actions-runner-controllervsjenkins
Two self-hosted CI/CD projects, compared on the numbers selfhost.directory tracks live: score, popularity, release cadence and setup effort.
| actions-runner-controller | jenkins | |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 71/100 | 82/100 |
| Rank in category | #7 of 28 in CI/CD | #1 of 28 in CI/CD |
| GitHub stars | 6 610 | 26 703 |
| Stars, last 30 days | +93 | +122 |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 6 | 30 |
| Latest release | gha-runner-scale-set-0.15.1 · 23 Oct 2026 | jenkins-2.587 · 20 Oct 2026 |
| Setup | Advanced | Moderate |
| Official Docker image | Yes | Yes |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Main language | Go | Java |
Which one should you pick?
jenkins scores 82/100 against 71/100 for actions-runner-controller, so it is the safer default.
jenkins ships more often: 30 stable releases in the past year, against 6 for actions-runner-controller.
If you want the quickest setup, jenkins is easier to run; actions-runner-controller needs more configuration.
actions-runner-controller details →jenkins details →All CI/CD projects →