Compare / Semaphore vs CircleCI

Semaphore vs CircleCI

CircleCI offers many execution environments and configuration options. Semaphore focuses on fast builds, direct per-minute pricing and built-in debugging. Your repositories stay where they are.

Updated November 2026

TL;DR

Average build time: 5m 01s on Semaphore vs 13m 18s on CircleCI. Cost per job: $0.04 vs $0.08.
Direct per-minute pricing instead of credits.
Pipeline as code plus a visual editor. No Orbs to audit.
Real-time logs and SSH into running jobs.
CircleCI fits better if your pipelines rely heavily on Orbs (details).

At a glance

	Semaphore	CircleCI
Average build time	5m 01s	13m 18s
Cost per job	$0.04	$0.08
Billing	Direct per-minute pricing	Credit-based pricing
Configuration	Pipeline as code plus a visual editor	config.yml, Orbs and parameters
Deployment	Cloud, open-source Community Edition, Enterprise	Cloud plus self-hosted runners
Debugging	Real-time logs, SSH into jobs	Logs, reruns and executor tooling
Test signals	Test reports, flaky-test detection	Test results, test splitting, parallelism
Coding agents	MCP server, sem-ai CLI, agent plugins	Agent-assisted configuration

Benchmark

Average build time for the same Redmine workflow on comparable machines, March 2026. Lower is better.

Semaphore5m 01s · $0.04

CircleCI13m 18s · $0.08

Benchmark run by Semaphore on one workload. Validate it on your own pipeline. Methodology and raw data →

Config side by side

The same Node.js test pipeline in both tools.

.circleci/config.yml

version: 2.1
jobs:
  test:
    docker:
      - image: cimg/node:20.0
    steps:
      - checkout
      - run: npm ci
      - run: npm test
workflows:
  ci:
    jobs:
      - test

.semaphore/semaphore.yml

version: v1.0
name: CI
agent:
  machine:
    type: f1-standard-2
    os_image: ubuntu2404
blocks:
  - name: Test
    task:
      jobs:
        - name: npm test
          commands:
            - checkout
            - sem-version node 20
            - npm ci
            - npm test

Migrating

Install the sem-ai CLI, then ask your coding agent to map the workflow. Run both pipelines side by side before you switch.

$ curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/semaphoreio/sem-ai/main/install.sh | sh

# Claude Code
/plugin marketplace add semaphoreio/sem-ai
/plugin install sem-ai@semaphoreio

# Codex
codex plugin marketplace add semaphoreio/sem-ai
codex plugin add sem-ai@semaphoreio

# then ask your agent:
# "Move this CircleCI workflow to Semaphore and run both pipelines for comparison."

Pick one representative project.
The agent maps .circleci/config.yml to .semaphore/semaphore.yml.
Connect the existing repository.
Run both pipelines in parallel and keep a rollback path.

When CircleCI fits better

Your pipelines depend on many Orbs with no direct equivalent.
Your team already budgets around CircleCI credits and the setup works for you.

FAQ

Do I have to move my repositories?

No. Semaphore connects to your existing repositories. Only the CI changes.

How is pricing different?

Semaphore publishes direct per-minute machine prices. CircleCI converts compute and services into credits, so resource class, storage, caching and concurrency all affect the cost.

Is Semaphore faster than CircleCI?

In Semaphore’s March 2026 benchmark, the same Redmine workflow averaged 5m 01s on Semaphore and 13m 18s on CircleCI. It is a vendor-run result for one workload, so validate it on your own pipeline.

Can I run both during migration?

Yes, and we recommend it. Run both pipelines in parallel, compare speed and cost, and keep a rollback path until you switch.

Get started

Tell your agent what you want.
It runs your CI.

$curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/semaphoreio/sem-ai/main/install.sh | sh

>/plugin marketplace add semaphoreio/sem-ai

>/plugin install sem-ai@semaphoreio

$codex plugin marketplace add semaphoreio/sem-ai

$codex plugin add sem-ai@semaphoreio

Then ask your agent to set things up — it connects to your org, and you start with $15 of free usage every month. No signup form.