CircleCI vs Depot: Which is Better in 2026?
CircleCI and Depot are both CI/CD tools, made for different people. CircleCI is for engineering teams that want a dedicated CI service with wide machine choice, including macOS and Arm. Depot is for teams whose Docker builds or GitHub Actions jobs are slow and who want faster machines with a persistent cache.
Quick verdict
There’s no single winner; pick on your constraint. Choose CircleCI if you need macOS, Windows, Arm and Docker executors in one service. Choose Depot if your CI time is mostly Docker image builds.
CircleCI vs Depot: Side by Side
| CircleCI | Depot | |
|---|---|---|
| Category | CI/CD | CI/CD |
| What it is | Hosted CI/CD service | Build acceleration for Docker and GitHub Actions |
| Where jobs run | CircleCI cloud or self-hosted runners | Depot-hosted builders and runners |
| Free access | 30,000 credits a month, 5 users | 7-day trial |
| How you pay | Credits for compute; from $15 a month | Monthly plan plus per-minute overage |
| Self-hosting | Self-hosted runners (5 on Free, 20 on Performance) | Deploy in your AWS account on Business |
| Pricing | Free · paid from $15/mo | From $20/mo |
| Starting price | Free tier available | From $20/mo |
| Free tier | — | |
| Best for | CI/CD: hosted CI, macOS builds, concurrency | CI/CD: Docker builds, build cache, faster runners |
Pros & Cons
- Docker, Linux, Arm, Windows and macOS executors
- 30,000 free credits a month
- High concurrency on low tiers
- Self-hosted runners on every plan
- Credit maths takes effort
- Another vendor outside your code host
- Free credits don’t roll over
- Dramatic speed-up on Docker builds
- Persistent cache shared across branches
- Native Arm builders, no emulation
- Drops into existing CI
- Another vendor alongside your CI
- Build minutes meter separately
- Only pays off if builds are your bottleneck
Key Features Compared
CircleCI
- Free: 30,000 credits a month (up to 6,000 build minutes on small Docker), 5 active users, 30 concurrent jobs
- Performance: from $15 a month with 30,000 credits and 5 users; extra 25,000 credits cost $15
- Performance concurrency: 80 jobs on Docker and Linux, 15 on macOS, 20 self-hosted runners
- Prepaid credits from 1 million for $600
- Scale: custom, billed annually, unlimited concurrency
Depot
- Developer: $20 a month, 500 container build minutes, 2,000 GitHub Actions minutes, 25 GB cache
- Startup: $200 a month, 5,000 build minutes, 20,000 Actions minutes, 250 GB cache
- Overage: $0.04 a container build minute, $0.006 a GitHub Actions minute
- Business: custom usage and volume pricing
- 7-day trial
Choose CircleCI if…
- You want to start free. CircleCI has a free tier and Depot does not.
- Budget is tight: paid plans start lower ($15/mo vs $20/mo).
- You need macOS, Windows, Arm and Docker executors in one service.
- You want high concurrency on a small monthly fee.
Choose Depot if…
- Your CI time is mostly Docker image builds.
- You want faster GitHub Actions runners without changing workflows much.
- You build for Intel and Arm.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CircleCI better than Depot?⌄
There’s no single winner; pick on your constraint. Choose CircleCI if you need macOS, Windows, Arm and Docker executors in one service. Choose Depot if your CI time is mostly Docker image builds.
What is the difference between CircleCI and Depot?⌄
What it is. CircleCI: Hosted CI/CD service. Depot: Build acceleration for Docker and GitHub Actions. Where jobs run. CircleCI: CircleCI cloud or self-hosted runners. Depot: Depot-hosted builders and runners. Free access. CircleCI: 30,000 credits a month, 5 users. Depot: 7-day trial. How you pay. CircleCI: Credits for compute; from $15 a month. Depot: Monthly plan plus per-minute overage. Self-hosting. CircleCI: Self-hosted runners (5 on Free, 20 on Performance). Depot: Deploy in your AWS account on Business.
CircleCI vs Depot: which is cheaper?⌄
CircleCI pricing: Free · paid from $15/mo. Depot pricing: From $20/mo. Confirm current pricing on each tool's official site, as plans change.
When should I skip both CircleCI and Depot?⌄
Skip CircleCI if you want CI inside your code host. GitHub Actions or GitLab CI/CD avoid another vendor. Skip Depot if your builds are already fast. GitHub Actions alone is cheaper.
Sources · tool facts checked November 2026
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