Mergify vs Trunk
Both do merge queues. Trunk focuses on parallel testing and flaky test detection. Mergify gives you that plus CI observability, merge governance, a rule engine that handles your actual workflow, and monitoring integrations.
Feature comparison
Trunk
Mergify
Speculative checks
CI batching with bisect-on-failure
Two-step CI
Monorepo / scope-aware batching
PR priorities
Queue pause
Queue freeze (scheduled)
Auto-retry on CI failure
Custom merge conditions (rule engine)
Queue stats dashboard
Slack notifications (CI + queue activity)
Full event log
Monitoring integrations (Datadog)
CI Insights (job health, auto-retry)
Flaky test detection + quarantine
Merge Protections (freezes, dependencies)
Billing by active contributors only
Fast-forward merge
On-premise deployment
Feature comparison
Trunk
Mergify
Speculative checks
CI batching with bisect-on-failure
Two-step CI
Monorepo / scope-aware batching
PR priorities
Queue pause
Queue freeze (scheduled)
Auto-retry on CI failure
Custom merge conditions (rule engine)
Queue stats dashboard
Slack notifications (CI + queue activity)
Full event log
Monitoring integrations (Datadog)
CI Insights (job health, auto-retry)
Flaky test detection + quarantine
Merge Protections (freezes, dependencies)
Billing by active contributors only
Fast-forward merge
On-premise deployment
Used by the platform teams that ship fast and keep CI green
More than a merge queue
Trunk sells a merge queue and a flaky test tool as separate products. Mergify includes merge queue, CI observability, test intelligence, and merge governance in every plan.
Evaluating merge queue tools?
We'll walk you through how Mergify compares for your specific setup. No pitch, just answers.
Early on, as the team, tests, and CI complexity grew, it was quite clear that we needed an automated tool to resolve bottlenecks. Our team loves the way Mergify solved our growing pains.
Tomasz Biernacki
Quality Assurance Engineer at Pitch
What Trunk doesn't cover
Trunk is strong on merge queues and flaky tests. These are the gaps teams notice when they need more from their CI tooling.
No scheduled freeze windows
Trunk can pause the queue, but has no scheduled freeze windows for releases, holidays, deploy cycles, or recurring maintenance.
No Merge Protections
No equivalent to Mergify's Merge Protections for PR dependencies, scheduled merges, time-based rules, or cross-repo coordination.
No CI Insights
Trunk has a flaky test product, but no CI-wide observability. No job health scores, no failure rate trends, no auto-retry with custom rules. Mergify covers both with CI Insights and Test Insights.
No configurable retry rules
Trunk retries implicitly through anti-flake detection. You can't set custom rules like 'retry this job up to 3 times if it matches this pattern.'
No event log or audit trail
No full event log for queue activity. When something goes wrong, there's no trace to investigate.
No fast-forward merge
Trunk doesn't support fast-forward merge. If you need to preserve commit SHAs and linear history without recreating commits, Mergify can do this.
Mergify is a no-brainer. If you want to have your main branch always working then you have to introduce some merge queue functionality.
Paco Sevilla
DevOps Engineer at DeepDrive
The pricing question
Trunk charges per committer for their merge queue. They sell flaky test detection as a separate product with its own pricing. Mergify charges $21/user/month and includes merge queue, CI Insights (job health, auto-retry), Test Insights (flaky detection, quarantine), and Merge Protections in a single plan.
Both offer free tiers. Mergify is free for up to 5 users on private repos. Trunk is free for up to 5 committers.
Real teams, real results
Engineering teams we helped merge faster, safer, and cheaper
FAQ
Does Mergify replace Trunk or work alongside it?
It replaces Trunk's merge queue. Only one queue can own merging into a given branch, so you pick Mergify or Trunk per repo. You can run Mergify on some repos while you evaluate.
What does Mergify include that Trunk sells as a separate product?
Trunk sells its merge queue and its flaky test tool as two products with separate pricing. Mergify includes the merge queue, CI Insights for job health and auto-retry, Test Insights for flaky detection and quarantine, and Merge Protections in every plan.
Can Mergify schedule merge freezes for releases or holidays?
Yes, through Merge Protections. Trunk can pause the queue on demand, but it has no scheduled freeze windows for release cycles, holidays, or recurring maintenance. See Merge Protections.
Does Mergify support fast-forward merge?
Yes. If you need to preserve commit SHAs and keep a linear history without recreating commits, Mergify can fast-forward merge. Trunk does not offer this.
How long does it take to migrate from Trunk to Mergify?
Most teams switch a single repo in under a day. Install the GitHub App, then commit a .mergify.yml with your queue rules. Larger setups with parallel queues take longer to design but stay day-one work.
How does pricing compare?
Trunk charges per committer for the merge queue and prices flaky test detection separately. Mergify is $21 per user per month with the merge queue, CI Insights, Test Insights, and Merge Protections in one plan. Both are free for up to 5 users. See pricing.
Last updated:
Try the complete CI platform
Merge queue, CI insights, and merge protections. All included, up to 5 users free.