Tekton

Cloud-native CI/CD framework for Kubernetes-native pipelines.

Tekton is a cloud-native CI/CD framework that provides Kubernetes-native pipeline resources. A Linux Foundation / CD Foundation project, it offers reusable, composable building blocks for creating CI/CD systems. Used by Google Cloud Build, Red Hat OpenShift Pipelines, and other platforms as their underlying pipeline engine.

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About Tekton

Tekton provides a set of Kubernetes Custom Resources (CRDs) that define CI/CD pipelines as declarative, portable, and reusable building blocks. Tasks, Pipelines, and Triggers can be composed into complete CI/CD systems that run natively on Kubernetes.

The Tekton Hub offers a catalog of reusable tasks for common CI/CD operations like building container images, running tests, deploying to cloud platforms, and sending notifications. Its event-driven architecture supports webhooks and cloud events.

Tekton is completely free and open source under the Apache 2.0 license. It serves as the foundation for several commercial products including Google Cloud Build and Red Hat OpenShift Pipelines.

Pricing & Platform Specs

Pricing Summary

Free and 100% open source under the Apache-2.0 license and governed by the Continuous Delivery Foundation (CDF). Tekton has no software licensing fees; compute costs depend entirely on the underlying Kubernetes cluster infrastructure.

full pricing breakdown →

Supported Platforms

Requires Kubernetes cluster. Linux, Docker.

Explore categories, tags & use cases

Use Cases

DevOps Automation Full-Stack Development

Alternatives

All Tekton alternatives →

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Side-by-Side Comparisons

Woodpecker CI

Tekton

Woodpecker CI vs Tekton — Lightweight Container-Native CI vs Kubernetes-Native Pipeline Framework

Woodpecker CI provides a lightweight container-native continuous integration server forked from Drone with simple YAML configuration and minimal resource requirements. Tekton offers a Kubernetes-native pipeline framework with custom resources for building complex CI/CD workflows as cluster primitives. Woodpecker wins on simplicity while Tekton wins on Kubernetes-native extensibility.

Woodpecker CITekton

Community experience

Sources & verification

Tekton Official Documentation & Repository

Sources checked: September 5, 2026
Content verified: September 6, 2026

Verification dates are editorial checks. Routine CMS saves and automatic updatedAt timestamps do not advance them.

FAQ

What is Tekton?

Is Tekton free?

Yes — Tekton is open source and free to use. Free and 100% open source under the Apache-2.0 license and governed by the Continuous Delivery Foundation (CDF). Tekton has no software licensing fees; compute costs depend entirely on the underlying Kubernetes cluster infrastructure.

Is Tekton open source?

Yes — Tekton is open source.

Is Tekton still maintained?

Yes — Tekton is active. Its listing was last verified on September 6, 2026.

What are the best Tekton alternatives?

The first editor-selected Tekton alternatives are Woodpecker CI, Twill AI.

Tekton

About Tekton

Pricing & Platform Specs

Pricing Summary

Supported Platforms

Categories

Tags

Use Cases

Alternatives

Woodpecker CI