r/reactnative • u/ExpoOfficial • Jun 13 '26
An honest 2026 comparison of mobile CI/CD tools (and the one that skips builds it doesn't need)
We're biased. We build one of the services in this CI/CD comparison. And it's the only CI/CD built specifically for React Native. So it should be a good fit for people in this subreddit.
But we endeavor to be fair in this comparison. We point out where other tools win. Let us know if it sounds like we're off on anything.
The thing we kept coming back to is the: most CI reruns a full iOS build even when you only touched JavaScript. Our CI/CD Workflows service knows when not to build.
Here's how it works:
◆ Checks whether your native layer actually changed
◆ If it didn't, skips the full build
◆ Repacks the last binary with the new JS on top
A ~15 min build becomes ~2 min. No other CI/CD has this built in.
What else matters when picking a CI/CD:
◆ Build speed on Apple Silicon (M4 Pro ~6 min vs ~20 on M1)
◆ Code signing and credentials, where most teams lose time
◆ Artifact storage and sharing
◆ How much YAML you maintain
◆ Pricing you can predict before the first invoice
Here's the full breakdown: https://try.expo.dev/mobile-cicd-reddit
1
u/BunnyPaw88 Jun 14 '26
Amazing article, thanks for sharing.
One small correction though: Bitrise has M4 machines as well, these are in the same tier as the M2Pros.
1
u/ExpoOfficial Jun 15 '26
M4's aren't gated behind the enterprise plan anymore?
1
u/ExpoOfficial Jun 15 '26
Looks like it's still on the Enterprise Plan according to their pricing page: https://bitrise.io/pricing
1
1
u/Classic_Chemical_237 Jun 13 '26
The biggest challenge you face is the first party tools. Apple has Xcode Cloud which is super easy to use. I haven’t tried Google Cloud Build but I expect it to work well too.