Jenkins 2.516.1 LTS, the open source automation server, deploys in one click onto a dedicated server Selfhost.dev provisions, secures and runs. Your administrator is created during startup before the first request, so there is no setup wizard and no password to dig out of a log. Nothing counts your build minutes.
One container and one volume. Anonymous visitors meet a login screen from the first request.
Jenkins, the open source automation server, running on a server rented in your name instead of on a laptop or a runner billed by the minute. Jobs, plugins and credentials sit on that server's disk.
Teams whose builds have outgrown a free CI tier or whose pipeline needs a toolchain, a licensed SDK or a cache that persists between builds.
For private repositories on GitHub Free using Linux 2-core x64 runners, the crossover is about 4,500 minutes a month. Standard runners for public repositories are free.
A basic Jenkins Docker Compose file can use the floating lts tag, publish the web interface on HTTP and send you to docker logs for an unlock password. Here the tag is exact, the admin is created during startup and the web interface is routed through HTTPS.
A stock Jenkins prints a one-time unlock password into the container log and waits for someone to finish the setup wizard. Here the wizard is switched off and an init script creates your admin before the first request, so the password is in the console.
Your team, Git webhooks and the API
TLS and routing
Jenkins 2.516.1 LTS
jenkins-home
Admin password
| Jenkins Docker Compose, by hand | Jenkins on Selfhost.dev |
|---|---|
jenkins/jenkins:lts, which moves to a new baseline on the next pull | Pinned to jenkins/jenkins:2.516.1-lts-jdk21; a restart or redeploy brings back the same build |
Copy the unlock password from docker logs, then click through the setup wizard | Wizard off (runSetupWizard=false); your admin is created during startup |
| Complete the setup wizard and choose the access policy | Denied by the bootstrap on first boot |
| Web port 8080 on HTTP and inbound agent TCP port 50000 published | HTTPS per hostname; ports 22, 80 and 443 are the only ones open |
| Set the Jenkins root URL, then fix it after a domain change | Re-asserted on every boot, so links and webhooks follow your domain |
Mount docker.sock so builds can run Docker | Not set up: Docker builds inside Jenkins are not configured |
Jenkins server requirements here are one container and one volume, with no database. 4 GB, the smallest server we offer, is our recommendation. Plugins and build history grow into the 40 GB disk, so keep an eye on it.
jenkins-homecx23; build history and plugins grow into itNo unlock key, no wizard and no agents to wire.
Launch from this page to open the Jenkins template in the console. Select one of six locations, choose your admin password and submit. The template deploys in about 15 minutes.
Sign in with the admin username and password you chose in the console, seeded before Jenkins started. Anonymous visitors cannot read jobs or build data.
Nothing is pre-installed, so add what your Jenkinsfile needs from the update centre, then create a pipeline job. Builds run on the built-in node.
Jenkins has no licence fee, no paid tier and no seat count, so the cost is the server: 4 GB in Europe at $0.02/hr, about $15 to $16 a month, billed by the hour from prepaid credits. Nothing counts build minutes.
| Item | Cost |
|---|---|
| Build minutes, jobs and pipelines | $0. Nothing counts them |
| Users | $0 |
| Bandwidth | $0. Traffic is included in the server price |
| Optional daily backups | +20% of the server price |
| Server | RAM, cores, disk | Where | Rate | About a month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
cx23 (recommended) | 4 GB, 2 cores, 40 GB | Europe | $0.02/hr | $15.18 |
cax11 (ARM) | 4 GB, 2 cores, 40 GB | Europe | $0.02/hr | $16.35 |
cx33 (busy pipelines) | 8 GB, 4 cores, 80 GB | Europe | $0.03/hr | $23.36 |
cpx21 | 4 GB, 3 cores, 80 GB | US | $0.12/hr | $87.75 |
cpx22 | 4 GB, 2 cores, 80 GB | Singapore | $0.10/hr | $72.56 |
Monthly figures assume 730 hours. 8 GB in Europe costs less than any 4 GB server outside it.
