Jenkins vs. TeamCity: Which is Better for Cloud Applications?

Google Trends data from the past 12 months indicate that Jenkins is currently more popular than TeamCity. This article will compare the two widely-used Continuous Integration (CI) and Continuous Deployment (CD) tools in terms of installation configuration, extensibility customization, plugin ecosystem, cloud integrations, and community support.

Installation Configuration

The installation and configuration process of TeamCity is straightforward. After downloading the appropriate server installation, the user can follow the provided install or upgrade instructions. The detailed documentation on TeamCity’s official site makes the setup process manageable. On the other hand, while Jenkins also has a detailed documentation page, TeamCity typically offers a simpler and more user-friendly experience in this area.

Extensibility Customization

Both Jenkins and TeamCity provide RESTful APIs for extensibility, but there are differences in their approaches. TeamCity provides several ways for customization and extending the server, such as interacting via RESTful APIs, using service messages in build scripts, and creating plugins through the Open API.

Jenkins, on the other hand, offers a more flexible API set that includes XML, Python, and JSON with JSONP support. The primary use of these APIs includes triggering new builds, creating or copying jobs, and obtaining job information. By providing a variety of API options, Jenkins caters to a wide range of use cases and developer preferences.

Plugin Ecosystem

The plugin ecosystem of Jenkins is significantly more mature than that of TeamCity. The underlying reason for this is the extensive community involvement in Jenkins' development. Currently, Jenkins offers around 5,000 plugins, while TeamCity boasts just 393 crowd-developed plugins. This vast plugin library allows Jenkins users to easily find ready-made solutions for a wide range of integration scenarios.

Cloud Key Integrations

Both Jenkins and TeamCity support cloud integrations, but TeamCity has a slight edge. TeamCity provides built-in integrations with popular cloud solutions via plugins and non-bundled plugins, which leverage the scalability of cloud infrastructure. Jenkins, however, integrates with a broader range of cloud platforms, including Amazon EC2, VMWare vSphere, Google Cloud, Atlassian Cloud, and more, by utilizing a plugin-based approach.

Community Support

Jenkins has a more active community forum and a longer history of development and usage. The active and growing community is one of the major advantages of Jenkins. Users can leverage a wealth of knowledge and resources available within the community, which continuously supports and enhances the productivity of users.

TeamCity, on the other hand, also has a vibrant community forum, but the community is not as extensive or as mature as Jenkins'. This can be advantageous for users who require more immediate, specialized support.

To gain a more detailed comparison, feel free to refer to the linked resource. TeamCity vs. Jenkins: Picking The Right CI/CD Tool

For more information:

Jenkins Documentation TeamCity Documentation

Further Reading:

Jenkins vs. GitLab vs. CircleCI Guide to Effective CI/CD Pipeline Setup