The Bottom Line
- Price
- Free plan available. Compare plans
Key facts
- Drone is an open-source continuous integration platform built on container technology
- It runs pipelines in isolated Docker containers with simple YAML configuration
- Offers a cloud version with paid tiers
Pros
- Container-native CI/CD
- Self-hostable
- YAML pipelines
- Light weight
- Good for Kubernetes
Cons
- Acquired by Harness
- Community declining
- Documentation dated
- Features limited
- Support uncertain
What is Drone?
Available on: Web
Ratings Across the Web
Drone holds an aggregate rating of 3.3 out of 5 from 13 reviews across G2 and Capterra, last checked September 17, 2026.
Ratings aggregated from independent review platforms. Learn more
Key Features
- CI/CD
- Container-native
- YAML config
- Self-hosted
- Plugins
- Open source
Pricing Plans
Pricing checked Oct 8, 2026. Source: drone.io, read Oct 8, 2026
| Plan | Price | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Open Source Popular | $0 | Self-hosted
|
| Enterprise | $0 | Enterprise
|
Is Drone worth the price?
Drone's pricing is exceptionally generous, offering a fully-featured, container-native CI/CD platform for free through its Open Source tier.
The Enterprise tier, while custom-priced, is primarily for support and additional features, making the core product accessible to everyone at no cost. This model is best for developers and organizations looking for a powerful, self-hosted CI solution without upfront software costs.
Drone by the numbers
| Metric | Drone | Peer median | Position (1 is best) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free plan | Yes | 85% have one | n/a |
| Integrations listed | 2 | 1 | #5 of 32 (joint) tools with at least one integration recorded |
Each position is counted among the tools that have data for that row, as noted under it. All CI/CD data · How we compute this. Advertising and placement fees are not inputs to any position.
Cite this: Toolradar, “Drone by the numbers”, Nov 2026.
Reviews
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Across 13 verified user reviews on G2, Capterra
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Best Drone Alternatives
Top alternatives based on features, pricing, and user needs.
GitOps continuous delivery for Kubernetes
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Cloud-native CI/CD built on Kubernetes for automated software delivery.
Continuous delivery platform for cloud
Declarative GitOps for continuous Kubernetes deployment
Still deciding?
Most buyers shortlist 2 or 3 tools before committing. Pull a side-by-side comparison or browse the full alternatives shortlist below.
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Drone FAQ
How does Drone facilitate continuous delivery for containerized applications?
Which teams benefit most from using Drone?
How is Drone priced?
Can Drone be self-hosted?
What kind of trade-offs should users consider when choosing Drone?
How does Drone compare to Tekton for CI/CD?
Source: drone.io