12 Best Cirun Alternatives for GitHub Actions in 2026

Cirun helps teams orchestrate self-hosted GitHub Actions runners across AWS, GCP, Azure, and on-premise environments, offering strong multi-cloud flexibility and free support for open source projects. However, pricing for private repositories scales by repository count rather than actual usage. You are also responsible for managing your own cloud accounts and networking, and Windows support is less mature than on some competing platforms.

The right alternative depends on your priorities, whether that is a fully managed service, stronger Windows support, or usage-based pricing instead of per-repository fees.

This guide explores 12 Cirun alternatives to help you find a runner solution that aligns with your infrastructure preferences and pricing model.

What makes a good Cirun alternative?

Cirun excels at multi-cloud self-hosted runners with infrastructure control and zero platform cost for open source projects. An alternative should deliver comparable cloud flexibility, similar self-hosted benefits, or address Cirun's repository-based pricing and management overhead while maintaining the control and cost optimization that makes Cirun valuable.

12 Best Cirun Alternatives

Cirun provides straightforward setup with repository-level .cirun.yml configuration and one-line workflow changes. Look for alternatives with similar ease of migration that won't force workflow rewrites or introduce compatibility issues.

1. RunsOn

RunsOn deploys self-hosted runners directly into your AWS infrastructure. The platform automatically handles EC2 provisioning and lifecycle management, launching instances on demand and shutting them down after jobs complete.

🌟 Key features

• Self-hosted runners in your AWS account
• Linux, Windows, macOS, and GPU instance support
• Unlimited S3-based caching vs standard GitHub cache limits
• Aggressive spot instance usage for cost savings
• CloudFormation deployment completing in roughly 10 minutes
• Integrated cost reporting and usage metrics
• Partly open source with sponsorship licensing

➕ Pros

• Complete workflow compatibility with GitHub-hosted runners
• Fresh ephemeral VMs providing clean state per job
• S3 Magic Cache with unlimited storage capacity
• Static egress IPs through NAT gateway configuration
• Can reduce costs up to 90% vs GitHub runners
• Usage-based pricing vs Cirun's per-repository model
• Strong Windows support through native EC2 instances

➖ Cons

• AWS-only infrastructure vs Cirun's multi-cloud approach
• Requires familiarity with AWS services like EC2, S3, and CloudFormation

💲 Pricing

Commercial license runs €300 annually with unlimited job execution and email support. Sponsorship license costs €1,500 yearly, adding priority support, private Slack access, and full source code. AWS charges bill per second at spot pricing rates, typically delivering 7-17x cost reduction versus GitHub runners. Non-profit organizations can request free licensing.

2. Actuated

Actuated delivers a managed control plane for self-hosted infrastructure. Teams supply their own bare metal or virtualization servers, and Actuated orchestrates Firecracker microVMs that isolate each job in its own secure environment.

🌟 Key features

• Self-hosted runners with Firecracker microVM isolation
• Fixed concurrency pricing with unlimited minutes
• Choose your own hardware and location like Cirun
• x86-64 and arm64 host support
• GPU support for machine learning workloads
• Fully managed control plane handling orchestration
• Multi-organization dashboard for fleet management

➕ Pros

• Infrastructure control similar to Cirun's model
• Firecracker microVMs starting in roughly 1-2 seconds
• Centrally maintained Ubuntu guest image
• Build queue visibility across all jobs
• Historical insights covering up to 120 days
• SSH debugging support for live troubleshooting
• CLI for programmatic management

➖ Cons

• Must provide and maintain your own bare metal servers
• Linux-only support excludes macOS and Windows workloads

💲 Pricing

Basic plan costs $250 monthly, including 5 concurrent jobs, unmetered minutes, up to 1 VM host, single GitHub organization support, reports, SSH debugging, and Slack support during UK business hours. At 30,000 minutes monthly usage, this works out to approximately $0.008/min. Additional tiers available for 10, 15, 20, 35, and 50+ concurrent jobs.

3. Ubicloud

Ubicloud operates as an open-source cloud platform built on bare metal from Hetzner and Leaseweb. The service provides managed runners at aggressive pricing while eliminating infrastructure management complexity.

