Bitrise vs CircleCI
Get a full breakdown of how Bitrise and CircleCI compare at every stage of the mobile development lifecycle, so you can make the best choice for your team.
Which CI/CD tool works best for mobile projects?
Bitrise is purpose-built for mobile, offering preset workflows for iOS and Android, a visual pipeline editor, and automated code signing. CircleCI works fine for web and backend, but a mobile-first platform means less configuration, out-of-the-box support for fastlane and Xcode, and more time building great apps.
Setup
| Bitrise CI | CircleCI | |
|---|---|---|
| Project scanner |  Automatically detects project type and sets up basic config and workflow accordingly |  Some config generated if using GitHub app, if not project setup relies on canned sample config files |
| Integration with repo |  All major Git providers including GitHub, GitLab, Azure DevOps, and Bitbucket | Supports GitHub, GitLab and Bitbucket |
| No-code UI | Drag-and-drop UI for setting up graph pipelines, workflows and configuring steps | Configuration is primarily driven by YAML, no GUI to set up complex graph pipelines |
| YAML config | Yes, as well as drag-and-drop UI | Yes, only way to define pipeline configuration |
| Modular YAML config | Modularize any part of the YAML with simple include keyword | Only if the source code is stored in GitHub, and under certain conditions |
| Built-in steps and integrations | Uses Orbs for external integrations | |
| Step/integration origin | 170+ official mobile focused steps Hundreds of mobile-focused community steps | Thousands of Orbs available but limited mobile-focus Thousands of community steps |
| Fastlane integration | Natively built into Bitrise, steps available to reduce dependency on fastlane | Supported, typically requires manual installation of dependencies |
Build
| Bitrise CI | CircleCI | |
|---|---|---|
| Hosting options | Cloud runners, private cloud runners, on-premise runners, on your AWS account | Cloud runners and self-hosted runners |
| Data center locations for Cloud runners | US (default), EU | US |
| Build machines | macOS: up to 14 vCPU (M4 Pro) (Granular sizing supports selection of the best price/performance machine for the use case) | macOS: up to 12 vCPU (M4 Pro) Linux: up to 32 vCPUs (x64) Windows build machines available |
| Build environments | Virtualized Linux, macOS Mobile-focused stack including Apple and Android SDKs and simulators | Docker containers (x86, ARM), virtualized Linux and macOS, Windows, GPU (Linux and Windows) |
| Latest Xcode update delay | Historically <24 hours (not an SLA) | Target is “days”, historical performance is roughly one week |
| Concurrent builds | Up 1,000+ concurrent VMs on Enterprise plans | Custom number of concurrent builds on Custom plans |
| Dependency caching | Tightly integrated, mobile-optimized key-based caches with prebuilt steps for all major mobile dependency managers including SPM, CocoaPods, Carthage, Gradle, Flutter, and npm/Yarn | Requires manual configuration for each language's specific package manager and cache directory in the YAML |
| Remote build caching | Standalone colocated build caching for Bazel, Gradle and Xcode reduces build times by up to 90% (add-on product) | No native remote build caching solution specifically for Bazel, Gradle, or Xcode |
| Code signing (iOS and Android) | Fully automated via dedicated workflow steps and a secure portal for handling code signing assets | No fully integrated native solution, achieved through manual configuration of third-party tools like fastlane |
Testing
| Bitrise CI | CircleCI | |
|---|---|---|
| Device testing | Built-in steps for unit and UI testing via Firebase, run on real devices for iOS and emulators for Android | No built-in support for running tests on real iOS devices; iOS simulators and Android emulators provided |
| Test sharding | Fully automated in Bitrise, including shard optimization calculation | Supported through manual YAML config, no shard optimization |
| Test reports | All test data is collected automatically and displayed on a centralized build page dashboard, plus report sharing via GitHub PR comments | Test data split across job view, Test Insights, and separate artifact storage |
| Test artifacts, including screenshots | Available directly in Test Reports, artifacts/screenshots available in line with the associated test case | Artifacts can be downloaded but are not associated with failing test cases within Testing UI |
| Flaky test detection | Automatically flagged based on test retries, available in Test Reports | Available in Test Insights and via API but not directly available in job page |
| Firebase Test Lab licence | Fully included, no additional cost | Not included |
Monitoring
Bitrise Insights | CircleCI | |
|---|---|---|
| Build monitoring | Standard key usage and performance metrics, plus mobile-focused metrics including flaky test and artifact storage metrics | Basic workflow and job insight metrics, whivh can be delayed up to 24 hours and misaligned with plan usage metrics |
| Test performance | Out-of-the-box test reporting for mobile app tests, including flaky test detection | Standard test reporting metrics for tests where results collection is configured in the YAML |
| Bottleneck identification | Automatically highlights problematic workflows and tests and most impactful optimizations | Relies on manual analysis of run times displayed in Test Insights |
