Travis CI
Travis CI
Automate builds, tests, and deployments for GitHub, Bitbucket, and GitLab projects with scalable CI/CD pipelines and pay-as-you-use billing.
Key Features
- Automated Builds
- Automated Testing
- Build Matrix (multi-language, multi-environment)
- Build Stages & Jobs
- Continuous Deployment
- Secrets & Credentials Management
- Caching & Artifact Storage
- Parallel & Sequential Jobs
- Notifications & Alerts
- Docker Support
- Build Logs & Insights
- Self-Hosted (TravisPro)
What Is Travis CI?
Travis CI is a hosted CI/CD service that runs your .travis.yml configuration on every push or pull request. It clones your repository into a fresh environment, installs dependencies, and executes defined phases—install, script, before_deploy, deploy, and after_script—to ensure code quality and automate delivery.
Pros and Cons
Pros
- Easy setup with minimal onboarding
- Free for open-source projects (first 100 build minutes)
- Powerful build matrix for multi-language and environment testing
- Scales seamlessly with usage-based billing
- Rich ecosystem of integrations and deployment providers
Cons
- Usage-based billing complexity for large teams
- Occasional resource contention on shared build runners
- Limited customization compared to fully self-hosted solutions
- No longer unlimited free builds for open source
Who It’s For
- Open-source maintainers seeking free CI minutes and GitHub integration
- Small to medium teams desiring pay-as-you-use CI without infrastructure overhead
- Enterprises requiring on-premise deployments via TravisPro
- Polyglot projects needing concurrent testing across languages and OSes
Automated Builds
Automate compilation and packaging by defining the install and script phases. Supports language-specific commands (e.g., bundle install, npm test, mvn test).
Automated Testing
Run unit, integration, and acceptance tests in parallel with build stages. Automatically fail builds on test errors to catch bugs early.
Build Matrix
Define multiple language versions, OSes, or dependency sets within one .travis.yml. The matrix expands into individual jobs that run simultaneously.
Continuous Deployment
Use the deploy section to push artifacts to cloud providers or container registries. Out-of-the-box support for AWS, Google Cloud, Azure, Heroku, Docker Hub, GitHub Releases, and more.
Pricing
- Free Tier: 100 build minutes/month for open-source
- Usage-Based Plan: $15 per month for 35,000 build credits; additional credits at $0.0004/credit
- Self-Hosted (TravisPro): $34 per user per month for on-premise deployment
- Enterprise: Custom volume discounts for 20+ users
Verdict
Travis CI remains a leading CI/CD choice for projects of all sizes, offering a robust feature set, seamless VCS integration, and flexible billing. Its simplicity and ecosystem make it ideal for teams that want reliable automation without managing infrastructure.
Frequently Asked Questions about Travis CI
What Is Travis CI?
Travis CI is a hosted CI/CD service that runs your .travis.yml configuration on every push or pull request. It clones your repository into a fresh environment, installs dependencies, and executes defined phases—install, script, before_deploy, deploy, and after_script—to ensure code quality and automate delivery.
Pros and Cons
Pros
- Easy setup with minimal onboarding
- Free for open-source projects (first 100 build minutes)
- Powerful build matrix for multi-language and environment testing
- Scales seamlessly with usage-based billing
- Rich ecosystem of integrations and deployment providers
Cons
- Usage-based billing complexity for large teams
- Occasional resource contention on shared build runners
- Limited customization compared to fully self-hosted solutions
- No longer unlimited free builds for open source
Who It’s For
- Open-source maintainers seeking free CI minutes and GitHub integration
- Small to medium teams desiring pay-as-you-use CI without infrastructure overhead
- Enterprises requiring on-premise deployments via TravisPro
- Polyglot projects needing concurrent testing across languages and OSes
Automated Builds
Automate compilation and packaging by defining the install and script phases. Supports language-specific commands (e.g., bundle install, npm test, mvn test).
Automated Testing
Run unit, integration, and acceptance tests in parallel with build stages. Automatically fail builds on test errors to catch bugs early.
Build Matrix
Define multiple language versions, OSes, or dependency sets within one .travis.yml. The matrix expands into individual jobs that run simultaneously.
Continuous Deployment
Use the deploy section to push artifacts to cloud providers or container registries. Out-of-the-box support for AWS, Google Cloud, Azure, Heroku, Docker Hub, GitHub Releases, and more.
Pricing
- Free Tier: 100 build minutes/month for open-source
- Usage-Based Plan: $15 per month for 35,000 build credits; additional credits at $0.0004/credit
- Self-Hosted (TravisPro): $34 per user per month for on-premise deployment
- Enterprise: Custom volume discounts for 20+ users
Verdict
Travis CI remains a leading CI/CD choice for projects of all sizes, offering a robust feature set, seamless VCS integration, and flexible billing. Its simplicity and ecosystem make it ideal for teams that want reliable automation without managing infrastructure.