How much does Hudson cost?

Hudson is free to use. We verified this against the vendor's own page; see "What we checked" below for the date.

Does Hudson have a free plan?

Yes. Hudson is free to use at its base level.

What are the main drawbacks of Hudson?

The trade-offs we noted: 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..

When should you not use Hudson?

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.

Developer Tools

Hudson

Archived Java continuous-integration server whose last listed Eclipse release is from 2016.

What it 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.

Hudson pricing

Hudson does not publish a plan ladder we could verify. Free.

Prices read from the vendor's own pricing page on 2026-08-24. Vendors change plans without notice — check the source before you budget. Price verification log.

Key features

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.

Strengths and trade-offs

What works well

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.

Where it falls short

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.

Who it is for

Operators who have inherited a Hudson installation and need an evidence-based inventory and migration plan.

Pick it or skip it

Pick 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 it 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

Our verdict

Do not choose Hudson for a new deployment. If it already exists, restrict access, inventory every job and secret, preserve required history, and migrate to a maintained CI platform with tested rollback.

Frequently asked questions

How much does Hudson cost?: Hudson is free to use. We verified this against the vendor's own page; see "What we checked" below for the date.
Does Hudson have a free plan?: Yes. Hudson is free to use at its base level.
Who is Hudson best for?: Operators who have inherited a Hudson installation and need an evidence-based inventory and migration plan.
What are the main drawbacks of Hudson?: The trade-offs we noted: 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..
When should you not use Hudson?: 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.

What we checked

Public APIOffers a documented API you can build against.No
Mobile appHas a native app for iOS or Android, not just a mobile website.No
Open source / self-hostableSource is open and the tool can be run on your own infrastructure.Yes
SSO (SAML)Supports SAML single sign-on on at least one plan.No

“Not checked” means exactly that — we have not verified it, and we do not guess.

Evidence and freshness

Status: Official sources reviewedReviewed: 2026-08-24

Eclipse Projects — Hudson ↗
Checked 2026-08-24 · Supports: archived project state, Java servlet-container architecture, historical SCM support, Ant Maven and script execution, latest listed 3.4.0 release date, EPL-1.0 license

Limit: The archived Eclipse project record was reviewed; ToolCompare did not run Hudson, audit a legacy installation or its plugins, test a migration, inspect vulnerabilities, or validate compatibility with current Java, servlet containers, SCM systems or build tools.

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