GitHub Actions vs CircleCI

Feature comparison

Pipeline configuration and management	CircleCI	GitHub Actions
YAML-based configuration	Yes	Yes
Centralized configuration management	Yes	No
Pipeline parameters	Yes	Yes
Conditional workflows	Yes	Yes
Dynamic pipelines	Yes	No
Reusable components	Yes  (Orbs)	Yes  (Actions)
Matrix builds	Yes	Yes

Performance and optimization	CircleCI	GitHub Actions
Docker layer caching	Yes	No
Parallel execution	Yes	Yes
Flexible resource allocation	Yes	No
Automatic retry of failed jobs	Yes	No
Flaky test detection	Yes	No
Test splitting & parallelization	Yes	No
Custom resource classes	Yes	No
Usage API	Yes	No

Environment support	CircleCI	GitHub Actions
Cloud-hosted runners	Yes	Yes
On-premises installation	Yes  (Server)	No
Linux environment	Yes	Yes
Windows environment	Yes	Yes
macOS environment	Yes	Yes
Docker environment	Yes	No
Arm support	Yes	Yes
GPU support	Yes	Yes

Enterprise features	CircleCI	GitHub Actions
Multi-VCS support	Yes	No
SOC 2 Type II certification	Yes	Yes
Detailed audit logs	Yes	Yes
Enterprise SSO	Yes	Yes
OIDC support	Yes	Yes
Org-wide policy enforcement	Yes	No
Priority support	Yes	No
Technical account managers	Yes	No

Developer tools	CircleCI	GitHub Actions
CLI tool	Yes	Yes
VS Code extension	Yes	Yes
REST API	Yes	Yes
Webhooks	Yes	Yes
SSH debugging	Yes	No
Advanced analytics	Yes	No
Secrets management	Yes	Yes

Last updated: April 15, 2025.  Because companies update their features and pricing regularly, some details might have changed since we last checked. We do our best to keep things accurate, but encourage you to do your own research.