12 Best Namespace Alternatives for GitHub Actions Runners

Namespace built its reputation on developer experience features for GitHub Actions: Cache Volumes with NVMe storage, Remote Builders for Docker, breakpoints for debugging, and support for Linux, macOS, and Windows runners.

But this feature-rich approach creates constraints: VM credit pricing adds complexity, the platform bundles compute with specialized services you might not need, and the emphasis on advanced features can feel overwhelming for teams wanting simple, fast runners.

The right alternative depends on whether you need comprehensive tooling or just fast compute, prefer straightforward per-minute billing or plan-based pricing, and want infrastructure control versus managed convenience.

This guide explores alternatives addressing problems Namespace either can't solve or deliberately chose not to.

What Namespace optimizes for (and what it doesn't)

Namespace excels at providing complete developer infrastructure: managed runners, remote Docker builders, cache volumes, ephemeral environments, and debugging tools all integrated. Their developer experience philosophy pushes boundaries with features like breakpoints and VNC access. But this comprehensiveness creates boundaries.

Top Namespace alternatives in 2026

Here's how each tool compares:

1. Depot

Depot matches Namespace's Docker focus through Ultra Runners and BuildKit integration but simplifies the feature set. While Namespace bundles runners, Remote Builders, Cache Volumes, and ephemeral environments, Depot concentrates on making container workflows specifically fast.

🌟 Key features

• Ultra Runners with RAM disk technology
• Colocated Docker builders with runners
• 10x faster caching vs GitHub Actions
• Linux (Intel, ARM), Windows, macOS M2
• 4th Gen AMD EPYC Genoa CPUs
• Per-second billing tracked
• Custom runner AMIs on Business plan
• Bring-your-own-compute option
• Docker and GitHub Actions minutes bundled

➕ Pros

• Docker-specific optimization vs feature breadth
• RAM disks deliver 3x performance for I/O workloads
• Simpler plan-based pricing vs VM credits
• macOS support for mobile development
• BuildKit colocation reduces network overhead
• Bring-your-own-compute for compliance needs
• Per-second billing granularity

➖ Cons

• Less comprehensive developer tooling than Namespace
• macOS capacity warnings during peak demand

💲 Pricing

Developer $20/month: 1 user, 500 Docker build minutes, 2,000 GitHub Actions minutes, 25 GB cache. Startup $200/month: unlimited users, 5,000 Docker minutes, 20,000 Actions minutes, 250 GB cache, overage $0.004/min for Actions. Business offers custom infrastructure and dedicated support.

2. BuildJet

BuildJet strips away Namespace's feature complexity for pure compute performance. While Namespace provides Cache Volumes, Remote Builders, and debugging tools, BuildJet focuses exclusively on fast CPUs and simple cache without additional services.

🌟 Key features

• Gaming-grade CPUs selected for benchmarks
• AMD Ryzen and ARM Ampere processors
• Ubuntu 20.04 and 22.04 images only
• 64 GB SSD allocation per job
• Nested virtualization for Android emulators
• 20 GB cache per repository weekly
• Direct GitHub Actions replacement

➕ Pros

• Simplest pricing vs Namespace's VM credits
• No feature bundling, pay only for compute
• Consistent CPU models deliver predictable performance
• Nested virtualization solves mobile CI problems
• Geographic presence in Hetzner network
• Per-minute billing without plan commitments
• Straightforward migration from GitHub

➖ Cons

• Linux exclusively vs Namespace's platform breadth
• Basic features vs Namespace's developer tooling

💲 Pricing

Per-minute: $0.004 for 2 vCPU (8 GB RAM) through $0.048 for 32 vCPU (64 GB RAM). Matches Blacksmith rates but without free tier. New accounts receive $5 testing credit. No VM credit conversion required.

3. RunsOn

RunsOn provides infrastructure control Namespace's managed model prevents: runners in your AWS account with your EC2 instances, S3 buckets, and security perimeter. Magic Cache replaces Namespace's Cache Volumes with unlimited S3 storage.

