BuildKit vs Jib
BuildKit
github.comJib
github.comSide by side
| Figure | BuildKit | Jib |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| API | Yes | — |
| Self-hosted | Yes | — |
| Plans published | 1 | 1 |
| Spec score · Container Build Tools | 8.9 (#4) | 7.7 (#17) |
| License | BuildKit is distributed under the Apache License, Version 2.0, which grants perpetual, worldwide, non-exclusive, no-charge, royalty-free copyright rights subject to the license terms. | The repository includes the Apache License, Version 2.0. |
| Support | The project directs users to the #buildkit channel on Docker Community Slack and to GitHub issues for reporting problems with release binaries. | For usage questions, the project directs users to Stack Overflow and also links to GitHub issues and a FAQ. |
Plans
In their own words
BuildKit
BuildKit is a free toolkit for turning source code into build artifacts. It consists of the buildkitd daemon and buildctl client, and uses LLB, a binary format for describing process dependency graphs. Builds can use Dockerfiles or other LLB-compatible frontends, resolve dependencies concurrently, cache instructions, import and export caches, run nested jobs, and collect unused data automatically. BuildKit supports execution without root privileges and OCI (runc) or containerd workers. Results can be exported as images, local directories, tarballs, Docker tarballs, or OCI tarballs. Cache options include inline, registry, local-directory, and GitHub Actions backends; the README marks GitHub Actions, S3, and Azure Blob options experimental. The daemon provides a gRPC API over a Unix socket by default, with TCP sockets also supported. Binaries are available for Linux, macOS, and Windows. The unofficial Homebrew formula for macOS omits buildkitd; the project gives Lima in a Linux virtual machine as one way to run it. BuildKit is licensed under Apache-2.0.
Jib
Jib builds Docker and OCI images for Java applications without a Docker daemon. It can be used as a Maven or Gradle plugin, a Java library, or a command-line interface, and runs on Linux, macOS, and Windows. Jib divides application contents into layers, allowing code changes to be rebuilt without rebuilding the whole image. It can push images to a container registry of the user's choice, uses an OpenJDK base image by default, and accepts a custom base image. The project says that rebuilding an image from the same contents produces the same image. It supports local build caches and multi-architecture builds, and the project says it works well with Google Cloud Build. Examples cover Spring Boot, Micronaut, multi-module projects, and Spark Java with a Java Agent. Jib is free and open source under Apache License, Version 2.0. The project is not an officially supported Google product; it directs usage questions to Stack Overflow and also links to GitHub issues and a FAQ.