Drone
App in the BluixApps catalog
What it is
Drone is a container-native CI/CD platform — pipelines defined in YAML, executed as Docker containers, integrated with Git providers (GitHub, GitLab, Gitea, Bitbucket). The OSS edition is Apache 2.0 licensed and production-capable.
For teams who want GitHub Actions / GitLab CI experience without committing to a single vendor's ecosystem.
What it's for
- CI pipelines — build, test, lint, package on every commit
- CD pipelines — deploy to staging/production on branch / tag
- Multi-language builds — any language with a Docker image works
- Self-hosted GitHub Actions equivalent — same model, your infrastructure
- Custom workflows — any container as a pipeline step
Who it's for
- DevOps teams building self-hosted CI/CD pipelines
- Engineering orgs with multi-repo monorepos or polyrepo strategies
- Privacy-bound teams keeping CI in-network for proprietary code
- Cost-conscious teams moving away from per-minute GitHub Actions billing
- Container-first orgs preferring container-native CI design
Why teams pick Drone over alternatives
- Container-native — every step is a Docker container; no plugin hell
- Apache 2.0 — fully open
- YAML pipelines — declarative, version-controlled with the code
- Strong Git integrations — GitHub, GitLab, Gitea, Bitbucket first-class
- Multi-architecture — ARM64 + AMD64 build natively
- Pluggable runners — kubernetes, exec, docker runners
Integrations
- Git providers — GitHub, GitLab, Gitea, Bitbucket, Forgejo
- Container registries — Docker Hub, GHCR, ECR, GCR
- Notifications — Slack, Discord, Telegram, email plugins
- Cloud providers — AWS / GCP / Azure deployment plugins
- Secrets management — encrypted secrets stored in Drone, or external vault
- Webhook events — push, PR, tag, release triggers
- Custom plugins — any Docker image becomes a pipeline step
Notable users & community
- 31k+ GitHub stars
- Backed by Harness (acquired Drone in 2020) with continued open-source
- Active community in self-hosted CI space
- Used by countless small teams as GitHub Actions alternative
- Frequent releases with strong roadmap
Tips & operations
- Use runner pools — separate runners for build / deploy / heavy jobs
- Cache Docker layers — speeds builds dramatically; configure Drone's cache plugin
- Encrypted secrets — never commit credentials; use Drone's secret store
- Per-repo permissions — Drone respects Git provider permissions
- Resource limits per pipeline — prevent runaway builds from killing the runner
- Persist Postgres — pipeline history + secret store lives here
What we ship in BluixApps
- Docker compose: Drone server + Drone runner + Postgres
- Pinned
drone/drone:2(release-tagged) - HTTPS via Let's Encrypt
- OAuth integration with Git provider via env config
- Persistent volumes for Postgres + runner cache
- Multi-architecture support
- Backup hook covers Postgres
Get this app — pick a BluixApps plan
Same catalog. Scaling tenant isolation, white-label and support tier.
| Tier | Tenants | Catalog | Support | White-label | Monthly | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stacks | 1 | 19 curated stacks | Standard | — | $19/mo | DetailDeploy |
| Starter | 10 | Full catalog | Standard | +$15–25/mo | $49/mo | DetailDeploy |
| Pro | 25 | Full catalog | Priority bugfix | +$15–25/mo | $149/mo | DetailDeploy |
| Growth | 100 | Full catalog | Priority bugfix | +$15–25/mo | $349/mo | DetailDeploy |
| Scale | 500 | Full catalog | 7-day window | +$15–25/mo | $799/mo | DetailDeploy |
| Enterprise | Unlimited | Full catalog | Priority 7-day | Bundled | $1,499/mo | DetailDeploy |