A zero balance on an account with a card or a past top-up powers the server off and sends an email. The server is held for 24 hours, then deleted with its backups; a top-up in that window restarts it. Welcome-credit-only servers are deleted at zero.
Try your own build volume and location in the calculator, no signup.
GitHub Free includes 2,000 Actions minutes a month for private repositories, then bills Linux 2-core minutes at $0.006. A $15.18 server buys about 2,530 of those, so the two cost the same near 4,500 minutes. Above that, ours stays flat.
| GitHub Actions | Jenkins on Selfhost.dev | |
|---|---|---|
| Included | 2,000 minutes a month on Free (3,000 on Team, 50,000 on Enterprise) | No meter: the server runs whatever you build |
| Beyond that | $0.006 a minute, Linux 2-core | $15.18 a month (cx23, Europe) |
| Build environment | A fresh runner image each run | A machine: toolchains and caches persist between builds |
| Parallel jobs | Hosted runners scale out per job | The built-in node only |
| Upkeep | None; GitHub runs it | Yours: Jenkins upgrades, plugins and the disk |
GitHub prices from github.com/pricing and its Actions runner pricing page. Ours assumes 730 hours.
For public repositories, builds within your private-repository allowance, or wide parallelism. GitHub's free tier costs nothing and needs no upkeep. Hosted runners scale out per job. Most small teams never outgrow it.
How predictable a bill is makes the real difference: a per-minute invoice moves with every push, a server invoice does not.
The console estimates about 15 minutes for the Jenkins template after the server is ready; first-time server provisioning adds time.
Agents not a blocker? The template deploys in about 15 minutes.
Launch JenkinsEverything Jenkins knows lives in jenkins-home: jobs, plugins, build history and the credentials store. Optional daily backups image the whole server and keep the last seven. Your pipeline definitions are already safe in your repository.
| Layer | What it covers | Where it lives |
|---|---|---|
| Daily server backup (optional, +20%) | The whole server, jenkins-home included; the last 7 kept | With the server; deleted with it |
Your pipeline files (Jenkinsfile) | Every pipeline definition | Your repository, every commit |
A copy of jenkins-home | Jobs, plugins, history and credentials | Taken with container access over SSH, granted on request |
Deploy here, install the plugins your pipeline declares and point a job at the repository: the Jenkinsfile brings the pipeline with it. Configuration as Code rebuilds controller settings from YAML. Build history does not move.
Send roughly how many builds a day you run and how long one takes. We will reply with the server it fits on, the monthly cost in your region and whether leaving hosted CI saves you anything.
Yes, completely. Jenkins is free software with no paid tier, no Enterprise edition, no seat count and nothing held back for a licence, which is why searches for a Jenkins price come back empty. CloudBees sells a separate Jenkins-derived product, but it publishes no pricing. What you pay for here is the server. See pricing.
For private repositories on GitHub Free using Linux 2-core x64 runners, above about 4,500 minutes a month, yes. Public repositories on standard GitHub-hosted runners are free; Team and Enterprise include more minutes, so their crossover is higher. If you would rather keep CI next to your repositories, GitLab has it built in; our guide shows how to self host GitLab, step by step.
The template provisions the controller and its built-in node, with no agent fleet. Inbound TCP port 50000 is not exposed. Jenkins supports WebSocket agents over HTTPS, but connecting external agents needs your own setup and has not been validated on this template.
No. We provision, secure and run the server, its HTTPS and optional backups. The Jenkins controller, its plugins and its upgrades stay with you; nobody at Selfhost.dev logs into your Jenkins. If you want a provider to administer Jenkins itself, that is a different product.
Selfhost.dev runs managed PostgreSQL, MySQL, Redis, ClickHouse, OpenSearch and Kafka on AWS, plus Projects: a dedicated server where you deploy from GitHub or from 44 one-click configurations. Pricing is pay as you go against prepaid credits, with no tiers and no subscriptions.
Best for: Jenkins, GitLab, Grafana, n8n and managed PostgreSQL, MySQL, Redis, ClickHouse, OpenSearch and Kafka.