Teams that fully adopt CI/CD deploy software 208 times more frequently and recover from incidents 106 times faster than those that don’t. Choosing the right continuous delivery (CD) platform is critical for:
- Ensuring faster releases
- Fewer errors
- A smoother software development lifecycle
While Spinnaker has long been a popular option for enterprise-grade CD, it’s not always the best fit. This is especially true as newer, more flexible tools have entered the market. Maybe you’re looking for a platform that’s easier to manage or better suited for Kubernetes. Or you might need a platform that’s more integrated with your CI/CD pipeline.
That’s why this guide explores the top Spinnaker alternatives worth considering.
We’ll cover everything from low-code DevOps automation to GitOps-native solutions. Here, we offer five options that can better align with your team’s goals and infrastructure.
Key Takeaways
- While powerful, Spinnaker can be complex and resource-intensive to manage, making alternatives like DuploCloud and GitLab more appealing for leaner teams or evolving infrastructure needs.
- Platforms like DuploCloud and GitLab integrate CI, security, compliance, and automation features, streamlining the entire DevOps lifecycle and reducing the need for separate tooling.
- According to DORA research, elite DevOps teams using mature CI/CD pipelines deploy code 208x more frequently and recover from failures 106x faster, underscoring the business impact of choosing the right platform.
Find the best continuous delivery platform for your projects
The era of big releases and intermittent updates is over. Continuous delivery allows developers to seamlessly integrate smaller changes into their cloud build as soon as they’re ready to go live. You no longer have to accept downtime and unexpected issues as inevitable consequences of keeping an application updated.
One of the best-supported cloud deployment platforms for achieving continuous delivery is Spinnaker. However, the platform does have a relatively venerable age and single-minded focus on CD. So it isn’t surprising that teams may be searching for the best Spinnaker alternatives.
Maybe you’re starting a new project or searching for a different platform for existing applications. First, let’s establish what Spinnaker is used for and how it achieved its place of prominence.
What Is Spinnaker Used For?
Spinnaker is a multi-cloud continuous delivery platform. That means it helps application developers release software changes rapidly. Its hierarchical framework divides projects into applications, clusters, and server groups. (A Spinnakers cluster is just a collection of server groups, and is not to be confused with a Kubernetes cluster).
Spinnaker began life as an internal tool at Netflix. The streaming entertainment giant created Spinnaker as a replacement for Asgard. This is its previous tool for automating AWS deployments. Netflix first released Spinnaker as an open-source project under the Apache License 2.0 in 2015. It had built-in integrations for both AWS and GCP. Further updates in the following years expanded its capabilities. This includes tighter integration with Kubernetes and continuous integration frameworks.
Spinnaker remains a powerful tool for many purposes after nearly a decade of service. This is thanks in no small part to its open-source extensibility. Yet, Infrastructure-as-Code and hybrid cloud development tools have opened up greater efficiencies. And this older platform still has on-premises limitations and single-minded focus on CD. These have sent many developers in search of Spinnaker alternatives.
5 Spinnaker Alternatives and Competitors
1. DuploCloud
DuploCloud is a DevOps automation platform that allows developers to quickly provision infrastructure. And it will still be secure and compliant. Its seamless integration approach to continuous integration/continuous delivery (CI/CD) makes it easy to merge changes to your main branch. And it will use automatic deployments to eliminate user error and accelerate release cycles. This even works for the most complex deployments.
Yes. Building on a Spinnaker infrastructure requires a significant investment in skilled DevOps roles. But DuploCloud can reduce or outright remove the need to hire additional staff to handle your CI/CD processes. Its low-code/no-code interface allows team members to provision infrastructure for cloud applications. And you don’t need a public cloud technical background. You’ll also get intelligent guardrails, enabling teams to prevent compromised or non-compliant code from reaching production.
DuploCloud Pricing
DuploCloud’s pricing is available in four monthly tiers:
- DevOps: Built to help you automate application deployment with AWS/Azure/GCP services, all for $3,000 for your first 25 nodes.
- DevSecOps: This tier adds compliance and security controls. This is in addition to everything included in the DevOps tier, all for $4,500 for your first 50 nodes.
- DevSecOps PLUS: This tier is built to meet advanced regulatory standards. It includes everything from the DevSecOps tier as well as NIST, PCI, and HITRUST compliance for cloud or on-prem, all for $6,500 for your first 75 nodes.
2. Octopus Deploy
Octopus Deploy is a software delivery automation platform that handles release management. This is at the same time as automating complex application deployments and operations tasks. Its CD focus means it can serve as a direct Spinnaker alternative. It’s been in operation for more than a decade. Octopus Deploy has a long history of delivering on continuous deployment demands. It provides helpful features inducing runbook deployment automation and multi-tenancy.
Those years of growth and development have led some users to balk. They cite the hierarchy and configuration of Octopus Deploy as difficult to start on. Slow performance when using containers and acquiring containers may also be potential drawbacks.