🌟 Key features

• Self-hosted on EC2 you control completely
• Linux, Windows, GPU, macOS via AWS
• Spot instance prioritization with on-demand backup
• Ephemeral VM per job provisioning
• S3-based unlimited cache through Magic Cache
• Static egress IPs via NAT configuration
• CloudFormation automated deployment
• Cost analytics built-in
• GitHub Actions complete compatibility

➕ Pros

• Your AWS account means your compliance boundary
• EC2 instance type flexibility Namespace restricts
• Unlimited S3 cache vs Namespace's GB-day billing
• Open-source core enables self-hosting option
• AWS credits apply directly to CI spending
• Regional deployment anywhere AWS operates
• Spot pricing delivers unbeatable economics

➖ Cons

• CloudFormation deployment vs Namespace's zero setup
• You troubleshoot AWS issues, not vendor support

💲 Pricing

Commercial license €300/year unlimited jobs. Sponsorship license €1,500/year with priority support and source access. AWS charges bill through spot pricing, typically 7-17x cheaper than GitHub rates. Nonprofits get free licensing.

4. Blacksmith

Blacksmith competes with Namespace's debugging features through observability rather than interactive tools. While Namespace offers breakpoints and VNC access, Blacksmith provides test analytics, centralized logging, and performance dashboards.

🌟 Key features

• Bare metal gaming CPUs targeting 2x GitHub speed
• Colocated cache for 4x download acceleration
• Docker layer reuse without Remote Builders
• Public image pull cache
• Test-level performance analytics
• Cross-job centralized log search
• Live SSH access to executing jobs
• Workflow spending breakdown by project
• Migration automation wizard
• Custom CI dashboards

➕ Pros

• Observability depth rivals Namespace's debugging tools
• Test analytics identify specific bottlenecks
• Centralized logging across entire organization
• Simpler per-minute billing vs VM credits
• 3,000 free monthly minutes included
• SSH debugging without VNC complexity
• Docker features without Remote Builder coupling

➖ Cons

• Linux exclusively vs Namespace's platform breadth
• Observability vs interactive debugging approach

💲 Pricing

Pay-as-you-go with 3,000 free monthly minutes. Base rate $0.004/min for 2 vCPU x64. Docker layer caching costs $0.50/GB/month separately. Enterprise adds SLAs, 24/7 support, and optimization consulting.

5. Ubicloud

Ubicloud undercuts Namespace's pricing dramatically through Hetzner bare metal while eliminating advanced features entirely. No Cache Volumes, no Remote Builders, no debugging tools - just extremely cheap Linux compute for straightforward CI.

🌟 Key features

• Managed runners on Hetzner bare metal
• Linux x64 and arm64 architectures
• Standard and premium performance tiers
• GitHub Managed Runner Application
• German data center high availability
• $1 monthly credit (~1,250 minutes)
• Open-source control plane (AGPL v3)
• Self-hosting option available

➕ Pros

• Dramatically lower per-minute rates than Namespace
• Dedicated CPU and memory guaranteed
• Simple per-minute billing without VM credits
• Open-source model prevents vendor lock-in
• Premium tier option for performance-critical workloads
• Self-hosting gives ultimate control
• Both x64 and arm64 support

➖ Cons

• Germany-only limits global teams
• Zero advanced features vs Namespace's tooling

💲 Pricing

Per-minute billing: x64 standard starts $0.0008/min for 2 vCPUs (8 GB RAM), scaling to $0.0120/min for 30 vCPUs. Premium doubles standard rates. Arm64 matches standard x64 pricing. $1 monthly credit covers ~1,250 minutes.

6. GetMac

GetMac specializes where Namespace generalizes: macOS M4 hardware exclusively for iOS development. While Namespace supports multiple platforms with consistent features, GetMac optimizes specifically for Apple ecosystem workflows.

🌟 Key features

• M4 Apple Silicon Mac Mini hardware exclusively
• GitHub Actions and GitLab CI support
• Full VM debugging environment (60s launch)
• Pre-installed iOS tooling: Xcode, Fastlane, CocoaPods, Homebrew
• VNC and SSH debugging access
• Ephemeral VM per job isolation
• Standard GitHub Actions cache
• Renewable energy powered facility
• Owned hardware with physical security

➕ Pros

• M4 performance exceeds most alternatives
• macOS specialization vs Namespace's generalization
• VM debugging replicates build environment exactly
• Dedicated capacity without queue warnings
• Full toolset pre-installed saves setup time
• SSH and VNC access like Namespace
• Higher plans remove concurrency limits entirely

➖ Cons

• macOS only vs Namespace's platform breadth
• Debug sessions cap at 60 minutes

💲 Pricing

Plan-based with compute minutes: Free (100 minutes), Developer $11.99 (1,000 minutes), Team $33.99 (3,000 minutes), Business $110.99 (10,000 minutes), Enterprise (unlimited custom pricing). Concurrent VM capacity scales 1 to unlimited.