🌟 Key features

• Fully managed runners eliminating cloud account management
• Linux x64 and arm64 architecture support
• Aggressive price-performance optimization (3-10x cheaper)
• Open source control plane (AGPL v3) like Cirun's transparency
• German data centers supporting GDPR compliance
• $1 monthly credit per account covering approximately 1,250 minutes
• Usage-based per-minute pricing vs per-repository fees

➕ Pros

• Very low per-minute pricing starting at $0.0008/min
• Dedicated CPU, memory, and storage resources
• GitHub Managed Runner Application integration
• Multiple German data centers providing high availability
• No cloud account setup or networking configuration
• Self-hosting option if desired
• Broader platform with VMs, PostgreSQL, and Kubernetes

➖ Cons

• Linux-only support excludes macOS and Windows workloads
• Runner infrastructure concentrates in Germany

💲 Pricing

Per-minute billing at month's end. Linux x64 standard runners start at $0.0008/min for 2 vCPUs with 8 GB RAM, scaling to $0.0120/min for 30 vCPU configurations. Premium runners cost exactly double standard rates. Arm64 pricing matches standard x64 rates. Every account receives $1 monthly credit covering approximately 1,250 minutes on 2 vCPU runners.

4. Depot

Depot delivers managed runners with strong performance characteristics. The platform spans Linux, Windows, and macOS while emphasizing speed through specialized compute and caching infrastructure.

🌟 Key features

• Managed runners for Linux, Windows, and macOS M2
• Ultra Runners with memory-backed storage for I/O-heavy workloads
• Integrated caching across regular Actions and Docker layers
• Intel and ARM architecture support
• Per-second billing without minute minimums
• Self-hosting option available for AWS deployment
• Better Windows support than Cirun

➕ Pros

• Removes all infrastructure management complexity
• Ultra Runners with provisioned I/O for maximum throughput
• Integrated high-speed GitHub Actions cache
• Ephemeral VMs maintaining clean state per job
• Repository-scoped persistent cache volumes
• Optional egress filtering for security compliance
• Native Docker registry and build cache integration

➖ Cons

• Managed service pricing runs higher than self-hosted economics
• macOS runner capacity can occasionally cause queue delays

💲 Pricing

Developer tier costs $20 monthly, including 500 Docker build minutes, 2,000 Actions minutes, and 25 GB cache storage for one user. Startup tier runs $200 monthly with unlimited users, 5,000 Docker minutes, 20,000 Actions minutes, and 250 GB cache, plus $0.004/min overage charges for Actions. Business tier provides dedicated infrastructure and custom runner pools. All runner time bills per second.

5. BuildJet

BuildJet focuses exclusively on Linux runners powered by gaming-grade processors. The managed service emphasizes raw performance with straightforward per-minute pricing and zero infrastructure requirements.

🌟 Key features

• Gaming-grade CPUs delivering 2x performance
• Linux support across AMD and ARM architectures
• Simple per-minute billing with transparent pricing
• Fully managed service eliminating infrastructure overhead
• 20 GB cache per repository refreshed weekly
• Instant scaling without capacity constraints
• Free tier includes 3,000 minutes monthly

➕ Pros

• Approximately 2x performance versus GitHub-hosted runners
• No infrastructure to provision or maintain
• Per-minute billing with transparent pricing
• Simple migration requiring only runner label changes
• Strong single-core performance for build-heavy workloads
• Usage-based pricing vs Cirun's per-repository model
• Free tier suitable for small teams

➖ Cons

• Linux-only support excludes macOS and Windows workloads
• Per-minute pricing can become expensive for extremely high-volume usage

💲 Pricing

Free tier includes 3,000 minutes monthly across all repositories. Paid usage bills per minute with rates starting around $0.004/min for standard configurations. Pricing scales with machine size and architecture. No base fees or subscription charges beyond actual minute consumption.

6. Namespace

Namespace wraps GitHub Actions runners with extensive developer tooling. The platform emphasizes debuggability through interactive features while supporting Linux, macOS, and Windows workloads.

🌟 Key features

• Managed runners for Linux, macOS, and Windows
• Cache Volumes persisting data locally across runs
• Interactive debugging with breakpoints and SSH/VNC/RDP access
• Native integrations with Bazel, Turborepo, Pants, and Moon
• Granular job observability tracking per-step performance
• AMD EPYC, Ampere, and Apple M-series hardware options
• Better Windows support than Cirun

➕ Pros

• Multi-platform support across all major operating systems
• Runner profiles configuring OS, architecture, and machine specifications
• Container image acceleration through intelligent layer caching
• Git checkout caching optimized for large monorepos
• Crash and OOM detection with automatic dump capture
• Detailed per-step metrics exceeding standard observability
• No cloud account management required

➖ Cons

• Unit minute and VM credit pricing system adds complexity
• Bundling compute and caching with single vendor creates potential lock-in

💲 Pricing

VM credits price at $0.015 each. Developer plan operates pay-as-you-go at roughly $0.0015/min in unit minutes with no base fee. Team plan costs $100 monthly, including 100,000 minutes and 1,000 Docker builds. Business plan runs $250 monthly with 250,000 minutes and 2,500 builds. Enterprise tier offers custom runner pools and very high concurrency limits.

