CircleCI vs GitHub Actions: Complete Comparison Guide
Compare CircleCI and GitHub Actions on performance, caching, parallelism, and integration. Discover which CI/CD platform is the best fit for your team.
CircleCI
A performance-focused CI/CD platform known for advanced caching, Docker layer caching, and excellent parallelism. CircleCI offers reusable configuration via orbs, powerful resource classes, and advanced build performance insights. The platform is optimized for speed and efficiency in large codebases.
GitHub Actions
GitHub's native CI/CD platform with direct repository integration, an extensive marketplace with thousands of reusable actions, and matrix builds. GitHub Actions provides a seamless developer experience for teams working on GitHub, with YAML workflows and free build minutes for public repositories.
Comparison table
| Feature | CircleCI | GitHub Actions |
|---|---|---|
| Caching | Advanced caching with Docker layer caching and dependency cache | Actions cache with key-based invalidation — functional but simpler |
| Parallelism | Native test splitting and parallelism across multiple containers | Matrix builds for combinations, but no native test splitting |
| Configuration | Orbs for reusable configuration — powerful abstraction model | Marketplace actions — large ecosystem but variable quality |
| Integration | GitHub, Bitbucket, GitLab — multi-platform support | GitHub exclusive — deepest integration with one platform |
| Insights | Build insights, flaky test detection, performance dashboards | Basic workflow overviews, community tools for extended analytics |
| Cost | Free plan with 6,000 min/month, paid from $15/month | Free for public repos, 2,000 min/month on free private plan |
Verdict
CircleCI and GitHub Actions are both excellent CI/CD platforms with different strengths. CircleCI excels in performance optimization with advanced caching, Docker layer caching, and native test splitting — ideal for large codebases with long build times. GitHub Actions offers the best integration for teams working on GitHub, with a larger marketplace ecosystem and a simpler configuration model. For most teams, GitHub Actions is the logical choice due to its seamless integration, but CircleCI deserves serious consideration if build performance is your biggest challenge.
Our recommendation
At MG Software, we use GitHub Actions as our primary CI/CD solution due to its seamless GitHub integration and extensive marketplace ecosystem. For projects with very long build times or complex test suites, we evaluate CircleCI as an alternative, particularly for its superior Docker layer caching and test splitting capabilities. We advise clients to start with GitHub Actions and only migrate to CircleCI if build performance becomes a demonstrable bottleneck that cannot be resolved with self-hosted runners.
Frequently asked questions
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