7. Cirrus Runners

Cirrus Runners inverts Namespace's consumption-based model through flat-rate concurrency pricing. While Namespace charges per VM credit consumed, Cirrus eliminates usage anxiety with unlimited minutes at predictable monthly costs.

🌟 Key features

• Flat monthly rate per concurrent runner, unlimited minutes
• macOS M4 Pro: 4 vCPUs, 16 GB RAM, GPU
• Linux x86: 16 vCPUs, 48 GB RAM with KVM
• Linux arm64: 8 vCPUs, 24 GB RAM
• Linux GPU: 8 vCPUs, 24 GB RAM, Nvidia
• 2-3x performance vs GitHub defaults
• Resource class selection via runner labels
• Cirrus-optimized cache action
• 10 GB cache per runner

➕ Pros

• Unlimited minutes eliminate usage anxiety completely
• Budget predictability vs Namespace's VM credits
• macOS M4 Pro and GPU support
• Nonprofit discount cuts costs 50%
• Priority queuing through workflow labels
• No feature complexity, just fast runners
• Simple pricing without conversion math

➖ Cons

• Expensive for sporadic CI usage patterns
• Basic features vs Namespace's developer tooling

💲 Pricing

$150 monthly per concurrent runner with unlimited minutes. All runner types (macOS, Linux x86, Linux arm, Linux GPU) same price. 15% annual discount with commitment. 50% nonprofit discount. Effective per-minute cost drops with heavy usage (~$0.003/min high-volume).

8. runmyjob.io

runmyjob.io (Puzl Cloud) addresses pricing from different angle: load-based billing that charges only active resource consumption. While Namespace bills per VM credit regardless of utilization, runmyjob.io charges CPU-seconds and memory-seconds actually used.

🌟 Key features

• Load-based billing: CPU-seconds and memory-seconds consumed
• KVM microVMs for strong isolation
• GitHub Actions and GitLab CI support
• 150 GB ephemeral filesystem per job
• Interactive Web Terminal for GitLab debugging
• Up to 48 vCPUs and 96 GB RAM per job
• Declarative API for runner management
• Job cache on Business tier and above
• EU-based infrastructure

➕ Pros

• Revolutionary pricing for I/O-bound workloads
• Integration tests with external services cost less
• Resource limits exceed typical offerings
• GitLab support alongside GitHub Actions
• Free tier enables thorough evaluation
• KVM isolation stronger than standard VMs
• No vendor lock-in through standard integrations

➖ Cons

• Load-based billing requires mental model shift
• Currently Linux only, Windows and ARM coming

💲 Pricing

Free: €0/month, 1 integration, 10 concurrent jobs, 12 vCPUs/32 GB RAM per job, 400 vCPU-minutes/800 GB-minutes included, then €0.00002 per vCPU-second and €0.000001 per GB-second. Business: €50/month, 3 integrations, unlimited concurrency, 48 vCPUs/96 GB RAM, 2,000 vCPU-minutes/4,000 GB-minutes included, 10 GB persistent storage, job caching.

9. Actuated

Actuated provides infrastructure control Namespace's managed platform prevents: your bare metal servers anywhere with Firecracker microVMs. While Namespace abstracts infrastructure complexity, Actuated gives you architectural flexibility.

🌟 Key features

• Firecracker microVMs launching in 1-2 seconds
• Managed control plane, your hardware
• Centrally maintained Ubuntu guest images
• x86-64 and arm64 host support
• GPU support for ML workloads
• Concurrent job pricing, unmetered minutes
• Build queue visibility
• 120-day insights retention
• SSH debugging support
• CLI for programmatic management

➕ Pros

• Hardware location your choice, not managed service
• MicroVM isolation exceeds standard VMs
• Predictable costs through concurrency pricing
• Guest images maintained without your effort
• GitHub and GitLab CI compatibility
• Bare metal performance without cloud premium
• Compliance requirements you control

➖ Cons

• You procure and maintain physical hosts
• Basic features vs Namespace's developer tooling

💲 Pricing

Basic $250/month: 5 concurrent jobs, unmetered minutes, 1 VM host max, single GitHub org, reports, SSH debugging, UK hours Slack support. ~$0.008/min at 30K monthly minutes. Higher tiers for 10, 15, 20, 35, 50+ concurrent jobs.