7. Cirrus Runners

Cirrus Runners uses flat-rate pricing that charges per concurrent runner rather than consumption. Teams pay monthly for each concurrent slot and get unlimited execution time across macOS, Linux, and GPU configurations.

🌟 Key features

• Flat monthly rate per concurrent runner with unlimited minutes
• macOS M4 Pro runners with GPU support
• Linux x86, arm64, and GPU runner options
• Performance 2-3x faster than GitHub runners
• Predictable costs regardless of usage volume
• No per-repository pricing like Cirun
• 10 GB cache allocation per runner

➕ Pros

• Fixed $150 monthly price per concurrent runner with unlimited minutes
• macOS M4 Pro runners with 4 vCPUs, 16 GB RAM, and GPU access
• Linux x86 runners providing 16 vCPUs and 48 GB RAM with KVM
• Linux arm64 runners with 8 vCPUs and 24 GB RAM
• Linux GPU runners featuring 8 vCPUs, 24 GB RAM, and Nvidia GPU
• Flexible resource classes selected via image name suffixes
• Cirrus cache action for optimized restore and save operations

➖ Cons

• Flat pricing can become expensive for teams with sporadic usage
• Cache storage caps at 10 GB per runner

💲 Pricing

Each concurrent runner costs $150 monthly with truly unlimited minute usage. All runner types carry the same flat rate. Annual commitment provides 15% discount. Nonprofit discount cuts pricing by 50% for qualifying non-revenue projects. Effective per-minute cost drops significantly with heavy usage, reaching approximately $0.003/min for high-volume teams.

8. Blacksmith

Blacksmith combines bare metal performance with CI observability features. The platform runs on gaming hardware while adding analytics, centralized logging, and debugging tools that standard runners don't provide.

🌟 Key features

• Bare metal gaming CPUs for strong performance
• Colocated caching delivering 4x faster downloads
• Centralized log search across all workflow executions
• Test-level analytics for performance insights
• Live SSH access for debugging running builds
• Approximately 2x performance over GitHub runners
• Usage-based pricing vs per-repository fees

➕ Pros

• Approximately 2x performance improvement over GitHub runners
• Docker layer reuse accelerating container builds
• Public image pull cache reducing registry bottlenecks
• Run history with filtering and search capabilities
• Test-level analytics identifying performance problems
• Dedicated CI analytics dashboards
• Migration wizard for straightforward onboarding

➖ Cons

• Linux-only focus excludes macOS and Windows workloads
• Docker acceleration requires using Blacksmith-specific actions

💲 Pricing

Usage-based pricing with 3,000 free minutes monthly. Base runner rate starts around $0.004/min for 2 vCPU x64 configurations, scaling up for larger machine shapes. Docker layer caching costs approximately $0.50/GB/month as an optional add-on. Additional features include static IP addresses and priority Slack support. Enterprise tier adds white-glove onboarding, uptime SLA guarantees, and 24/7 support access.

9. GetMac

GetMac specializes in macOS runners built on Apple Silicon M4 hardware. The service focuses exclusively on iOS and macOS development workflows with modern hardware housed in certified data centers.

🌟 Key features

• M4 Apple Silicon Mac Mini infrastructure
• Modern hardware outperforming older macOS options
• Full macOS VM debugging environment
• Pre-configured tooling (Xcode, Fastlane, CocoaPods, Homebrew)
• VNC and SSH access for live debugging sessions
• Plan-based pricing vs Cirun's per-repository model
• 100% renewable energy powered operations

➕ Pros

• GitHub Actions and GitLab CI compatibility
• Contemporary dashboard for runner and VM management
• Ephemeral isolated VMs maintaining clean state per job
• Standard GitHub Actions caching support
• Owned hardware with physical security controls
• Fast VM debugging environment launching in approximately 60 seconds
• Free tier provides 100 minutes monthly

➖ Cons

• macOS-only support means separate runners for Linux and Windows
• Manually started VMs cap at 60-minute sessions

💲 Pricing

Plan-based pricing bundles compute minutes. Free tier provides 100 minutes at $0 monthly. Developer plan offers 1,000 minutes for $11.99. Team plan includes 3,000 minutes at $33.99. Business plan delivers 10,000 minutes for $110.99. Enterprise plan provides unlimited minutes with custom pricing. Concurrent VM capacity scales with plan tiers from 1 VM up to unlimited.

10. runmyjob.io

runmyjob.io (also called Puzl Cloud) implements load-based billing that charges for actual CPU and memory consumption rather than elapsed time. Jobs run in KVM microVMs and only incur costs during active processing.

