Drone.io
Drone.io is a container-native CI/CD platform acquired by Harness Inc. in 2020, serving development teams with Docker-isolated build pipelines, YAML-based configuration-as-code, and a dual open-source Community and commercial Enterprise licensing model for self-hosted and cloud deployments.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2012
- HeadquartersSan Francisco, United States
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What Drone.io does
Drone.io is a container-native continuous integration and continuous deployment (CI/CD) platform that enables development teams to automate software build, test, and release workflows. Founded in 2012 and headquartered in San Francisco, California, the company operates as Drone.IO, Inc. and was acquired by Harness Inc. in August 2020. The platform's defining technical characteristic is its container-native architecture: each pipeline step executes inside an isolated Docker container that is auto-provisioned at runtime, eliminating resource conflicts on shared build servers and enabling reproducible builds across any language, database, or service that runs inside a Docker container. Configuration is managed as code using YAML, Starlark, or Jsonnet files committed alongside source code in the repository, and the platform integrates natively with GitHub, GitHub Enterprise, Bitbucket, GitLab, Gitea, Gitee, and Gogs while supporting Linux x64, ARM, ARM64, and Windows x64 architectures.
The product is distributed through three channels: a free cloud-hosted service at cloud.drone.io, an open-source Community Edition available on GitHub, and a commercial Enterprise Edition with subscription-based licensing, advanced access controls, approval workflows, global secret management, and dual licensing (Public License for open source, commercial Enterprise License). The platform is extensible through hundreds of community plugins covering deployment, notifications, infrastructure automation, security scanning, and artifact publishing across AWS, Google Cloud, Azure, Kubernetes, Slack, and other major DevOps tools. A high-availability configuration using Redis and HAProxy supports enterprise-grade scaling for self-hosted deployments.
Drone.io monetizes through annual enterprise subscriptions defined in Order Forms with usage limits, a freemium cloud tier for individual developers and small teams, and a free open-source Community Edition that serves as a top-of-funnel for enterprise conversions. Its go-to-market combines product-led growth through the free cloud and community editions with direct enterprise field sales for self-hosted Enterprise deployments. The company has built a notable open-source ecosystem with 21,000+ GitHub stars, 250+ contributors, and 5,000+ self-hosted installations, and enterprise customers include eBay (deploying 15,000 times per quarter across 200 microservices on Kubernetes), Arduino, DNAnexus, QuintoAndar, and Meltwater.
Drone.io firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Drone.io
- Legal name
- Drone.IO, Inc.
- Website
- https://drone.io
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2012
- Operating status
- Acquired
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- Drone.io is a container-native CI/CD platform acquired by Harness Inc. in 2020, serving development teams with Docker-isolated build pipelines, YAML-based configuration-as-code, and a dual open-source Community and commercial Enterprise licensing model for self-hosted and cloud deployments.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Drone.io industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Continuous Integration / DevOps Software
- NAICS
- Computer Systems Design and Related Services (54151)
- SIC
- Services-Prepackaged Software (7372), Services-Computer Integrated Systems Design (7373)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Cloud-Native Enablement (Containers, Kubernetes, Service Mesh) (BPAEAKAE)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Cloud-Native Development (Containers, Kubernetes, Microservices) (BPAEACAD), Cloud Automation & IaC (Terraform, CI/CD, Policy-as-Code) (BPAEACAL)
Keywords
Where Drone.io is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- San Francisco
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
Drone.io business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Personnel, Infrastructure, Operations, Marketing or Sales
Revenue model
- Enterprise Software Subscriptions: Subscription-based licensing for Enterprise Edition with usage limits defined in Order Forms. Includes support, updates, and commercial license rights during subscription term.
- Cloud Platform: Cloud-hosted CI/CD platform at cloud.drone.io with free tier for individual developers and teams.
- Public License (Open Source): Community Edition available under open source license. Upon subscription termination, continued use subject to Public License terms.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Freemium | Monthly | Cloud Free Tier - Self-service CI for individual developers and small teams |
| Subscription | Annual | Enterprise Edition - Full-featured commercial license with support |
| Freemium | Monthly | Community Edition - Open source version without proprietary code |
Go-to-market motion3 records
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels7 records
Drone.io product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Drone.io provides a container-native Continuous Integration and Continuous Delivery (CI/CD) platform that automates software build, test, and deployment workflows. Pipelines are configured as code in YAML and executed inside isolated Docker containers auto-provisioned at runtime, with native integration to GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket, and other source code managers. The product is offered as a fully managed cloud service, a self-hosted Enterprise Edition with commercial licensing, and an open source Community Edition.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Drone Enterprise Edition: Enterprise edition of the Drone CI/CD platform with additional features such as global secrets management, enterprise support, and advanced access controls.
- Drone Community Edition
Products and services
- Drone Cloud Fully managed, cloud-hosted Continuous Integration and Continuous Delivery service at cloud.drone.io. Lets development teams self-service signup, configure pipelines as YAML in their git repositories, and run automated builds in isolated Docker containers without installing or maintaining any infrastructure. Targets individual developers and small teams via a free tier.