10. Cirun

Cirun extends self-hosted concept beyond single cloud: connect any provider (GCP, Azure, Oracle) or on-premise infrastructure. While Namespace operates managed infrastructure, Cirun enables multi-cloud flexibility with your accounts.

🌟 Key features

• Self-hosted across multiple cloud providers
• GitHub App integration
• Per-repository .cirun.yml configuration
• Ephemeral VM per job
• Multi-cloud and on-premise support
• ARM and GPU instance types
• Preemptible/spot optimization
• Zero platform cost for open-source projects

➕ Pros

• Infrastructure stays in your accounts
• Cloud provider choice vs managed service
• ARM and GPU support
• Spot instances reduce costs significantly
• Open-source projects get free platform
• Geographic deployment flexibility
• Compliance through your infrastructure

➖ Cons

• Repository-count pricing for private projects
• Basic features vs Namespace's tooling depth

💲 Pricing

Open Source free: unlimited public repos, unlimited runners, all clouds. Startup $29/month: 3 private repos with support. Business $79/month: 10 private repos. Enterprise custom: unlimited private repos, premium support. Runner compute bills from your cloud provider.

11. Buildkite

Buildkite represents platform divergence: complete CI/CD system with test analytics, package registries, and pipeline orchestration. While Namespace augments GitHub Actions, Buildkite replaces it with agents you control.

🌟 Key features

• Complete CI/CD platform beyond runners
• GitHub integration preserving source control
• YAML-based pipeline definitions
• Cross-platform agent architecture
• Test Engine for large suite optimization
• Package registries for artifacts
• Insights: retry analysis, queue control, exports
• Enterprise security: SSO, SCIM, audit logs

➕ Pros

• Test Engine matches Namespace's debugging depth
• Self-hosted agents give ultimate control
• Pipeline model more flexible than GitHub Actions
• Package registries consolidate artifact storage
• Platform designed for enterprise complexity
• User-based pricing for predictable budgets
• Agent flexibility exceeds managed constraints

➖ Cons

• Complete platform migration, not runner swap
• Steeper learning curve than Namespace

💲 Pricing

Personal free: 3 concurrent jobs, 1 user, 50K test executions, 1 GB registries. Pro $30/user/month: 10 self-hosted agents, unlimited tests. Enterprise: custom pricing, unlimited pipelines, volume discounts. Hosted agents: Linux small $0.013/min, Mac M4 medium $0.18/min.

12. WarpBuild

WarpBuild competes directly with Namespace's feature set: fast runners, remote Docker builders, unlimited cache, and comprehensive observability. While Namespace uses VM credits, WarpBuild simplifies pricing with straightforward per-minute rates.

🌟 Key features

• High-performance Linux and macOS runners
• Remote Docker builders with cache
• Unlimited cache storage with 7-day retention
• Custom base images support
• Observability dashboard and analytics
• SSH access for debugging
• Multi-platform builds (x86, ARM, macOS)
• GitHub Actions compatibility
• State persistence for incremental builds

➕ Pros

• Unlimited cache vs Namespace's GB-day billing
• Simpler per-minute pricing vs VM credits
• Comprehensive observability and analytics
• Remote builders like Namespace
• Custom base images for optimization
• No cache size limits or retention fees
• State persistence for large codebases

➖ Cons

• Similar feature breadth as Namespace
• Pricing details require vendor contact

💲 Pricing

Contact for pricing details. Competitive with market rates. Unlimited cache storage included without separate fees. Custom plans available for larger teams.

Final thoughts

Namespace delivers a strong developer experience through cache volumes, remote builders, and debugging, but that depth adds complexity. It only makes sense when those features are used regularly.

For fast, simple runners, BuildJet, Ubicloud, or Cirrus Runners are easier to adopt. For specialized workflows, focused tools work better, such as Depot for Docker, GetMac for iOS, or Blacksmith for analytics. For infrastructure control, RunsOn, Actuated, or Cirun are solid options.

Namespace is the right choice when its platform features clearly reduce friction. When workflows are stable and simple, lighter or more focused alternatives are often the better fit.