BuildCaptainBuildCaptain vs the Jenkins Build Monitor plugin
The Build Monitor plugin and BuildCaptain answer the same question — is the build green? — in two different places. The plugin answers it for the room. BuildCaptain answers it for your Mac, in the menu bar, all day.
What Build Monitor does well
Build Monitor is a free Jenkins plugin that renders your jobs as a large, color-coded radiator view in the browser. Put it full-screen on a TV in the corner of the office and the whole crew can spot a red build from across the room without asking anyone.
Side by side
| What you get | BuildCaptain | Build Monitor |
|---|---|---|
| Platform | Native SwiftUI app, macOS 14 or newer | A Jenkins plugin you view in a browser |
| CI servers | Jenkins only, with the Pipeline Graph View plugin | Jenkins only |
| Where it lives | Your macOS menu bar | A full-screen browser window, ideally a wall screen |
| Stage view | Nested and parallel stages with step logs | A radiator board of job results, not a stage graph |
| Run, stop, rebuild | Run, stop, and rebuild with build parameters | You start builds in the Jenkins UI itself |
| Notifications | Native failure, recovery, and completion alerts | None on your Mac — it is a screen you look at |
| Price | One-time Mac App Store purchase | Free Jenkins plugin |
When Build Monitor is the right choice
Choose the Build Monitor plugin if you want a shared team radiator. It is free, it installs on the Jenkins you already run, and it needs nothing on anyone’s laptop — just a spare screen and a browser window left open.
When BuildCaptain is the right choice
Choose BuildCaptain if you want the build in front of you rather than across the room. Pinned pipelines sit in your menu bar, failures and recoveries arrive as native notifications, and one click opens the stage graph, the step logs, and the rebuild button. macOS 14 or newer, one Mac App Store purchase, and the Pipeline Graph View plugin on your Jenkins.
Ready to take the helm?
Get BuildCaptain on the Mac App Store, connect your Jenkins server, and pin your first pipeline in under two minutes.
