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CircleCI pros and cons

Vendor: CircleCI
3.4 out of 5

Pros & Cons summary

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Prominent pros & cons

PROS

CircleCI automates build processes seamlessly and runs workflows effortlessly, supporting parallel builds for scalability.
It allows fast identification of failed builds, speeding up multiple production deployments.
Valuable features include container-based builds, integration with Bitbucket, and artifact storage.
CircleCI offers efficient automation workflows related to third-party applications, enhancing application standardization.
The use of CircleCI has significantly improved deployment speeds, increasing productivity and collaboration across teams.

CONS

Integration with Microsoft Azure is an area for improvement, as some deployment models require a steep learning curve.
Pricing could be better, and there is a need for more transparency in costs related to caching and workspaces.
Billing is a mess, causing challenges for users.
Return on investment has not been observed, with no relevant metrics available.
Debugging complex pipelines and managing credits can be challenging, especially for large workflows.
 

CircleCI Pros review quotes

it_user790470 - PeerSpot reviewer
Full Stack Bot Engineer with 1,001-5,000 employees
Dec 18, 2017
The ability to automate the build process in a seamless way and run workflows effortlessly. It supports parallel builds so it can scale well. Also, it covers the basics of any build and integration tool, including email notifications (especially when tests are fixed), project insights, etc.
reviewer993756 - PeerSpot reviewer
Automation & Network Engineer at a educational organization with 10,001+ employees
Oct 21, 2021
The automation workflow in CircleCI related to third-party applications is very good and allows standardization of applications.
Mritunjay Kumar - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Engineer at Affinidi
Aug 29, 2023
It's a stable product.
Learn what your peers think about CircleCI. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: February 2026.
881,733 professionals have used our research since 2012.
reviewer0972521 - PeerSpot reviewer
Chief Technology Officer at Kyberlife
Sep 26, 2023
The solution offers continuous integration and continuous delivery.
reviewer2783499 - PeerSpot reviewer
SRE coordinator at a financial services firm with 201-500 employees
Dec 2, 2025
CircleCI has positively impacted the organization, as it has been used for many years and serves as the main source for application deployment.
RA
Global Head - DevOps and AIOps Startegist at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees
Dec 13, 2025
CircleCI has significantly reduced build and deployment times, saving substantial engineering hours and effort for me, which has directly improved my productivity and release velocity, reflecting incredible ROI.
RishooMittal - PeerSpot reviewer
Managing Technical Consultant - Solution Architect at NTT DATA
Jan 24, 2026
CircleCI has positively impacted my organization by bringing in faster deployments, which means we can release faster, receive quicker feedback, and enhance collaboration and communication across the entire team.
 

CircleCI Cons review quotes

it_user790470 - PeerSpot reviewer
Full Stack Bot Engineer with 1,001-5,000 employees
Dec 18, 2017
Integration with Microsoft Azure is one area for improvement. Azure is growing in its user base, and supports various cloud infrastructure components such as Service Fabric, App Service, etc. Some of Azure’s deployment models (like Kudu) require a steep learning curve, but if CircleCI would come up with such features (deployment to App Service) out of the box, it would be amazing.
reviewer993756 - PeerSpot reviewer
Automation & Network Engineer at a educational organization with 10,001+ employees
Oct 21, 2021
There needs to be some improvement in the user interface of CircleCI.
Mritunjay Kumar - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Engineer at Affinidi
Aug 29, 2023
The solution’s pricing could be better.
Learn what your peers think about CircleCI. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: February 2026.
881,733 professionals have used our research since 2012.
reviewer0972521 - PeerSpot reviewer
Chief Technology Officer at Kyberlife
Sep 26, 2023
Billing is a mess.
reviewer2783499 - PeerSpot reviewer
SRE coordinator at a financial services firm with 201-500 employees
Dec 2, 2025
A return on investment with CircleCI has not been observed, and no relevant metrics such as time saved or fewer employees needed can be shared.
RA
Global Head - DevOps and AIOps Startegist at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees
Dec 13, 2025
I believe debugging complex pipelines and managing credits can sometimes be challenging, especially for large workflows, so these areas can be improved.
RishooMittal - PeerSpot reviewer
Managing Technical Consultant - Solution Architect at NTT DATA
Jan 24, 2026
I rated CircleCI six out of ten because I think they need more transparency in pricing, as there are instances of unclear network data transfer and storage costs related to caching and workspaces.