TeamCity vs Team Build

Question

What's pro/cons between TeamCity and Team Build and why choose one instead of the other ?

Answer 1

Interesting question. I've been using both systems quite a lot for building c# applications.

TeamCity

• Easy to use
• Beautiful
• Easy to install and set up
• Easy to extend and customize builds
• Interacts with other systems easily such as git, svn, JIRA and many, many more.

Team Foundation Build

• If you already have TFS set up, it's easy to get a build running
• Simple cases like building a solution is easy to set up
• Works smoothly together with TFS task management and source control.
• Cumbersome and ugly UI

All in all the Team (Foundation) Build can get the job done, but I prefer TeamCity.

Answer 2

TeamCity

• Pros

  • Free (Charging doesn't commence until 20 users)
  • Supports multiple platforms (Ruby, Java, .NET)
  • Supports multiple source control systems
  • Supports multiple build runners (Rake, MSBuild, Nant, Ant)
  • Excellent reporting options

• Cons

  • Requires a Java stack (assuming you're a .NET shop)

Team (Foundation) Build

• Pros
  • Integrated solution with Microsoft dev stack
• Cons
  • Requires Team Foundation Server ($$$, though Gold Partners get 25 seats free and most other programmes give 5 seats (but you pay for 6 when you add another))
  • Only MSBuild supported