AWS CI/CD Services: CodeBuild, CodeDeploy, CodePipeline and What Replaces CodeCommit

As DevOps teams continue to modernize their workflows, AWS provides a set of tools to automate software delivery through Continuous Integration and Continuous Deployment (CI/CD). These services support the reliable development, testing, and deployment of applications while scaling with your infrastructure.

The main AWS-native CI/CD tools will be described in this article:

1. AWS CodeBuild: Build automation
2. AWS CodeDeploy: Deployment automation
3. AWS CodePipeline: Workflow orchestration
4. [Deprecated] AWS CodeCommit: Git hosting (with migration guidance)

We’ll explore the key AWS services that power modern CI/CD pipelines, including how they work and how they’re billed.

1.0 CodeBuild: Build and Test in the Cloud

With AWS CodeBuild, you can build and test code with automatic scaling. It compiles your source code, runs tests, and generates artifacts (e.g., Docker images or JAR files).

Use Cases:

• Remove the complexity of managing build servers
• Build source code hosted on other git provides (e.g., GitHub or GitLab)

Pricing

AWS CodeBuild follows a pay-as-you-go pricing model with no upfront commitments. You only pay for the compute resources used during your build process, and charges are based on how long the build runs. The cost varies depending on the compute type you choose. Refer to the AWS CodeBuild pricing for more pricing detail .

2.0 CodeDeploy: Safe, Automated Deployments

AWS CodeDeploy automates application deployments to different targets like EC2, ECS, or Lambda. It supports blue/green, canary, and rolling deployments.

Use Cases:

• Support various deployment strategies such as in-place, canary, and blue/green
• Eliminate manual steps by fully automating deployments
• Integrate alarms to trigger automatic rollbacks and halt deployments when issues are detected
• Deploy applications across multiple hosts seamlessly

Pricing

• This is dependent on the deployment target (eg EC2, ECS, or Lambda)
• Free for EC2 and Lambda
• You pay $0.02 per on-premises instance update using CodeDeploy. View CodeDeploy Pricing for more pricing detail.

3.0 CodePipeline: End-to-End CI/CD Automation

AWS CodePipeline orchestrates the full CI/CD flow — integrating your source, build, test, and deployment stages. AWS CodePipeline supports two types of pipelines: V1 and V2, which differ in features and billing.

1. V1 pipelines are created by default unless you explicitly specify type V2.
2. V2 pipelines offer additional capabilities, including support for triggers and variables.

Use Cases:

• Trigger builds on PR merges from connected git providers like github.
• Use declarative JSON templates to create and update pipelines,
• Manage who can change and control your release workflow with IAM roles.
• monitor pipeline activity via Amazon SNS notifications with event details and source links.

Pricing
V1 Pipelines:

• $1.00/month per active pipeline
• Free for the first 30 days
• No charge if no code runs through the pipeline that month

V2 Pipelines:

• $0.002 per minute of action execution time (rounded up)
• Manual and custom actions are free View CodePipeline Pricing for more pricing detail.

4.0 CodeCommit: Deprecated Git Hosting

As of July 2024, AWS CodeCommit is no longer available to new customers. Existing users can continue using the service, which will still receive security, availability, and performance updates — but no new features are planned.

Migrating From CodeCommit:

AWS has provided an official migration guide to help move your repositories to other git providers (GitHub, GitLab or Bitbucket)

Note: You can still integrate GitHub or GitLab with CodePipeline using Webhooks or GitHub connections.

Conclusion

While AWS has deprecated CodeCommit for new customers, its other CI/CD services CodeBuild, CodeDeploy, and CodePipeline remain powerful, flexible, and cost-effective. By combining them with modern Git providers like GitHub, you can build fully automated pipelines that are secure, scalable, and AWS-native where it matters most.

Tip: Pricing can evolve over time. Always refer to the official AWS pricing documentation linked throughout this article as the source of truth for the most accurate and up-to-date cost information.