Drone

App in the BluixApps catalog

What it is

Drone is a container-native CI/CD platform — pipelines defined in YAML, executed as Docker containers, integrated with Git providers (GitHub, GitLab, Gitea, Bitbucket). The OSS edition is Apache 2.0 licensed and production-capable.

For teams who want GitHub Actions / GitLab CI experience without committing to a single vendor's ecosystem.

What it's for

  • CI pipelines — build, test, lint, package on every commit
  • CD pipelines — deploy to staging/production on branch / tag
  • Multi-language builds — any language with a Docker image works
  • Self-hosted GitHub Actions equivalent — same model, your infrastructure
  • Custom workflows — any container as a pipeline step

Who it's for

  • DevOps teams building self-hosted CI/CD pipelines
  • Engineering orgs with multi-repo monorepos or polyrepo strategies
  • Privacy-bound teams keeping CI in-network for proprietary code
  • Cost-conscious teams moving away from per-minute GitHub Actions billing
  • Container-first orgs preferring container-native CI design

Why teams pick Drone over alternatives

  • Container-native — every step is a Docker container; no plugin hell
  • Apache 2.0 — fully open
  • YAML pipelines — declarative, version-controlled with the code
  • Strong Git integrations — GitHub, GitLab, Gitea, Bitbucket first-class
  • Multi-architecture — ARM64 + AMD64 build natively
  • Pluggable runners — kubernetes, exec, docker runners

Integrations

  • Git providers — GitHub, GitLab, Gitea, Bitbucket, Forgejo
  • Container registries — Docker Hub, GHCR, ECR, GCR
  • Notifications — Slack, Discord, Telegram, email plugins
  • Cloud providers — AWS / GCP / Azure deployment plugins
  • Secrets management — encrypted secrets stored in Drone, or external vault
  • Webhook events — push, PR, tag, release triggers
  • Custom plugins — any Docker image becomes a pipeline step

Notable users & community

  • 31k+ GitHub stars
  • Backed by Harness (acquired Drone in 2020) with continued open-source
  • Active community in self-hosted CI space
  • Used by countless small teams as GitHub Actions alternative
  • Frequent releases with strong roadmap

Tips & operations

  • Use runner pools — separate runners for build / deploy / heavy jobs
  • Cache Docker layers — speeds builds dramatically; configure Drone's cache plugin
  • Encrypted secrets — never commit credentials; use Drone's secret store
  • Per-repo permissions — Drone respects Git provider permissions
  • Resource limits per pipeline — prevent runaway builds from killing the runner
  • Persist Postgres — pipeline history + secret store lives here

What we ship in BluixApps

  • Docker compose: Drone server + Drone runner + Postgres
  • Pinned drone/drone:2 (release-tagged)
  • HTTPS via Let's Encrypt
  • OAuth integration with Git provider via env config
  • Persistent volumes for Postgres + runner cache
  • Multi-architecture support
  • Backup hook covers Postgres
Read this app's deep dive on bluix.app ↗

Get this app — pick a BluixApps plan

Same catalog. Scaling tenant isolation, white-label and support tier.

TierTenantsCatalogSupportWhite-labelMonthly
Stacks119 curated stacksStandard$19/moDetailDeploy
Starter10Full catalogStandard+$15–25/mo$49/moDetailDeploy
Pro25Full catalogPriority bugfix+$15–25/mo$149/moDetailDeploy
Growth100Full catalogPriority bugfix+$15–25/mo$349/moDetailDeploy
Scale500Full catalog7-day window+$15–25/mo$799/moDetailDeploy
EnterpriseUnlimitedFull catalogPriority 7-dayBundled$1,499/moDetailDeploy

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