🌟 Key features

• Load-based billing charging only for actual resource consumption
• Pay only for active CPU and memory use vs idle time
• Resource limits up to 48 vCPUs and 96 GB RAM
• KVM-based microVMs with near bare-metal performance
• GitHub Actions and GitLab CI support
• EU-based infrastructure
• Usage-based model vs per-repository pricing

➕ Pros

• Load-based billing eliminating waste from idle capacity
• KVM-based Spike Instances providing strong per-job isolation
• Ephemeral filesystem per job defaulting to 150 GB
• Interactive Web Terminal for GitLab pipeline debugging
• Up to 48 vCPUs and 96 GB RAM per individual job
• Job cache on Business tier and above
• Complete GitHub Actions environment compatibility

➖ Cons

• Load-based billing requires understanding different pricing structure
• Currently Linux-only with Windows and ARM on roadmap

💲 Pricing

Free plan at €0 monthly includes 1 integration, 10 concurrent jobs, up to 12 vCPUs and 32 GB RAM per job, 400 vCPU-minutes and 800 GB-minutes included monthly, then €0.00002 per vCPU-second and €0.000001 per GB-second beyond limits. Business plan costs €50 monthly with 3 integrations, unlimited concurrent jobs, 48 vCPUs and 96 GB RAM per job, 2,000 vCPU-minutes and 4,000 GB-minutes included, plus 10 GB persistent storage and job caching.

11. Buildkite

Buildkite functions as a complete CI/CD platform rather than just a runner service. The system integrates with GitHub while providing its own pipeline execution, orchestration, and analytics capabilities.

🌟 Key features

• Complete CI/CD platform beyond just runners
• Cross-platform agents supporting macOS, Linux, and Windows
• Self-hosted agents maintaining infrastructure control like Cirun
• Test Engine for large test suite optimization
• Advanced pipeline capabilities exceeding GitHub Actions
• Native integration with multiple Git providers
• Enterprise security features (SSO, SCIM, audit logs)

➕ Pros

• Full platform migration with more CI/CD control
• Buildkite Test Engine for large test suite optimization
• Buildkite Package Registries for artifact management
• Insights features including retry analysis and queue control
• Support for multiple Git providers beyond GitHub
• Mac M4 hosted agents available
• User-based pricing vs per-repository model

➖ Cons

• Requires rewriting workflows from GitHub Actions syntax to Buildkite pipelines
• Platform pricing model differs from simple runner alternatives

💲 Pricing

Personal plan is free, including 3 concurrent jobs, 1 user, 50,000 test executions, 1 GB Package Registries storage, and 500 minutes Linux small. Pro plan costs $30 per user monthly with 10 self-hosted agents, unlimited test executions (then $0.10/managed test), 20 GB registries storage, 2,000 minutes Linux small, and SSO support. Enterprise provides custom pricing. Hosted agents: Linux small $0.013/min, medium $0.026/min, large $0.052/min. Mac M4 medium $0.18/min, large $0.36/min.

12. DevZero

DevZero focuses on Kubernetes cost optimization with GitHub Actions as one workload type. The platform connects to existing clusters and applies automated policies to optimize resource allocation and spending.

🌟 Key features

• Kubernetes cost and resource optimization platform
• Consolidates CI with application workloads
• GitHub Actions integration via Actions Runner Controller
• Automated rightsizing for pods and nodes
• Support for EKS, GKE, AKS, and on-premise clusters
• Pod live migration and spot instance management
• CPU-based pricing vs per-repository fees

➕ Pros

• Kubernetes cost and resource monitoring across clusters
• Automated optimization through balance operator
• Pod live migration support for workload shifting
• Spot instance management and optimization
• Runner scale sets with DevZero-specific labels
• Audit logging and cost export capabilities
• Works with existing Kubernetes infrastructure

➖ Cons

• Overkill if sole concern is GitHub Actions minutes
• Requires running operators in clusters adding complexity

💲 Pricing

Free tier includes up to 2 clusters for 45 days with monitoring and attribution. Scaling and Optimization plan costs $7 per CPU monthly, supporting up to 2,000 CPUs with workload optimization, spot management, and Slack support. Enterprise tier offers custom pricing with SSO, GPU optimization, and dedicated support channels.

Final thoughts

Cirun offers strong infrastructure control and free open source support, but per-repository pricing and management overhead are not ideal for every team.

If you prefer to stay self-hosted, RunsOn and Actuated maintain similar control. For less operational burden, managed platforms like Ubicloud, Depot, and BuildJet remove cloud management entirely.

Most alternatives provide usage-based pricing, stronger Windows support, or better cost efficiency. Many teams combine self-hosted and managed runners depending on workload needs. Your choice ultimately depends on infrastructure preference, Windows requirements, and pricing model.