Buildbot vs Hudson

What Buildbot is

Buildbot is a GPL-licensed Python framework for running continuous-integration build and test workflows on one buildmaster and one or more connected workers. It supplies schedulers, builders, status interfaces and a REST API, but it is self-operated software: teams provision worker environments, repositories, databases, authentication, secrets, upgrades, logs and build isolation.

What Hudson is

Eclipse Hudson is an EPL-licensed Java continuous-integration server designed to run in a servlet container and execute builds from several source-control systems. The Eclipse Foundation now marks the project Archived and lists 3.4.0 from September 2016 as its latest release, so it should be treated as legacy infrastructure to inventory, isolate and migrate—not as a current CI choice.

What Buildbot is built to do

Buildmaster

Schedules build requests and decides which configured builders and workers execute them.

Workers

Run source checkout and arbitrary build steps in team-provisioned environments.

Schedulers and builders

Translate changes, timers or requests into concrete step-based builds.

Web and REST interfaces

Publishes status and provides versioned read and control endpoints with configured authentication.

What Hudson is built to do

Java CI server

Historically ran as a Java application in servlet containers such as Tomcat or GlassFish.

SCM integrations

The archived project page lists CVS, Subversion, Git and ClearCase support.

Build execution

Historically executed Ant, Maven, shell-script and Windows batch workloads.

Archived lifecycle

The authoritative project record now identifies Hudson as archived.

Choose Buildbot if

• Projects requiring custom build logic across heterogeneous worker platforms
• Teams willing to maintain CI configuration as Python code and operate the full service
• Organizations able to isolate untrusted builds and manage secrets outside build logs

Skip Buildbot if

• You need a turnkey managed CI service with hosted workers and support included
• No platform owner can maintain masters, databases, workers, logs and upgrades
• Contributor-controlled builds cannot be isolated from credentials and sensitive infrastructure

Choose Hudson if

• Identifying an existing Hudson server and its historical role
• Planning retirement or migration of legacy Hudson jobs
• Preserving read-only historical context during a controlled transition

Skip Hudson if

• You are selecting a CI platform for a new project
• You require current security fixes, platform support or maintained plugins
• The build system will hold production credentials or run untrusted code

Buildbot: pros & cons

• Programmable workflows: Python configuration can describe arbitrary project-specific build steps and schedulers.
• Worker diversity: Builders can target workers on different platforms and purpose-built environments.
• Master and worker separation: Workers connect to the buildmaster and can sit behind a firewall while reaching source repositories.
• Public REST API: Versioned endpoints expose Buildbot data and supported control operations.
• Platform operations: Buildmaster, workers, database, web service, upgrades, availability and backups are customer-managed.
• Untrusted-code risk: Worker accounts and environments need least privilege and isolation when builds execute contributor-controlled code.
• Scale planning: Documentation recommends moving beyond default SQLite as builders, workers and users grow.
• Configuration expertise: Flexible Python configuration increases ownership for testing, review and safe rollout of CI changes.

Hudson: pros & cons

• Legacy recognition: The official page identifies the runtime, supported build styles and historical SCM integrations for existing installations.
• Open-source history: Eclipse lists the project under the Eclipse Public License 1.0.
• Migration context: Its documented Java servlet-container architecture helps teams locate dependencies around an inherited instance.
• Archived project: Eclipse explicitly marks Hudson archived, so ongoing fixes and current platform compatibility should not be assumed.
• Old release line: The latest release shown by Eclipse is 3.4.0 from 2016.
• Security exposure: An internet-facing or privileged build system without current maintenance creates material dependency, plugin and credential risk.
• Migration work: Jobs, plugins, credentials, agents and artifact flows must be inventoried and tested on a maintained replacement.