Octopus Deploy Pricing
Octopus Deploy offers three tiers of pricing based on organization:
- Community: $10 per month for cloud deployments-as-a-service, or free when hosted on your own infrastructure
- Professional: $12 per target per month
- Enterprise: $18 per target per month
3. ArgoCD
ArgoCD is a continuous delivery tool made for Kubernetes based on the GitOps pattern. It works from the premise that application definitions, configurations, and environments should be declarative and version-controlled. It extends that vision to enable deeper automation and auditing. This also means greater intuitiveness of the application deployment and lifecycle management processes.
One of the primary drawbacks of this Argo project is that it is only built to function with Kubernetes manifests. If you use a different containerization framework, it will not be suited for your purposes. This holds true even if you’re creating more traditional DevOps projects with AI capabilities. ArgoCD’s focus on building out a single cluster within a Git repository can also be a difficult limitation for larger organizations.
ArgoCD Pricing
- Free
4. GitLab
While Spinnaker is deliberately limited to CD, GitLab takes a broader stance. It presents a comprehensive DevOps platform that also encompasses CI. Its built-in security and testing tools help create more resilient applications. Meanwhile, its user interface is easy to use across disciplines. This includes CI/CD support commands issued through Slack via AI chat.
Not all developers may need the comprehensive features GitLab offers. But its flexibility means it’s still well-suited to a range of cloud-native, Kubernetes, and multi-cloud products.
GitLab Pricing
GitLab offers a three-tiered pricing model:
- Free: No payment is required for personal projects, though this plan tops out at 400 support minutes per month.
- Premium: This plan is built for “scaling organizations and multi-team usage” and bumps the cap up to 10,000 compute minutes per month. It costs $29 per month.
- Ultimate: Up to 50,000 monthly compute minutes, dynamic application security testing, and other features separate this plan from premium. Its prices are not shared publicly.
5. Azure DevOps
Azure DevOps is another comprehensive platform. This one has the substantial backing of Microsoft Azure. It offers cloud-hosted pipelines for Linux, macOS, and Windows, with web, desktop, and mobile app build options. Azure DevOps supports cloud and on-premises deployments across a range of languages. It also includes extensible support for container registries. These include Docker Hub and Azure Container Registry.
The most obvious drawback of Azure DevOps is that it’s built to be natively compatible with Microsoft Azure. That said, external integrations such as AWS Toolkit for Azure DevOps make it relatively easy to clear the gap between cloud providers.
Azure DevOps Pricing
Azure DevOps pricing is offered by individual services and user licenses:
- Individual Services
- Azure Pipelines: For Microsoft-hosted deployments, the first 1,800 minutes are free with one free parallel job. Additional parallel jobs are $40 each.
- Azure Artifacts: Starter plans offer 2 GiB free per month, then charge $2 per GiB on top of that.
- User Licenses
- Basic Plan: The first five users get access to Azure Pipelines, Boards, Repos, and Artifacts for free. Each subsequent user costs $6 per month.
- Basic + Test Plans: In addition to Basic features, you can also get test planning. Plus, you’ll get browser-based tests, centralized reporting, and other features for $52 per user per month.
Simplify and Optimize Your CD with DuploCloud
Don’t limit your search for Spinnaker alternatives to standalone CD solutions. DuploCloud offers integrated automations that serve as a force multiplier for your team. These help you work more efficiently at every stage of the software development lifecycle.
With DuploCloud, you'll get:
- Built-in compliance
- Security automation
- Low-code infrastructure provisioning
Indeed, DuploCloud eliminates the need for patchwork tools and manual intervention. You might be a fast-scaling startup or an enterprise with strict regulatory requirements. Regardless of size, DuploCloud adapts to your cloud strategy. Make DevOps more accessible, reduce operational overhead, and accelerate innovation.
Schedule a free demo today and see the difference for yourself.
FAQs for Spinnaker Alternatives
Why would a team switch from Spinnaker to an alternative?
Spinnaker is powerful but can be complex, resource-heavy, and narrowly focused on CD. Teams may seek alternatives with better usability and broader feature sets. These could be like CI/CD integration or compliance automation. Or, you might want compatibility with modern infrastructure like Kubernetes or multi-cloud environments.
Are Spinnaker alternatives suitable for small teams?
Yes. Many alternatives, such as DuploCloud and GitLab, are designed to reduce manual DevOps overhead. They offer:
- Low-code interfaces
- Automation
- Scalability
This makes them accessible for startups or small teams without dedicated DevOps engineers.
Which Spinnaker alternative is best for Kubernetes deployments?
ArgoCD is purpose-built for Kubernetes and uses GitOps principles. This makes it an excellent fit for teams deploying containerized applications in Kubernetes.
Can I use Spinnaker and an alternative tool together?
In some cases, yes. For example, teams might use GitLab for CI and Spinnaker for CD. However, many modern platforms combine both CI and CD. This simplifies toolchains and reducing the need for integration maintenance.
