diff --git a/cmd/skaffold/app/cmd/build.go b/cmd/skaffold/app/cmd/build.go
index 73d5630d780..d6204fa3f26 100644
--- a/cmd/skaffold/app/cmd/build.go
+++ b/cmd/skaffold/app/cmd/build.go
@@ -18,14 +18,21 @@ package cmd
 
 import (
 	"context"
-	"fmt"
 	"io"
+	"io/ioutil"
 
+	"github.com/GoogleContainerTools/skaffold/cmd/skaffold/app/flags"
+	"github.com/GoogleContainerTools/skaffold/pkg/skaffold/build"
 	"github.com/GoogleContainerTools/skaffold/pkg/skaffold/runner"
 	"github.com/pkg/errors"
 	"github.com/spf13/cobra"
 )
 
+var (
+	quietFlag       bool
+	buildFormatFlag = flags.NewTemplateFlag("{{range .Builds}}{{.ImageName}} -> {{.Tag}}\n{{end}}", BuildOutput{})
+)
+
 // NewCmdBuild describes the CLI command to build artifacts.
 func NewCmdBuild(out io.Writer) *cobra.Command {
 	cmd := &cobra.Command{
@@ -33,14 +40,21 @@ func NewCmdBuild(out io.Writer) *cobra.Command {
 		Short: "Builds the artifacts",
 		Args:  cobra.NoArgs,
 		RunE: func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
-			return build(out, filename)
+			return runBuild(out, filename)
 		},
 	}
 	AddRunDevFlags(cmd)
+	cmd.Flags().BoolVarP(&quietFlag, "quiet", "q", false, "Suppress the build output and print image built on success")
+	cmd.Flags().VarP(buildFormatFlag, "output", "o", buildFormatFlag.Usage())
 	return cmd
 }
 
-func build(out io.Writer, filename string) error {
+// BuildOutput is the output of `skaffold build`.
+type BuildOutput struct {
+	Builds []build.Build
+}
+
+func runBuild(out io.Writer, filename string) error {
 	ctx := context.Background()
 
 	config, err := readConfiguration(filename)
@@ -53,14 +67,19 @@ func build(out io.Writer, filename string) error {
 		return errors.Wrap(err, "creating runner")
 	}
 
-	bRes, err := runner.Build(ctx, out, runner.Tagger, config.Build.Artifacts)
+	buildOut := out
+	if quietFlag {
+		buildOut = ioutil.Discard
+	}
+
+	bRes, err := runner.Build(ctx, buildOut, runner.Tagger, config.Build.Artifacts)
 	if err != nil {
 		return errors.Wrap(err, "build step")
 	}
 
-	for _, build := range bRes {
-		fmt.Fprintln(out, build.ImageName, "->", build.Tag)
+	cmdOut := BuildOutput{Builds: bRes}
+	if err := buildFormatFlag.Template().Execute(out, cmdOut); err != nil {
+		return errors.Wrap(err, "executing template")
 	}
-
-	return err
+	return nil
 }
diff --git a/cmd/skaffold/app/flags/template.go b/cmd/skaffold/app/flags/template.go
index 2708752f9b3..f26329a447a 100644
--- a/cmd/skaffold/app/flags/template.go
+++ b/cmd/skaffold/app/flags/template.go
@@ -17,8 +17,11 @@ limitations under the License.
 package flags
 
 import (
+	"bytes"
+	"encoding/json"
 	"fmt"
 	"reflect"
+	"strings"
 	"text/template"
 
 	"github.com/pkg/errors"
@@ -45,7 +48,7 @@ func (t *TemplateFlag) Usage() string {
 }
 
 func (t *TemplateFlag) Set(value string) error {
-	tmpl, err := template.New("flagtemplate").Parse(value)
+	tmpl, err := parseTemplate(value)
 	if err != nil {
 		return errors.Wrap(err, "setting template flag")
 	}
@@ -64,8 +67,26 @@ func (t *TemplateFlag) Template() *template.Template {
 
 func NewTemplateFlag(value string, context interface{}) *TemplateFlag {
 	return &TemplateFlag{
-		template:    template.Must(template.New("flagtemplate").Parse(value)),
+		template:    template.Must(parseTemplate(value)),
 		rawTemplate: value,
 		context:     context,
 	}
 }
+
+func parseTemplate(value string) (*template.Template, error) {
+	var funcs = template.FuncMap{
+		"json": func(v interface{}) string {
+			buf := &bytes.Buffer{}
+			enc := json.NewEncoder(buf)
+			enc.SetEscapeHTML(false)
+			enc.Encode(v)
+			return strings.TrimSpace(buf.String())
+		},
+		"join":  strings.Join,
+		"title": strings.Title,
+		"lower": strings.ToLower,
+		"upper": strings.ToUpper,
+	}
+
+	return template.New("flagtemplate").Funcs(funcs).Parse(value)
+}