Best Travis CI Alternatives in 2026

If you still use Travis CI, the best alternative is almost always GitHub Actions: it is built into GitHub, and a .travis.yml converts to a workflow quickly. CircleCI and Semaphore are the closest hosted options if you want a separate CI. This is a buyer's list. Travis figures below come from its billing docs and pricing page as of October 2026; confirm current numbers there before you decide.

Why teams look for alternatives to Travis CI

• The free path changed. Per its billing docs, new users pick a usage-based Trial plan with 10,000 credits (about 1,000 Linux build minutes) that is valid for 14 days and is not replenished. A card is required to select it.
• Open source builds are case by case. Public repositories used to build free. The docs describe an allotment of open source minutes reviewed on request through support, rather than a standing free tier.
• A credit model. The usage-based plan lists $15 a month with 35,000 Linux credits, and an Unlimited plan from $78 a month. Credits per minute vary by machine, so forecasting needs the credit table.
• Smaller ecosystem. Travis lacks the marketplace of reusable actions that GitHub or CircleCI have.
• Another system next to GitHub. Separate status checks, settings and secrets.
• Stale configs. Many .travis.yml files target old language versions and dist: values, so a migration doubles as a cleanup.

Travis strengths: a very simple matrix syntax and a long history on open source projects.

Quick picks

The alternatives

GitHub Actions

Workflows sit beside the code, and matrix builds map directly from Travis's matrix. Hosted Linux 2-core is $0.006/min and 8-core $0.022/min, and free minutes depend on your plan. Public repositories get standard hosted runners at no charge under GitHub's terms, which matters for open source maintainers; check GitHub's current docs. Tradeoff: hosted runners are modest in size.

GitHub Actions on compiler.dev

Keep Actions and change one line, runs-on: [self-hosted, Linux, compiler-ci], to run on a fresh 8 vCPU / 16 GB VM at $0.012/min with automatic fallback to your original runners. See benchmarks, median 1.5× faster across 18 measured stacks (15 faster, 2 the same, 1 slower) than GitHub-hosted. Aimed at private repos with real CI minutes, not hobby projects; no Arm or Windows.

CircleCI

30,000 free credits a month for private repositories, and up to 400,000 credits a month for open source on Linux, Arm and Docker, per its pricing page. Credits expire monthly. See CircleCI alternatives.

Semaphore

$15 of free credit a month (about 2,000 Ubuntu 2 vCPU minutes), Ubuntu x64 2 vCPU $0.0075/min, Arm 2 vCPU $0.003/min. Tradeoff: smaller ecosystem.

GitLab CI

400 free compute minutes, Premium $29 per user a month. A fit if you are moving the repo too.

Buildkite

Free for up to 5 users with 2,000 Linux vCPU minutes; Pro is $30 per active user a month and you run agents. More than most Travis users need.

How to choose

1. Do you host on GitHub? Pick Actions and stop there.
2. Is the project open source? Check free-tier terms on each option, since they differ and change.
3. Do you need Arm or macOS? Check the machine list before you move; see the runner price table.
4. Use the Actions cost calculator for private repos.

Migration notes

A common Travis file:

# .travis.yml
language: node_js
node_js:
  - 18
  - 20
cache: npm
script:
  - npm ci
  - npm test

The same as a workflow, with the matrix kept:

# .github/workflows/ci.yml
name: ci
on: [push, pull_request]
jobs:
  test:
    runs-on: [self-hosted, Linux, compiler-ci]
    strategy:
      matrix:
        node: [18, 20]
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - uses: actions/setup-node@v4
        with:
          node-version: ${{ matrix.node }}
          cache: npm
      - run: npm ci && npm test

For public repos, use runs-on: ubuntu-latest instead. Travis env, before_install and deploy blocks become steps and environments. Secrets are re-entered as GitHub secrets. See matrix builds and the matrix expander. Run both systems side by side for a week, then remove the Travis app. For the full comparison with compiler.dev, see Travis CI vs compiler.dev. More on leaving CI vendors is in the alternatives guide.

FAQ

Is Travis CI still free for open source?

Not as a standing tier per its docs: open source minutes are allocated on request through support. Check with Travis for the current policy.

What is the easiest Travis CI replacement?

GitHub Actions, if your code is on GitHub.

How do I convert .travis.yml?

Map language and versions to a setup action with a matrix, script to run steps, and cache to the setup action's cache option.

Will the first run be slow?

Yes, caches start cold on any new CI.