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CircleCI vs Temporal: Pricing Comparison 2026

Side-by-side pricing comparison of CircleCI and Temporal. See all plans, features, and costs at a glance.

Bottom line: CircleCI starts at $15/mo, making it $85/mo cheaper than Temporal ($100/mo). CircleCI offers a free plan.

Last updated: July 6, 2026

Data compiled by Arthur Jacquemin
Updated July 6, 2026
Try CircleCI freeTry Temporal freePrice updated 11d agoPrice updated 11d ago

CircleCI vs Temporal: Quick Pricing Facts

FeatureCircleCITemporal
Starting Price$15/mo$100/mo
Number of Plans33
Free TierYesNo
Pricing Modelusage-basedusage-based
Annual DiscountN/AN/A

CircleCI is the more affordable option, starting at $15/mo compared to Temporal's $100/mo. Both are Dev Tools with 6 combined pricing plans and 40 features compared.

CircleCI stands out with a free plan for getting started.

Review the detailed tier-by-tier comparison above to see exactly which features are included at each price point and find the best fit for your Dev Tools needs.

Pricing Plans
CircleCI
CircleCI
Try free
Temporal
Temporal
Try free
Tier 1
Free
$0/monthCheapest
Essentials
$100/month
Includes
  • 1 M Actions
  • 1 GB Active Storage
  • 40 GB Retained Storage
  • 99.9% SLA, 99.99% HA Options
  • Multi-Cloud & Multi-Region
  • User Roles
  • Service Accounts & API Keys
  • Audit Logging
  • Workflow Management
  • Workflow Availability
  • 1 Business Day P0 Response Time
  • Core Platform Configuration
Tier 2
Performance
$15/monthCheapest
BusinessPopular
$500/month
Includes
  • 2.5 M Actions
  • 2.5 GB Active Storage
  • 100 GB Retained Storage
  • Commitments
  • Everything in Essentials
  • SAML SSO Included
  • SCIM Add-on
  • 2 Business Hours P0 Response Times
  • Workflow Troubleshooting
  • Worker Configuration
  • SDK Implementation
Tier 3
Scale
Custom pricing
Enterprise
Custom pricing
Includes
  • 10 M Actions
  • 10 GB Active Storage
  • 400 GB Retained Storage
  • Commitments
  • Everything in Business
  • SAML SSO Included
  • SCIM Included
  • 24/7, 30 Minute P0
  • Usage Optimization
  • Technical Onboarding
  • Design Review
  • Worker Tuning
  • Senior Support Staff
  • Cost Reviews
  • Security and Contract Reviews
  • Mission Critical Add-on
  • Designated Support Engineer Add-on

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CircleCI

Continuous integration and delivery platform

View all CircleCI plans

Temporal

Durable execution platform for reliable distributed workflows

View all Temporal plans

Which Should You Choose?

Choose CircleCI if:

  • You need CI/CD pipeline automation for builds, tests, and deployments
  • Automated release workflows triggered by Git are the primary need
  • Your team requires build infrastructure for shipping software

Choose Temporal if:

  • You need a durable workflow engine for long-running business processes and distributed transactions
  • Temporal's fault-tolerant, resumable workflows handle failures, retries, and state persistence
  • You want to orchestrate complex multi-step application logic that must survive failures

Temporal is an application workflow orchestration engine - it runs durable, fault-tolerant processes inside your application. CircleCI is a CI/CD platform that builds and deploys that application. They operate at completely different layers. Temporal Cloud starts at $25/month; self-hosted is open source. CircleCI starts free; paid from $15/month. A team building with Temporal uses CircleCI to deploy their Temporal workers and services.

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Frequently Asked Questions: CircleCI vs Temporal

Which is cheaper, CircleCI or Temporal?
As of July 2026, CircleCI starts at a lower price point. CircleCI starts at $15/mo while Temporal starts at $100/mo. However, the best value depends on the features you need at each tier.
How many pricing plans does CircleCI have vs Temporal?
CircleCI offers 3 pricing plans, while Temporal offers 3 plans. More plans typically means more flexibility to match your exact needs and budget.
Does CircleCI or Temporal offer a free plan?
CircleCI offers a free plan, while Temporal does not. If budget is a concern, CircleCI lets you get started at no cost.
What is the most popular Temporal plan?
The Business plan is Temporal's most popular tier, priced at $500/mo. Key features include 2.5 M Actions, 2.5 GB Active Storage, 100 GB Retained Storage.
Does CircleCI or Temporal offer custom enterprise pricing?
Yes, both CircleCI and Temporal offer custom enterprise pricing tiers with quote-based pricing. Contact each vendor for a tailored quote.
How do CircleCI and Temporal compare for Dev Tools?
Both CircleCI and Temporal are Dev Tools. CircleCI offers 3 plans starting at $15/mo, while Temporal offers 3 plans starting at $100/mo. Review the feature breakdowns above to see which better fits your Dev Tools needs.
AI Recommendations

Sources

  1. CircleCI Official Pricing- Vendor pricing page
  2. Temporal Official Pricing- Vendor pricing page

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