| Git collaboration metrics | Standard metrics including cycle time and merge frequency for GitHub, GitLab and Bitbucket Cloud | Not available |
| Resource utilization | Standard overall infrastructure utilization metrics | Basic information available, detailed infrastructure usage only available for Docker executor |
| Custom dashboards | Built-in, pick from any available Insights metrics | Not available |
| Alerting | Advanced, metric-based alerts, including workflow duration, test failure rate and build queue time | Requires manual configuration in the YAML |
Release
Bitrise Release Management | CircleCI | |
|---|---|---|
| Automated app store deployment | User-friendly interface to automate submission to Apple App Store, TestFlight, and Google Play Console | Possible but not a native solution, requires extensive set-up and configuration of fastlane |
| Over-the-air (OTA) distribution | Distribute private and public install links to testers, bypassing the app stores | Not supported, requires integrating with Firebase App Distribution |
| Tester groups | Automatically notify and distribute installable artifacts to testers | Not supported, requires configuration using external deployment tools or scripts |
| Phased rollouts | Simplified and managed within the platform UI | Only supported for general software delivery (e.g. Kubernetes) |
| Unified release management dashboard | Native, mobile-first release dashboard | General Deploys UI for managing and viewing deployments |
| Release stages | Predefined steps for the release process, including Release Candidate, Testing, Approvals, and Release | Custom-defined using workflows to orchestrate jobs |
| Built-in approval gates | Assignable approval tasks to enforce internal processes prior to publishing apps | Manual approval gates can be configured within the YAML using approval job types |
| Status notifications | Automated updates on release progress through Slack, Microsoft Teams, etc. | Native email notifications supported through the UI, manually configurable Orbs available for Slack, etc. |
| Role-based permissions | Define who can manage and approve app submissions (Release Manager, App Tester, Project Admin) | Basic implementation, anyone who has push access to the repository can approve the job |
| Release presets | Predefined configuration values for new releases, including release notes | No equivalent concept |
| Localized release notes | Built-in support | No equivalent concept |
| Release management API | High-level comprehensive API, functionality matches GUI | No specific API support for release management |
Support
Bitrise | CircleCI | |
|---|---|---|
| Support team | Specialized support for mobile DevOps from mobile CI/CD experts on selected plans | General CI/CD support integrated with broader platform |
| Dedicated mobile expert Solution Architect | Available on selected plans | Not available |
Pricing
Bitrise Pro and Enterprise | CircleCI | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Predictable pay-per-build pricing structure, longer build times don’t increase costs. | Credit-based system where credits equate to build minutes consumed. Costs increase with longer build times. Additional users are also monetized. |
| Impact on build times | Build duration is not a profit driver, so quick builds and frequent releases are good for everyone. Fastest machines on the market (M4 Pros) and unique co-located Build Cache speed up build times. | Vendor benefits from longer build times (charged by minute), credit multipliers are applied to faster machines. |
| Predictability and budgeting | Pre-paid packages with set number of builds, regardless of build durations. No detrimental impact from build time spikes or increases as your apps grow. | Unlimited builds, with pre-paid number of build credits. Build time spikes or increases could cause you run out of credits mid-month. |
Security
Bitrise | CircleCI | |
|---|---|---|
| SOC 2 Type II Attestation | | |
| GDPR | | |
| ISO 27001 | Selected vendors and suppliers | |
"We looked at quite a few solutions, including CircleCI, but Bitrise stood out. Its mobile-first approach and wide range of machines was exactly what we needed. We were after a specialised solution, which made Bitrise the clear choice.”
Valentin Holgado
Senior Software Engineer @ Rightmove
Why mobile teams switch to Bitrise
Built for mobile, end to end
Connect your GitHub repos in minutes, and get native signing, simulators, device testing, and store submissions. All without stitching tools together.
Faster builds, less effort
Cut build times without weeks of configuration, with high‑spec Apple silicon runners and a unique co-located remote build cache.
Automated releases
Ship to the App Store and Google Play, distribute OTA betas, manage approvals and roles, and track release status, all from one simple dashboard
Painless code signing
Get secure, automated iOS and Android signing workflows, and remove one of the biggest recurring blockers for fast releases.
Easy bottleneck detection
Test reports and build insights let you quickly pinpoint flaky tests, slow steps, and queue bottlenecks, with alerts and dashboards ready-to-go on day one.
Predictable pricing
Build‑based pricing means fast builds are better for everyone, plus easier forecasting and flexible concurrency to support more complex apps.
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