Try our new research platform with insights from 80,000+ expert users

GNU Make vs Jenkins comparison

GNU and Jenkins are both solutions in the Build Automation category. GNU is ranked #17 with an average rating of 9.0, while Jenkins is ranked #3 with an average rating of 8.1. GNU holds a 0.7% mindshare in BA, compared to Jenkins’s 10.5% mindshare. Additionally, 83% of GNU users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 87% of Jenkins users who would recommend it.
GNU Make
Read 6 GNU Make reviews
  • 245 Views
  • 245 Comparison Views
83% willing to recommend
Jenkins
Read 93 Jenkins reviews
  • 3,699 Views
  • 3,625 Comparison Views
87% willing to recommend
 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Download the report
Executive SummaryUpdated on Mar 5, 2025

GNU Make and Jenkins compete in automation and build management. Jenkins has an advantage with its extensive plugin ecosystem and CI/CD capabilities.

Features: GNU Make is known for handling dependency graphs and rules efficiently. It supports static pattern rules for source compilation and integrates with third-party dependency builders. Jenkins features an extensive set of plugins, offers advanced CI/CD functionalities, and integrates with various tools, enhancing its extensibility.

Room for Improvement: GNU Make could enhance its GUI and modernize its declarative syntax to support advanced automation needs. Jenkins requires improvements in initial configuration complexity and its extensive reliance on plugins can make troubleshooting time-consuming. Better native support features could streamline workflows.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: GNU Make is easy to install, requiring minimal configuration and providing a lightweight solution. Jenkins demands more setup effort, but benefits from comprehensive documentation and community support, offering scalable orchestration suitable for large projects.

Pricing and ROI: Both GNU Make and Jenkins are open source without direct setup costs. GNU Make provides a reliable ROI for simple builds. Jenkins offers scalability and automation efficiencies, which justify potential higher initial investments in configuration and maintenance.

DOWNLOAD THE COMPLETE REPORT
To learn more, read our detailed GNU Make vs. Jenkins Report (Updated: July 2025).
Buyer's Guide
GNU Make vs. Jenkins
July 2025
Download the complete report
Helped 861,524 peers since 2012

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

GNU Make
Ranking in Build Automation
17th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
6
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Jenkins
Ranking in Build Automation
3rd
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
93
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2025, in the Build Automation category, the mindshare of GNU Make is 0.7%, up from 0.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Jenkins is 10.5%, down from 12.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Build Automation
 

Featured Reviews

reviewer2561757 - PeerSpot reviewer
Enhances productivity with efficient dependency handling and a straightforward setup
GNU Make is used as a build system tool. Most people don't use GNU Make directly but utilize other systems like CMake to generate Make files, which are then run by GNU Make. This is common for tasks like compiling C++ code. In the industry, AI developers, for example, use GNU Make in their work…
Read full review
Annamalai Pts - PeerSpot reviewer
Streamlined CI/CD pipelines with powerful integration and an easy setup
I use Jenkins as a CI/CD tool. We create pipelines using Jenkins, with stages for Maven builds, Docker image builds, SonarQube integration, and deploying the image to a Kubernetes cluster, AWS EKS Jenkins has made the developers' work very easy. They commit to the remote repository, and…
Read full review

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"Full-featured syntax allows building strategies as simple or as complex as one wishes, and declarative approach fits the task really well. Wide adoption also means that everybody knows what GNU Make is and how to use it."
"GNU Make is such an essential tool that it is almost impossible to imagine working without it. Not having it, developers would probably have to resort to doing everything manually or via shell scripts."
"The initial setup of GNU Make is straightforward."
"Makefiles are extremely easy to work with using any preferred editor. GNU Make can be run directly from the terminal, not requiring any time wasted on clicking."
"Setup is extremely straightforward."
"I have not encountered any scalability issues with GNU Make. It is as scalable as the project's structure is, and then some."
"Jenkins' most valuable feature is Pipeline."
"The most valuable features of Jenkins are the integration of automatic scripts for testing and the user's ability to use any script."
"Jenkins is free and open source."
"I can install Jenkins for integration from multiple developers and automate application delivery, staging, and production environments."
"The most valuable features of Jenkins are the ease of use and the information about how to use the features is readily available on the internet. Additionally, with the solution, I can use other reporting tools, such as Flow."
"We are using the open-source version and there is a lot of plugins and features that are available and it works on agents for free. In other solutions, it will cost extra to use them with the agent."
"Has a good interface, is reliable and saves time."
"The deployment of traditional Jenkins is easy."
More Jenkins pros
 

