Woodpecker CI
Lightweight open-source CI/CD system — a self-hostable European alternative to Drone CI.
Overview
Woodpecker CI is a Berlin, Germany-based European company building ci/cd, developer tools, and open source software since 2021. As an EU-headquartered provider, Woodpecker CI operates under GDPR and is outside the reach of the US CLOUD Act, making it a privacy-friendly alternative to well-known US incumbents for European teams.
Why European teams pick Woodpecker CI
Teams in Europe pick Woodpecker CI when they want a ci/cd provider that bills in EUR, supports their local data-protection officer requirements, and keeps customer data under Germany law, operating since 2021. Compared with well-known US incumbents, Woodpecker CI avoids cross-border data transfers under Schrems II and the US CLOUD Act, which is often the deciding factor for European procurement and legal teams.
See more EU ci/cd tools or browse other startups from Germany.
About
Woodpecker CI is an open-source CI/CD system forked from Drone CI, self-hosted on any infrastructure and designed for teams that want complete control over their build environment with no external data sharing. It is community-maintained under a permissive Apache 2.0 licence and integrates natively with Gitea, Forgejo, Codeberg, GitHub, GitLab, and Bitbucket. Pipelines are defined in simple YAML files at the repository root. Because Woodpecker is entirely self-hosted, all build artefacts, secrets, and logs remain on your EU servers — no data leaves your infrastructure. It is the natural CI companion for teams using Codeberg or self-hosted Gitea who need automated testing and deployment without paying per-minute CI fees.
Details
- Founded
- 2021
- Headquarters
- Berlin, Germany
Categories
Other EU startups like Woodpecker CI
- FjordIDNorway — Managed OIDC/OAuth2 identity platform hosted on Hetzner in Germany. Drop-in Auth0 replacement with EU data residency and zero US subprocessors.
- RailwayUnited Kingdom — Instant deployment infrastructure for developers — popular across European teams.
- LiveblocksFrance — APIs for adding collaborative real-time features to your app — a French alternative to Firebase Realtime.
- PocketbaseBulgaria — Open-source backend in a single file — a European alternative to Firebase.
- NocoDBGermany — Open-source Airtable alternative that turns databases into smart spreadsheets.
- BaserowNetherlands — Open-source no-code database and Airtable alternative — built in the Netherlands.
Frequently asked questions
What is Woodpecker CI?
Woodpecker CI is an open-source CI/CD system forked from Drone CI, self-hosted on any infrastructure and designed for teams that want complete control over their build environment with no external data sharing. It is community-maintained under a permissive Apache 2.0 licence and integrates natively with Gitea, Forgejo, Codeberg, GitHub, GitLab, and Bitbucket. Pipelines are defined in simple YAML files at the repository root. Because Woodpecker is entirely self-hosted, all build artefacts, secrets, and logs remain on your EU servers — no data leaves your infrastructure. It is the natural CI companion for teams using Codeberg or self-hosted Gitea who need automated testing and deployment without paying per-minute CI fees.
What does Woodpecker CI do?
Woodpecker CI is lightweight open-source ci/cd system — a self-hostable european alternative to drone ci. It is listed under ci/cd, developer tools, and open source on EU Alts because its core functionality serves teams looking for a European ci/cd tool with EU data residency, typically as a switch away from well-known US incumbents.
Is Woodpecker CI a good European ci/cd alternative?
Woodpecker CI is a fit for European businesses evaluating ci/cd options where data residency and GDPR alignment matter — typical buyers include EU-based SaaS teams, public-sector projects, regulated industries (healthcare, finance, legal), and any organisation that needs to demonstrate that customer data does not leave the EU. It also overlaps with developer tools and open source use cases.
Is Woodpecker CI GDPR compliant?
Woodpecker CI is headquartered in Berlin, Germany and falls under EU jurisdiction, so it processes user data under the GDPR by default. Customer data processing is supervised by Germany's data protection authority, the Bundesbeauftragte für den Datenschutz und die Informationsfreiheit (BfDI). Because the company is not US-incorporated, it is not subject to the US CLOUD Act — meaning US authorities cannot compel Woodpecker CI to disclose customer data the way they can with well-known US incumbents. For European buyers, that often simplifies DPIA paperwork and standard contractual clauses.
How do teams switch from well-known US incumbents to Woodpecker CI?
Most teams move to Woodpecker CI from well-known US incumbents because they want EU data residency without giving up the core ci/cd workflow. Woodpecker CI's Germany base means a single jurisdiction for both the company and (typically) its hosting infrastructure, so you can drop Schrems II transfer impact assessments for this part of your stack. Plan the migration in stages: export your data from the US incumbent, pilot Woodpecker CI with a small team, then move the rest once the integration coverage you need is confirmed.
Where is Woodpecker CI based?
Woodpecker CI is headquartered in Berlin, Germany. The company was founded in 2021. Its main website is https://woodpecker-ci.org.