fastlane vs Open Build Service
fastlane
fastlane.toolsOpen Build Service
openbuildservice.orgSide by side
| Figure | fastlane | Open Build Service |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | — | Yes |
| Windows | Yes | — |
| macOS | Yes | — |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| iOS | Yes | — |
| Android | Yes | — |
| API | — | Yes |
| Self-hosted | — | Yes |
| Plans published | 1 | 1 |
| Spec score · Build Automation Software | 8.7 (#4) | 8.3 (#9) |
| Integrations | The documentation says fastlane integrates with more than 400 tools and services and lists major CI systems such as GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, Jenkins, and CircleCI. | The OBS API lets clients and external services interface with OBS resources. |
| License | The project is licensed under the MIT license. | OBS is free software licensed under the GNU General Public License (GPL), and can be installed on users’ own hardware or in their data center. |
| Purpose | fastlane is an open source platform for automating development and release workflows for iOS and Android apps. | OBS automatically builds and distributes binary packages from source code in a consistent and reproducible way. |
| Support | The documentation directs users to search existing GitHub issues and submit an issue with setup details, including the output of fastlane env, if needed. | Community help is available through OBS IRC and a mailing list; commercial consulting, training, or SLA support is offered by listed partners, while the project says it has no product or service offering of its own. |
Plans
In their own words
fastlane
fastlane is a free, open-source platform for automating iOS and Android app development and release workflows. Teams define workflows as lanes and can run them with a single command. A lane can manage build numbering, code signing, builds, beta uploads and changelog creation; fastlane also supports store releases, including metadata and screenshot management and submission for review. It can create localized app store screenshots for the languages and devices an app supports. The site lists support for more than 15 beta testing services, including TestFlight, Crashlytics Beta, Play and Hockey. Documentation describes integrations with more than 400 tools and services, including major CI systems, alongside community-built actions and plugins. For iOS signing, signing identities and profiles can be kept in a private encrypted Git repository and synced between machines. fastlane runs on a user's machine or server, and its documentation says credentials and other sensitive information stay there. macOS is officially supported; Linux and Windows are partially supported. The project uses the MIT license.
Open Build Service
Open Build Service (OBS) builds and distributes binary packages from source code in a consistent, reproducible way. Each package is built in a fresh jailed environment; when a build succeeds, OBS rebuilds packages that depend on it. The service can release packages, updates, add-ons, appliances, and complete distributions for different operating systems and hardware architectures. Documented package formats include RPM, DEB, and Arch, with recipes in formats such as spec, dsc, KIWI, and mkosi. Teams can use access controls, branches, merge requests, and submission reviews to coordinate work. GitHub.com and GitLab.com integrations are supported, as are self-hosted GitHub, GitLab, and Gitea instances when network connectivity works. The API gives clients and external services access to OBS resources, while the osc command-line client can edit sources and metadata, start builds, and gather results. OBS is GPL-licensed free software, available on a reference server for open-source developers or for installation on users’ own hardware or in a data center. The listed plan is free.