- Drone Enterprise Edition Self-hosted commercial edition of the Drone CI/CD platform distributed under a commercial Enterprise License. Provides advanced features including global secret management, approval workflows, custom access controls, YAML syntax extensions, and high availability configurations (Redis for queues/pubsub, HAProxy for load balancing). Licensed via Order Forms with annual subscription terms that include support, updates, and commercial license rights. Targeted at enterprises that need self-hosted deployments with advanced security, compliance, and operational controls.
- Drone Community Edition Open source version of the Drone CI/CD platform distributed under a Public License, available on GitHub at github.com/harness/drone. Contains only open source code without proprietary Enterprise features, allowing self-hosting without commercial licensing requirements. Serves as the top-of-funnel acquisition channel for the Enterprise Edition and is maintained by the open source community of 250+ contributors.
Quantifiable outcome
- 15,000 deployments per quarter per customer (eBay)
- +1 more outcomes
Companies that use Drone.io
Customer profileNamed customers6 records
Segments3 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
Drone.io technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- Yes
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration94 records
Feature10 records
Drone.io partnerships and signals
Strategic signalScale indicators5 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Drone.io competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- GitHub Actions: GitHub Actions is the CI/CD offering bundled into GitHub, directly competing with Drone on container-based pipelines and source-control-integrated workflows.
- Travis CI: Travis CI is an early cloud-hosted CI service targeting open-source and enterprise teams with pipeline-as-code workflows, historically comparable to Drone's cloud offering.
- Jenkins: Jenkins is the legacy open-source CI server Drone explicitly positions against; both serve build/test/release automation with plugin-based extensibility and self-hosted deployment.
- Buildkite: Buildkite offers a hybrid CI/CD architecture combining hosted orchestration with self-hosted agents, directly comparable to Drone's container-native, self-hostable model.
- CircleCI: CircleCI is a leading cloud and self-hosted CI/CD platform serving the same developer and DevOps buyer as Drone, with overlapping pipeline-as-code and container-based execution models.
- GitLab CI: GitLab CI is an integrated CI/CD engine within the GitLab DevOps platform, competing with Drone for the same Git-integrated, container-pipeline use cases.
- TeamCity (JetBrains): TeamCity is JetBrains' commercial CI/CD server with self-hosted and cloud editions, serving enterprise engineering teams with pipeline-as-code and broad language support.
Emerging players
- Bitrise: Bitrise is a CI/CD platform with strong mobile and container build focus; comparable to Drone on container-based isolation and as an alternative for teams adopting cloud-native pipelines.
Broad incumbents
- Harness CI: Harness CI is the parent company's own continuous integration module, overlapping Drone's functionality as part of a broader DevOps platform including CD, feature flags, and cloud cost management.
- Azure DevOps Pipelines: Azure DevOps Pipelines is Microsoft's CI/CD service, bundled with the Azure cloud and competing with Drone for cloud-native, multi-platform build workloads.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses2 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Drone.io social profiles
Digital presenceDrone.io financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Drone.io leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles2 records
Drone.io funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds1 record
Investors1 record
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Drone.io M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Drone.io
What does Drone.io do?
Drone.io provides a container-native Continuous Integration and Continuous Delivery (CI/CD) platform that automates software build, test, and deployment workflows. Pipelines are configured as code in YAML and executed inside isolated Docker containers auto-provisioned at runtime, with native integration to GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket, and other source code managers. The product is offered as a fully managed cloud service, a self-hosted Enterprise Edition with commercial licensing, and an open source Community Edition.
Is Drone.io a public or private company?
Drone.io is a private company. It is classified as corporate owned and is currently acquired.
When was Drone.io founded?
Drone.io was founded in 2012. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is Drone.io based?
Drone.io is headquartered in San Francisco, United States, in the North America region.
How does Drone.io make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. Enterprise Software Subscriptions are the primary driver. The others are cloud Platform and public License (Open Source).
Who are Drone.io's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are GitHub Actions, Travis CI, Jenkins, Buildkite, CircleCI, GitLab CI and TeamCity (JetBrains). Bitrise is listed as an emerging player. Broad incumbents are Harness CI and Azure DevOps Pipelines.
Does Drone.io have an API?
Yes. Drone provides a public REST API for automation and integration purposes. The API is used by the command line interface (CLI) tool and enables programmatic access to Drone functionality including user management, repository configuration, and build operations. The server exposes metrics at the /metrics endpoint for Prometheus integration. Webhooks are also supported for build event notifications. Developer documentation is at docs.drone.io/api/overview.
What industry is Drone.io in?
Drone.io's product category is Continuous Integration / DevOps Software. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAEAKAE, Cloud-Native Enablement (Containers, Kubernetes, Service Mesh), with a secondary code of BPAEACAD, Cloud-Native Development (Containers, Kubernetes, Microservices). Its NAICS code is 54151 and its SIC code is 7372.