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Semaphore

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Fast CI/CD optimized for developer speed

CI/CDDevOpsHosting & Deployment
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Reviews onG2Capterra
206 reviews tracked

The Bottom Line

Entry price

Free plan available, paid tiers above

Biggest pro

Good CI/CD platform

Biggest con

Less popular than GHA

TL;DR - Semaphore

  • Semaphore is a CI/CD platform for fast and reliable software delivery
  • It provides parallelized builds with a focus on speed and developer experience
  • Free for open source, paid plans from $10/month
Pricing: Free plan available
Best for: Growing teams
4.8/5 across review platforms

What is Semaphore?

Editorial review
Semaphore provides fast CI/CD for developers. Build and test quickly-continuous integration optimized for speed. The speed is the focus. The configuration is YAML. The caching helps. Teams wanting fast CI use Semaphore for optimized build performance.

Available on: Web, Linux

how we evaluateSourcesemaphoreci.com ↗

Pros & Cons

Pros

  • Good CI/CD platform
  • Fast builds
  • Fair pricing
  • Good documentation
  • Active development

Cons

  • Less popular than GHA
  • Learning curve
  • Per-minute pricing
  • Feature gaps
  • Support varies

Ratings Across the Web

4.8(206 reviews)
G2192 reviews
4.7/5
Capterra14 reviews
5/5

Ratings aggregated from independent review platforms. Learn more

Key Features

CI/CDFastParallelismDocker nativeMonorepoDeveloper friendly

Pricing Plans

Free Trial

Pricing checked Jul 11, 2026

Community

Free

Self-hosted

  • YAML pipelines
  • Unlimited users
  • Unlimited concurrency
  • Community support

Cloud

Free

Pay-as-you-go

  • $0.0075/min
  • Fully managed
  • Unlimited concurrency
  • REST API & CLI

Hybrid

$9/per user/month

Self-hosted runners

  • Cloud UI
  • Own compute
  • Unlimited runners
  • Cloud bursting

Enterprise

null

Large orgs

  • Advanced RBAC
  • Audit logs
  • Premium support
  • 1TB artifacts
Calculate your costView full pricing

How Semaphore's pricing compares

At $9/mo, Semaphore is the most affordable of its 3 direct competitors.

Semaphore
$9
CircleCI
$15
Buddy
$75
Travis CI
$78

Entry paid plan, monthly. Pricing checked Jul 11, 2026.

Reviews

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4.8/5

Across 206 verified user reviews on G2, Capterra

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Best Semaphore Alternatives

Top alternatives based on features, pricing, and user needs.

Jenkins logo
JenkinsFree

Automate builds, deployments, and software projects

4.5
CircleCI logo
CircleCIFreemium

Continuous integration and delivery

4.3
Buddy logo
BuddyFreemium

CI/CD for web developers with visual pipelines

4.8
Travis CI logo
Travis CIFreemium

CI/CD platform for Linux, Windows, FreeBSD, and GPU

4.3
GitHub Actions logo
GitHub ActionsFreemium

Automate CI/CD, testing, and deployment directly from your repository

See all ci/cd tools →

Still deciding?

Most buyers shortlist 2 or 3 tools before committing. Pull a side-by-side comparison or browse the full alternatives shortlist below.

Semaphore vs JenkinsHead-to-head: features, pricing, who winsSemaphore vs CircleCIHead-to-head: features, pricing, who winsSemaphore vs BuddyHead-to-head: features, pricing, who wins

Explore More

Best CI/CD ToolsBest DevOps ToolsBest Hosting & Deployment ToolsBest Free CI/CDBest Free DevOpsBest Free Hosting & Deployment

Semaphore FAQ

How does Semaphore optimize continuous integration for speed?

Semaphore focuses on providing fast CI/CD for developers, with continuous integration optimized specifically for speed. This is achieved through features like YAML configuration and caching, which help accelerate build and test processes.

Which teams benefit most from using Semaphore?

Teams that prioritize fast continuous integration and optimized build performance are the best fit for Semaphore. It is designed for developers who need quick build and test cycles in their CI/CD workflows.

How does Semaphore compare to GitHub Actions regarding popularity?

Semaphore is a good CI/CD platform known for its fast builds, but it is less popular than GitHub Actions. Both offer CI/CD capabilities, but GitHub Actions generally has a larger user base.

What kind of trade-offs should users consider when adopting Semaphore?

Users should be aware that Semaphore has a learning curve and may present some feature gaps compared to other platforms. Additionally, its support can vary, and it uses a per-minute pricing model.

Does Semaphore include a free tier?

Yes, Semaphore is available on a free tier, allowing users to get started without immediate cost. Paid plans are offered for those who require more usage and additional features.

Can Semaphore help with hosting and deployment tasks?

Semaphore is categorized under Hosting & Deployment, indicating its utility beyond just continuous integration. It provides CI/CD capabilities that can support the deployment aspects of a development workflow.

Source: semaphoreci.com

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