head to head · open source
ansible vs jenkins
ansible has 70,740 GitHub stars, 24,333 forks, 837 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. jenkins has 26,570 stars, 9,832 forks, 3,610 open issues and last shipped yesterday. ansible leads on adoption by 166% (70,740 vs 26,570 stars). ansible is written in Python under GPL-3.0; jenkins is written in Java under MIT. ansible has attracted 34% as many forks as stars, jenkins 37%. jenkins was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee.
Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.
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Side by side
| ansible | jenkins | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 71K | ★ 27K |
| License | GPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Written in | Python | Java |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-09-19 |
| Forks | ⑂ 24K | ⑂ 9.8K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick ansible if
- You weight community size — 71K stars and counting
- You want the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick jenkins if
- You want the jenkins feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Java
- You evaluated both and jenkins fits your workflow better
About ansible
Ansible is a radically simple, agentless IT automation platform, written in Python and licensed under GPL 3.0, that handles configuration management, application deployment, cloud provisioning, ad hoc task execution, network automation, and multi node orchestration for operators, developers, and network and cloud teams who manage machines over plain SSH.
read the full ansible overview →
About jenkins
Jenkins is an open source automation server built with Java and released under the MIT license. It lives in the continuous integration and continuous delivery ecosystem, where it has served as a central automation hub for roughly sixteen years. The project is developed in the open on GitHub, where it has accumulated 26,546 stars and 9,833 forks, and it is distributed through the official jenkins.io website alongside documentation, plugin listings, and release notes. Two release lines are maintained: a weekly line that carries all new features, improvements, and bug fixes, and a Long Term Support line that receive…
read the full jenkins overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is ansible or jenkins more popular?
ansible has 70,740 GitHub stars and jenkins has 26,570. ansible has the larger community by that measure.
Are ansible and jenkins free?
Both are open source. ansible is licensed under GPL-3.0 and jenkins under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between ansible and jenkins?
ansible is written in Python and jenkins in Java. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, ansible or jenkins?
Choose ansible if you want the larger community (70,740 stars) or its GPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose jenkins if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.