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Technology · head to head

Jenkins vs Thought Machine

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
Thought Machine logo

Thought Machine

Technology

Cloud native core banking where products are written as smart contracts

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Jenkins has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: 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.; Thought Machine a core replacement is a two to four year programme at an established bank, and the licence is a minority of total cost against system integrator fees, parallel running and data migration.
  • They diverge on capability: Jenkins covers Plugin ecosystem, Thought Machine covers Smart contract product engine.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Jenkins and Thought Machine actually diverge.

Attributes where Jenkins and Thought Machine differ
AttributeJenkinsThought Machine
Starting priceFreeOn request
Pricing modelopen-sourcequote
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsLinux, Windows, Macos, DockerWeb, API, Cloud
Founded2011Unknown

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

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 Jenkins

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

Only in Thought Machine

  • Smart contract product engine
  • Cloud native architecture
  • Real time ledger
  • Vault Payments
  • API first design
  • Multi entity and multi currency
  • Product versioning and testing
  • Configurable posting rules

What people use each for

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

Jenkins

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

Thought Machine

  • A large bank launching a separate digital brand on a clean core rather than migrating the back booknot Jenkins
  • A bank whose product launches are blocked by vendor change requests on a legacy corenot Jenkins
  • An institution needing real time balances and postings for instant payment obligationsnot Jenkins
  • A group consolidating multiple country cores onto one multi entity platformnot Jenkins

Where each one falls short

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

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.

Thought Machine

  • A core replacement is a two to four year programme at an established bank, and the licence is a minority of total cost against system integrator fees, parallel running and data migration.
  • The smart contract model presumes a bank can write and maintain Python financial products, and institutions without that engineering capability end up outsourcing the very flexibility they bought.
  • Cloud infrastructure cost sits with the bank and is not trivial at scale, so total cost of ownership comparisons against a hosted legacy core often miss a large recurring line.
  • Thought Machine has made two rounds of job cuts pursuing profitability, which is a legitimate supplier stability concern for a system a bank expects to run for fifteen years.
  • The functional footprint is core ledger and product engine, so origination, collections, regulatory reporting and channels all come from other vendors, and the integration estate around Vault is the bank's problem to design and own.

Pricing, plan by plan

Jenkins

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

Thought Machine

On request
  • Vault Core$undefined/year
    • Quoted per institution, typically on account volumes or annual contract value
    • Implementation and system integrator costs commonly exceed the licence fee
    • Cloud infrastructure costs are the bank's and are not included

Which should you pick?

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

Choose Thought Machine if

  • You need smart contract product engine.
  • You work on Web, API, Cloud.
  • You also want cloud native architecture.
Thought Machine review

Questions people ask

Is Jenkins or Thought Machine better?
Neither clearly leads. Jenkins starts at Free and Thought Machine at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Jenkins or Thought Machine?
Jenkins has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Jenkins and On request for Thought Machine.
Does Jenkins or Thought Machine run on more platforms?
Jenkins runs on Linux, Windows, Macos, Docker. Thought Machine runs on Web, API, Cloud.
Can I use Jenkins for free?
Yes. Jenkins has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Thought Machine starts at On request.
What is Jenkins best used for?
Jenkins is most often used for builds that must touch physical hardware, such as embedded devices, test rigs or signing modules attached to a specific machine, air-gapped or heavily regulated environments where a hosted ci runner cannot be used at all, toolchains that hosted ci does not support, including node-locked commercial licences for eda, cad or simulation software, organisations with years of existing jenkins pipelines where the migration cost currently outweighs the operational cost of staying. Of those, builds that must touch physical hardware, such as embedded devices, test rigs or signing modules attached to a specific machine and air-gapped or heavily regulated environments where a hosted ci runner cannot be used at all are not what Thought Machine is typically brought in for.
What can Jenkins do that Thought Machine cannot?
Jenkins covers Plugin ecosystem, Distributed agents, Declarative and scripted pipelines, Shared libraries. Thought Machine covers Smart contract product engine, Cloud native architecture, Real time ledger, Vault Payments.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

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.

Thought Machine: Is Vault Core genuinely cloud native?

Yes. It is containerised, runs on Kubernetes on public cloud, and posts in real time rather than in overnight batch.

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.

Thought Machine: How long does a migration take?

Eighteen months at the absolute fastest for a narrow greenfield launch; two to four years for a phased migration at an established bank.

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.

Thought Machine: Does the licence fee represent the total cost?

No. Implementation, system integration, parallel running and cloud infrastructure typically cost more than the licence over the programme.

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.

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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