Cons

"GNU Make does not provide traditional customer support."
"GNU Make requires using the Tab symbol as the first symbol of command line for execution. In some text editors this can be problematic, as they automatically insert spaces instead of tabs."
"Vanilla GNU Make does not support any kind of colored output. A wrapper named colormake exists to work around this, but native (opt-in) support would be welcome."
"Developer documentation for plugins, plugin development, integrations: Sometimes it’s tricky to do pretty obvious things."
"The solution's UI can use a facelift and the logs can use more detailed information."
"I think an integrated help button, that respected the context of the change/work in hand, would be a worthwhile improvement."
"The documentation is not helpful, as it is not user-friendly."
"Tasks such as deployment, cloning, database switchover, and all other database missions and tasks are being done through Jenkins. If a job does not go through, at times the error message does not clearly indicate what caused the failure. I have to escalate it to the Jenkins DevOps team just to see what caused the failure. If the error message is clear, then I wouldn't have to escalate the issue to different teams."
"Jenkins could improve in areas related to Kubernetes and Docker container integration, like machine allocation of nodes and Marshaling integration improvements."
"A more user-friendly UI for creating pipelines would be helpful."
"The solution could improve by having more advanced integrations."
More Jenkins cons
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"GNU Make is free and open source software."
"There is no price for this product. No licensing. It’s open-source."
"It is an open source."
"The open-source version is free, but small companies would not be able to afford the cloud-based version."
"Jenkins is open source and free."
"I used the free OSS version all the time. It was enough for all my needs."
"It could be cheaper because there are many solutions available in the market. We are paying yearly."
"Jenkins is open-source, so it is free."
"It's free software with a big community behind it, which is very good."
"This is an open-source solution for the basic features. However, if an organization wishes to include specific functionality, outside of the basic package, there are extra costs involved."
More Jenkins pricing and cost advice
report
See which vendors are best for you
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Build Automation solutions are best for your needs.
See recommendations
861,524 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Comparison Review

it_user184734 - PeerSpot reviewer
Jan 22, 2015
I generally find TeamCity a lot more intuitive than Jenkins.
Moving to TeamCity from Jenkins At work, we’re slowly migrating from Jenkins to TeamCity in the hope of ending some of our recurring problems with continuous integration. My use of Jenkins prior to this job has been almost strictly on a personal basis, although I pretty much only use Travis…
Read full review
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
No data available
Financial Services Firm
22%
Computer Software Company
16%
Manufacturing Company
12%
Government
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for GNU Make?
GNU Make is a free solution that comes with Linux, which positively impacts operational costs by eliminating licensing fees.
See all answers
What needs improvement with GNU Make?
I am not familiar enough with it to suggest any specific new features or areas for improvement. It occupies its niche well.
See all answers
What is your primary use case for GNU Make?
GNU Make is used as a build system tool. Most people don't use GNU Make directly but utilize other systems like CMake to generate Make files, which are then run by GNU Make. This is common for task...
See all answers
How does Tekton compare with Jenkins?
When you are evaluating tools for automating your own GitOps-based CI/CD workflow, it is important to keep your requirements and use cases in mind. Tekton deployment is complex and it is not very e...
See all answers
What do you like most about Jenkins?
Jenkins has been instrumental in automating our build and deployment processes.
See all answers
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Jenkins?
Jenkins is used in many companies to save money, especially within R&D divisions, by avoiding the expenses of proprietary tools.
See all answers
 

Comparisons

Bazel vs GNU Make Logo
Bazel vs GNU Make
Compared 30% of the time
More GNU Make Competitors
Harness vs Jenkins Logo
Harness vs Jenkins
Compared 17% of the time
GitLab vs Jenkins Logo
GitLab vs Jenkins
Compared 14% of the time
Bazel vs Jenkins Logo
Bazel vs Jenkins
Compared 9% of the time
Tekton vs Jenkins Logo
Tekton vs Jenkins
Compared 8% of the time
VMware Tanzu Platform vs Jenkins Logo
VMware Tanzu Platform vs Jenkins
Compared 3% of the time
More Jenkins Competitors
 

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide
Build Automation
June 2025
GNU Make reportDownload GNU Make product report
Buyer's Guide
Jenkins
July 2025
Jenkins reportDownload Jenkins product report
 

Overview

Make is a tool which controls the generation of executables and other non-source files of a program from the program's source files.
GNU

Jenkins is an award-winning application that monitors executions of repeated jobs, such as building a software project or jobs run by cron.

Jenkins
 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
Airial, Clarus Financial Technology, cubetutor, Metawidget, mysocio, namma, silverpeas, Sokkva, So Rave, tagzbox
Buyer's Guide
GNU Make vs. Jenkins
July 2025
Free Report: GNU Make vs. Jenkins
Find out what your peers are saying about GNU Make vs. Jenkins and other solutions. Updated: July 2025.
DOWNLOAD NOW
861,524 professionals have used our research since 2012.
See our GNU Make vs. Jenkins report.
See our list of best Build Automation vendors.

We monitor all Build Automation reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.