Why Jenkins Might Beat GitHub Actions for Faster Builds and Customization

Many DevOps teams face a dilemma when choosing a Continuous Integration and Continuous Delivery (CI/CD) platform. GitHub Actions has quickly become a go-to solution for developers with projects hosted on GitHub due to its seamless integration and ease of use. However, Jenkins—one of the oldest and most versatile CI/CD tools on the market—continues to offer advantages in both speed and customization. In this post, we'll explore why Jenkins might outshine GitHub Actions, especially if you need faster builds and in-depth customization.

1. Understanding Jenkins

Jenkins is a self-hosted, open-source automation server that has been around for many years. It supports a vast number of plugins, allowing you to tailor your CI/CD pipeline to your project's needs. Because Jenkins can be deployed on your own infrastructure, you can optimize hardware, add agents as required, and even configure complex build pipelines without the constraints of a managed service.

2. Overview of GitHub Actions

GitHub Actions is deeply integrated with GitHub. It provides a convenient mechanism for automating workflows (such as running tests or deploying code) every time you push changes to your repository. Although it offers a marketplace of pre-built actions and a relatively simple configuration process via YAML files, it also introduces limitations, particularly in how resources and run times are allocated.

3. Achieving Faster Builds with Jenkins

One key advantage of Jenkins is the control you have over your infrastructure. Because it’s self-hosted, you can:

  • Use powerful on-premise servers or cloud VMs with more CPU and RAM than standard GitHub Actions runners.
  • Scale out by adding multiple Jenkins agents, distributing your builds and reducing queue times.
  • Optimize build steps and container usage to speed up tests and deployments.

For organizations with large and complex pipelines, Jenkins often outperforms GitHub Actions in build speed once properly configured and maintained.

4. Deep Customization and Plugin Ecosystem

Jenkins has a massive plugin ecosystem, enabling teams to:

  • Create highly specific pipeline steps tailored to unique project requirements.
  • Leverage specialized plugins for security, notifications, test reporting, and more.
  • Write custom scripts in Groovy (via Jenkins Pipeline) for advanced automation logic.

In contrast, GitHub Actions' marketplace continues to grow but may not match Jenkins’ breadth for niche use cases. If you depend on specialized or custom tooling, Jenkins provides the flexibility to incorporate it into your CI/CD pipeline seamlessly.

5. Cost and Maintenance

It’s true that Jenkins requires more administrative effort. You must provision and maintain your own servers, monitor system health, apply security patches, and ensure the Jenkins service remains up to date. However, for teams already invested in on-premise or dedicated cloud infrastructure, these overheads can be offset by:

  • Faster build times and minimal queue delays.
  • Avoiding per-minute or per-run billing for large-scale usage.
  • Flexibility to accommodate growth and specialized requirements without switching platforms.

GitHub Actions, by comparison, has a generous free tier for open-source projects and small teams, but costs can scale quickly for larger teams with frequent builds or high concurrency needs.

6. Real-Life Example

Imagine a mid-sized organization running resource-intensive integration tests that require a custom build environment. They switched from GitHub Actions to Jenkins due to GitHub’s runner time limits and the lack of deep customization options. With Jenkins, they could:

  • Deploy tests on high-end servers with enough RAM to parallelize processes.
  • Implement specialized plugins to manage parallel stages, containers, and build artifacts.
  • Reduce test execution times from over an hour to under 30 minutes.

This example highlights the immediate performance gains and customizability that Jenkins can offer.

7. Conclusion

GitHub Actions is an excellent tool, particularly if you value a straightforward setup or if you have smaller-scale build requirements. However, for organizations or projects that demand faster builds, hands-on infrastructure control, and a highly customizable pipeline, Jenkins might be the better choice. With its extensive plugin ecosystem and self-hosted nature, Jenkins grants deeper flexibility in tailoring CI/CD to fit complex workflows and unique needs.

Have you tried Jenkins for your CI/CD pipelines? What advantages—or even challenges—have you encountered compared to GitHub Actions? Feel free to share your experiences, ask questions, or offer advice in the comments. Whether you’re just starting out or looking to optimize an existing setup, the right CI/CD tool can make all the difference in streamlining software delivery.

Last updated: Sun Feb 09 2025
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