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CircleCI
The leading CI/CD platform
As of 29 August 2026, CircleCI has a free plan and paid plans start at $15/month. CircleCI's platform helps software teams rapidly release code and run intelligent automated testing, so they can build better products faster. Softwr lists it under Testing. CircleCI is launched in 2011.
Overview
What CircleCI does
CircleCI's platform helps software teams rapidly release code and run intelligent automated testing, so they can build better products faster. It is the world's largest repository of reusable software packages with over 900,000 community-built and open-source packages.
What people use it for
- Continuous integration pipelines for application code
- Parallel test execution across containers
- Docker-based builds with layer caching
- Deployment pipelines with approval gates
- Self-hosted runners for private infrastructure
The honest half
Where it falls short
Concrete and checkable, so you can decide whether any of them matter to you. This is the half of a review a vendor will not write about 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
Cross-shopped
What people choose instead of CircleCI
Each pairing was judged by two reviewers asking whether a buyer would genuinely weigh the two against each other. The ones that failed were deleted rather than published.
- CircleCIvsBrowserStack
BrowserStack: Real device cloud for web and mobile testing
- CircleCIvsBugHerd
BugHerd: Visual feedback and bug tracking for websites
- CircleCIvsCypress
Cypress: JavaScript end-to-end testing framework with browser-based runner and cloud service
Pricing
What CircleCI costs
Taken from the vendor's own pricing page. Prices move, so check before you buy.
Free
Free
- Up to 6,000 build minutes (small Docker resource class)
- Up to 5 active users per month
- 30,000 free credits per month
- 30x concurrency
- 1 GB network included
- 2 GB storage included
Performance
$15 /mo
- 30,000 credits included monthly
- 5 active users included (additional users $15/month each)
- 80x concurrency
- 5 GB network included
- 2 GB storage included
- Access to larger resource classes
Scale
On request
- Custom number of credits
- Customizable user limits
- Unlimited concurrency
- 50 GB network included
- 200 GB storage included
- Enterprise controls
Answered, with sources
Questions people ask
Each answer names the page it came from, so you can check it rather than take our word for it.
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.
SourceCan 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.
SourceWhat 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.
SourceWhat 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.
SourceBehind it
Who makes CircleCI
- Company
- CircleCI
- Based in
- San Francisco, California, USA
Keep looking
Where to go from CircleCI
- CircleCI alternativesEvery product people weigh against it
- CircleCI pricingPlans, floors and what the tiers exclude
- CircleCI badgesWhich rules it meets, and the figure behind each
- All Testing softwareThe full category
- Best Testing softwareThe shortlist, and how it was cut
Best Testing software for
Compare CircleCI with
- GitHub Actions
- BrowserStack
- BugHerd
- Zephyr Scale
- Playwright
- Cypress
- Insomnia
- mabl
- Appium
- Robot Framework
- TestRail
- Katalon
- Xray Test Management
- JUnit
- Qase
- TestNG
- Zephyr Scale
- WebdriverIO
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Open source11 researched notes
Softwr does not host reviews and shows no star rating for CircleCI, because a rating we did not collect is not ours to publish. What is here is the pricing and platform detail from the vendor’s own pages, limitations we could state concretely, and alternatives a reviewer confirmed people weigh against it. Tell us if any of it is wrong.
More on CircleCI
CircleCI alternatives
What people switch to, and what they give up
CircleCI pricing
Every tier, and where the cost actually lands
Compare CircleCI
Put it head to head with anything we hold
CircleCI badge
Its rating, and an embed for your own site
Best Testing software alternatives
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