Woodpecker CI
Lightweight, open-source CI/CD engine with Docker-based pipelines, multi-workflow support, and Gitea/GitHub/GitLab integration.
Use Cases
Free Tier
100% free and open source — self-host with unlimited builds, agents, and users
How to Maximize the Free Tier
Woodpecker CI is completely free and open source — deploy it on a single VPS or a Raspberry Pi. Use Docker containers for pipeline steps so builds are isolated and reproducible. The plugin ecosystem lets you add steps (notifications, deployments, caching) without writing custom scripts. Use Woodpecker with Gitea for a fully self-hosted GitHub alternative. Enable multi-workflow support to create dependency chains between pipeline stages. The minimal resource requirements (can run on 512MB RAM) make it ideal for self-hosting on cheap VPS providers like Oracle Cloud free tier or Hetzner.
Getting Started
Install Woodpecker via Docker Compose (one YAML file) → connect to your Git forge (Gitea, GitHub, GitLab) → configure the OAuth app → create a .woodpecker.yml in your repo → define pipeline steps with Docker images → commit to trigger builds. Woodpecker runs agents as Docker containers.
Pros
- Fully free: Open source with no usage limits, no per-user pricing, no feature gates — completely free forever
- Lightweight: Runs on minimal resources (512MB RAM) — deploy on a cheap VPS or even a Raspberry Pi
- Docker native: Pipeline steps run in Docker containers — isolated, reproducible, and easy to customize with any image
Cons
- Self-hosting only: No managed cloud option — you must deploy, maintain, and scale the server yourself
- Smaller ecosystem: Fewer plugins and integrations compared to GitHub Actions or GitLab CI marketplaces
- Limited docs: Documentation is functional but sparse — expect to read source code for advanced configurations