Buildkite vs Portainer Pricing (2026)
How do these two stack up on price? Here's what each one costs, what you get, and where the value sits.
Personal
- Self-hosted agents
- Active users
- Build retention
- Waterfall view
- Pause queues
- Job retries report
- Test executions
- Workflows
- Real-time flaky test identification
- Test suite insights
- Test ownership
- Team reporting
- Test splitting
- Storage & bandwidth
- Registries
- Private registries
- Linux vCPU minutes
- Linux vCPU concurrency
- Linux shapes
- Git mirror volumes
- Custom agent images
- Team permissions
- GitHub auth
Pro
- Self-hosted agents
- Active users
- Build retention
- Waterfall view
- Pause queues
- Job retries report
- GitHub Enterprise support
- Bitbucket Server support
- Managed tests
- Test executions
- Workflows
- Real-time flaky test identification
- Test suite insights
- Test ownership
- Team reporting
- Test splitting
- Test state management
- Auto-quarantine
- Storage & bandwidth
- Registries
- Private registries
- Remote dependency mirroring
- Arbitrary files
- Large packages
- Linux vCPU minutes
- Linux vCPU concurrency
- Linux shapes
- M4 Mac vCPU minutes
- M4 Mac vCPU concurrency
- M4 Mac shapes
- Git mirror volumes
- Custom agent images
- Cache volumes
- Team permissions
- GitHub auth
- Signed pipelines
- Single sign on
- API access overview
- Priority email support
Enterprise
- Self-hosted agents
- Active users
- Build retention
- Waterfall view
- Pause queues
- Job retries report
- GitHub Enterprise support
- Bitbucket Server support
- Historical build exports
- Pipeline templates
- Managed tests
- Test executions
- Workflows
- Real-time flaky test identification
- Test suite insights
- Test ownership
- Team reporting
- Test splitting
- Test state management
- Auto-quarantine
- Data warehouse export (Coming soon)
- Storage & bandwidth
- Registries
- Private registries
- Remote dependency mirroring
- Arbitrary files
- Large packages
- Branded endpoints
- Virtual registries
- Software (SLSA) provenance
- License checks
- Threat scanning
- Linux vCPU minutes
- Linux vCPU concurrency
- Linux shapes
- M4 Mac vCPU minutes
- M4 Mac vCPU concurrency
- M4 Mac shapes
- Git mirror volumes
- Custom agent images
- Cache volumes
- Internal container registry
- Remote Docker builds
- Team permissions
- Member permissions
- System banners
- GitHub auth
- Signed pipelines
- Single sign on
- API access overview
- SCIM, custom SAML & ADFS
- Private log storage
- Activity log
- Inactive user list
- Inactive API token revocation
- SSO session IP address pinning
- Priority email support
- Invoice payment
- Consolidated billing
Starter
- Community support
- Max of 16 vCPUs per node
- The Starter plan(s) are available via online purchases only. Purchases cannot be made through Resellers.
Scale
- 9x5 next business day support
- Max of 24 vCPUs per node
- Vendor onboarding
- Purchases via Resellers
Enterprise
- Prioritized 9x5 next business day support
- Choose from 32 vCPUs - Unlimited vCPUs per node
- Production and Non-Production Node Options
- Customizable License Agreement
- Assigned Support Engineer
- Security Assessment Report
- TAA Compliance Certificate
- Managed Platform Services Option
- 24/7 Support Option
IIoT Professional
- All Business Edition features
- Onboarding assistance included
- 9×5 support
- Click-through license agreement
- Professional Services available (add-on)
- Async edge agent: offline-safe operation
- Fleet grouping and staged rollouts
IIoT Enterprise
- Everything in Professional
- Industrial App Portal ; included
- Prioritized 9×5 support
- Assigned support engineer
- Customizable license agreement
- Vendor onboarding available
- Multi-instance (prod, dev, test)
- Security assessment report
- Professional Services available (add-on)
Home & Student
- All Portainer Business Edition features
- Up to 15 nodes
- Docker, Swarm, and Kubernetes support
- Full RBAC and access control
- GitOps and app templates
- Community support via GitHub Discussions
Buildkite vs Portainer FAQ
- Which one is cheaper?
- Buildkite starts lower at $30/mo, compared to $105/mo for Portainer.
- Can I use either one for free?
- Both offer free plans, so you can try each without paying. Start with whichever fits your workflow better and upgrade when you hit the limits.
- How do they charge?
- Different approach here. Buildkite uses per-seat pricing, while Portainer goes with hybrid. That changes the math depending on your team size and usage.
- Which one is a better deal?
- Depends on what you need. Buildkite: At $30/seat, they're mid-market — not undercutting GitHub Actions or CircleCI's entry points, but not charging Harness-level enterprise premiums either. They're going after teams that have outgrown basic CI but aren't ready to negotiate six-figure contracts. Portainer: At ~$105-$209/mo for self-serve tiers, Portainer is positioned as an accessible mid-market option in the container management space — cheaper than enterprise Kubernetes platforms but priced above pure open-source alternatives. They're clearly targeting DevOps and infrastructure teams at growth-stage companies who've outgrown DIY but aren't ready for Rancher or OpenShift pricing.
Keep tabs on both.
We'll monitor pricing changes for Buildkite and Portainer and let you know when something moves.