filesystem, so every plugin upgrade and core update is downtime for every team using it, and a controller disk failure is a restore-from-backup event.
  • They diverge on capability: FireMonkey covers Scripts and styles together, Jenkins covers Plugin ecosystem.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 15 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which FireMonkey and Jenkins actually diverge.

Attributes where FireMonkey and Jenkins differ
AttributeFireMonkeyJenkins
PlatformsFirefoxLinux, Windows, Macos, Docker
CategoryBrowser ExtensionsTechnology
FoundedUnknown2011

Identical on both: starting price (Free), pricing model (open-source), free tier (Yes), user rating (Not yet rated).

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 FireMonkey

  • Scripts and styles together
  • Monaco editor with ESLint
  • Unlimited client-side storage
  • Global injection
  • Notifications and clipboard
  • Firefox for Android

Only in Jenkins

  • Plugin ecosystem
  • Distributed agents
  • Declarative and scripted pipelines
  • Shared libraries
  • Configuration as Code
  • Credentials management
  • Self-hosted anywhere
  • Multibranch and organisation folders

What people use each for

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

FireMonkey

  • Running user scripts and user styles without two separate extensionsnot Jenkins
  • Restyling sites with CSS alongside scripted behaviour changesnot Jenkins
  • Editing scripts in a full editor inside the browsernot Jenkins
  • Injecting CSS globally across every sitenot Jenkins
  • Managing a mixed library of scripts and styles from one dashboardnot Jenkins

Jenkins

  • Builds that must touch physical hardware, such as embedded devices, test rigs or signing modules attached to a specific machinenot FireMonkey
  • Air-gapped or heavily regulated environments where a hosted CI runner cannot be used at allnot FireMonkey
  • Toolchains that hosted CI does not support, including node-locked commercial licences for EDA, CAD or simulation softwarenot FireMonkey
  • Organisations with years of existing Jenkins pipelines where the migration cost currently outweighs the operational cost of stayingnot FireMonkey

Where each one falls short

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

FireMonkey

  • Firefox only, and requires a recent one: version 93 on desktop, 113 on Android.
  • Not a drop-in replacement for Greasemonkey, Tampermonkey or Stylus. The project says so itself, so an existing library may need adjusting.
  • A much smaller user base than Tampermonkey or Violentmonkey, which means fewer people have hit the bug you are about to hit.
  • No Chrome, Edge or Safari build, so it cannot be the answer for anyone working across browsers.
  • Combining scripts and styles in one extension also combines the blast radius: one extension with permission to inject both into every page.

Jenkins

  • The controller is stateful and, in the open source distribution, has no high availability: build history, configuration and plugin state live on one filesystem, so every plugin upgrade and core update is downtime for every team using it, and a controller disk failure is a restore-from-backup event.
  • Capability comes from around 1,900 community plugins of very uneven maintenance, and the Jenkins security team regularly publishes advisories for plugins whose maintainer has gone; in some cases the advisory itself states that no fix is available and the only remedy is to stop using it.
  • Plugin upgrades are coupled: one plugin can require a newer core or a newer version of another plugin, so applying a single security fix cascades into a coordinated upgrade of a dozen components on a timetable you did not choose.
  • Pipelines are Groovy running under a sandbox and a continuation-passing-style transformation, so ordinary Groovy constructs sometimes fail in non-obvious ways, and the debugging skill you build transfers to no other CI system.
  • It is free to licence and expensive to run: somebody must own the controller, the agents, the Java version, the credentials store and the plugin upgrade cycle, and that recurring staff cost is the usual reason organisations move to hosted CI even when Jenkins works.
  • Leaving is costly by construction, because shared libraries, plugin-specific pipeline steps and accumulated freestyle jobs have no mechanical translation into GitHub Actions or GitLab CI, so the migration is a rewrite whose price grows every year you defer it.

Pricing, plan by plan

FireMonkey

Free
  • Open sourceFree
    • MPL-2.0 licensed
    • Unlimited scripts and styles
    • No account required

Jenkins

Free
  • Open SourceFree
    • Unlimited builds
    • 1000+ plugins
    • Self-hosted
  • CloudBees CI$undefined/month
    • Enterprise features
    • High availability
    • Role-based access

Which should you pick?

Choose FireMonkey if

  • You need scripts and styles together.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Firefox.
  • You also want monaco editor with eslint.
FireMonkey review

Choose Jenkins if

  • You need plugin ecosystem.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, Windows, Macos, Docker.
  • You also want distributed agents.
Jenkins review

Questions people ask

Is FireMonkey or Jenkins better?
Neither clearly leads. FireMonkey starts at Free and Jenkins at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, FireMonkey or Jenkins?
FireMonkey starts at Free and Jenkins at Free.
Does FireMonkey or Jenkins run on more platforms?
FireMonkey runs on Firefox. Jenkins runs on Linux, Windows, Macos, Docker.
Can I use FireMonkey for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is FireMonkey best used for?
FireMonkey is most often used for running user scripts and user styles without two separate extensions, restyling sites with css alongside scripted behaviour changes, editing scripts in a full editor inside the browser, injecting css globally across every site. Of those, running user scripts and user styles without two separate extensions and restyling sites with css alongside scripted behaviour changes are not what Jenkins is typically brought in for.
What can FireMonkey do that Jenkins cannot?
FireMonkey covers Scripts and styles together, Monaco editor with ESLint, Unlimited client-side storage, Global injection. Jenkins covers Plugin ecosystem, Distributed agents, Declarative and scripted pipelines, Shared libraries.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

FireMonkey: What makes FireMonkey different from Violentmonkey?

It manages user styles as well as user scripts. The usual arrangement is a script manager plus a separate style manager such as Stylus; FireMonkey replaces both with one extension.

Source
Jenkins: Why choose Jenkins over GitHub Actions or GitLab CI?

When the build needs something hosted runners cannot give you: physical hardware, an air-gapped network, a node-locked commercial tool licence, or an unusual platform. If none of those apply, hosted CI is usually less work to own.

FireMonkey: Which browsers does FireMonkey support?

Firefox only. Desktop requires Firefox 93 or later and Android requires 113, with an API minimum of 102.

Source
Jenkins: Can Jenkins run in high availability?

Not in the open source distribution, which runs a single active controller. High availability and active-active controllers are features of CloudBees' commercial products. Open source deployments mitigate it with fast restores and, sometimes, multiple independent controllers.

FireMonkey: Is FireMonkey open source?

Yes, under the MPL-2.0 licence.

Source
Jenkins: How risky are the plugins?

This is the main operational risk. Many plugins have a single volunteer maintainer, and Jenkins publishes security advisories for unmaintained plugins where no fix exists. Auditing which plugins you depend on and who maintains them should be a periodic task, not a one-off.

FireMonkey: Will my existing Tampermonkey scripts work?

Not necessarily. The project states that while it shares functionality with Greasemonkey, Tampermonkey and Stylus, there are differences, so scripts and styles written for those may need adjusting.

Source
Jenkins: Do I need to know Groovy?

For declarative pipelines you can go a long way without it. Anything involving shared libraries, conditional logic or custom steps is Groovy, and it runs in a sandboxed, transformed environment where standard Groovy idioms sometimes behave unexpectedly.

FireMonkey: What editor does FireMonkey use?

Current versions use the Monaco editor with ESLint, the same editor component that powers VS Code.

Source
Jenkins: What does it cost?

The software is free under the MIT licence. The cost is infrastructure and staff time to run controllers, agents and upgrades, plus a CloudBees subscription if you want high availability, support or centralised management of many controllers.

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