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GitHub Actions CPU performance

GitHub Actions CPU performance

This guide compares CPU performance and queue times across GitHub Actions runners - including official GitHub runners, self-hosted solutions, and third-party providers. Real-world benchmarks show how each option performs to help select the optimal runner.

Providers included in the benchmark

Official:

Self-hosted alternatives:

Third-party alternatives:

Note: Warpbuild and Depot are third-party providers that resell AWS instances, but they forbid benchmarking their platform 🤷.

CPU speed and queuing times

Last updated:

Benchmarks are performed using the Passmark benchmarking tool ↗, using the CPU Single Threaded metric. The table displays the last 60 days of data, before the last updated date.

Key metrics such as the processor model, single-thread CPU speed, queue time, pricing, and the underlying infrastructure provider are compared. The CPU single-threaded rating is a crucial metric as it is the most significant factor (unless your job is massively parallel) in accelerating any of your workflows.

x64 runners

Provider CPU speed
(p50 | p95) 		Queue time (s)
(p50 | p95) 		Processor Infra / ISP Samples
Namespace (2x cheaper, SaaS)
  • nscloud-ubuntu-22.04-amd64-2x8
 4064 | 4279 14 | 24 AMD EPYC (x86_64) Namespacelabs (might vary) 31
Blacksmith (2x cheaper, SaaS)
  • blacksmith-2vcpu-ubuntu-2204
 3771 | 4026 20 | 24 AMD EPYC (x86_64) Hetzner Online 31
Buildjet (2x cheaper, SaaS)
  • buildjet-2vcpu-ubuntu-2204
 3730 | 3916 22 | 25 AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D 16-Core Processor (x86_64) Hetzner Online 6
Buildjet (2x cheaper, SaaS)
  • buildjet-2vcpu-ubuntu-2204
 3342 | 3529 23 | 26 AMD Ryzen 9 5950X 16-Core Processor (x86_64) Hetzner Online 25
Cirrus ($150/runner, SaaS)
  • ghcr.io/cirruslabs/ubuntu-runner-amd64:22.04-md
 3161 | 3171 23 | 33 Intel Xeon Gold 5412U (x86_64) Hetzner Online GmbH 31
RunsOn (10x cheaper - self-hosted)
  • runs-on,family=r7iz
 3074 | 3085 25 | 62 Intel Xeon Gold 6455B (x86_64) Amazon.com 28
RunsOn (10x cheaper - self-hosted)
  • runs-on,family=i7ie
 3120 | 3147 29 | 34 Intel Xeon Platinum 8559C (x86_64) Amazon.com 14
RunsOn (10x cheaper - self-hosted)
  • runs-on,family=c7a
 2876 | 2884 25 | 35 AMD EPYC 9R14 (x86_64) Amazon.com 28
Ubicloud (10x cheaper, SaaS)
  • ubicloud-standard-2
 2937 | 2972 16 | 54 AMD EPYC 9454P 48-Core Processor (x86_64) Hetzner Online 29
GitHub
  • github-16cpu-x64
 2372 | 2397 8 | 81 AMD EPYC 7763 64-Core Processor (x86_64) (custom) Microsoft Azure 31
GitHub
  • ubuntu-22.04
 2293 | 2304 9 | 11 AMD EPYC 7763 64-Core Processor (x86_64) Microsoft Azure 31
AWS CodeBuild
  • codebuild-ubuntu-7.0-small
  • codebuild-ubuntu-7.0-large
  • codebuild-ubuntu-7.0-medium
 2113 | 2152 30 | 34 Intel Xeon Platinum 8275CL CPU @ 3.00GHz (x86_64) Amazon.com 69
AWS CodeBuild
  • codebuild-ubuntu-7.0-medium
  • codebuild-ubuntu-7.0-small
 1983 | 2018 30 | 32 Intel Xeon Platinum 8124M CPU @ 3.00GHz (x86_64) Amazon.com 21
Warpbuild (2x cheaper, SaaS)
  • N/A
 N/A N/A N/A Amazon.com 0
Depot (2x cheaper, SaaS)
  • N/A
 N/A N/A N/A Amazon.com 0

arm64 runners

Provider CPU speed
(p50 | p95) 		Queue time (s)
(p50 | p95) 		Processor Infra / ISP Samples
RunsOn (10x cheaper - self-hosted)
  • runs-on,family=r8g
 1933 | 1934 25 | 53 Neoverse-V2 (aarch64) Amazon.com 29
RunsOn (10x cheaper - self-hosted)
  • runs-on,family=m7g
 1542 | 1546 26 | 36 (aarch64) Amazon.com 29
Cirrus ($150/runner, SaaS)
  • ghcr.io/cirruslabs/ubuntu-runner-arm64:22.04-md
 1325 | 1327 20 | 24 Neoverse-N1 (aarch64) Hetzner Online GmbH 32
Buildjet (2x cheaper, SaaS)
  • buildjet-2vcpu-ubuntu-2204-arm
 1324 | 1325 35 | 39 Neoverse-N1 (aarch64) Hetzner Online 32
GitHub
  • github-2cpu-arm64
 1317 | 1320 7 | 77 Neoverse-N1 (aarch64) Microsoft Azure 31
Blacksmith (2x cheaper, SaaS)
  • blacksmith-2vcpu-ubuntu-2204-arm
 1316 | 1322 21 | 26 Neoverse-N1 (aarch64) Hetzner Online 32
Ubicloud (10x cheaper, SaaS)
  • ubicloud-standard-2-arm
 1311 | 1319 14 | 18 Neoverse-N1 (aarch64) Hetzner Online 32
Namespace (2x cheaper, SaaS)
  • nscloud-ubuntu-22.04-arm64-2x8
 1266 | 1274 17 | 27 (aarch64) Deft Hosting (might vary) 19
Warpbuild (2x cheaper, SaaS)
  • N/A
 N/A N/A N/A Amazon.com 0
Depot (2x cheaper, SaaS)
  • N/A
 N/A N/A N/A Amazon.com 0

FAQ

Who has the fastest x64 runners?

Namespace and Blacksmith, followed by Buildjet (though Buildjet’s CPU models can vary).

Who has the fastest arm64 runners?

RunsOn, since it uses latest AWS Graviton3 and Graviton4 processors. Hetzner-based providers use older ARM CPUs.

Who's the cheapest?

RunsOn and Ubicloud offer the best pricing, around 10x cheaper than GitHub.

Observations

Performance:

  • Namespace and Blacksmith lead x64 performance with latest AMD CPUs
  • RunsOn leads arm64 performance with AWS Graviton3 and Graviton4
  • GitHub uses older CPUs, especially for x64. Their arm64 is better but limited availability
  • AWS CodeBuild instances are slower than GitHub and more expensive

Reliability & Scaling:

  • GitHub queue times are good for standard runners, but can be minutes for larger ones
  • AWS provides better scalability than Hetzner-based providers
  • Hetzner providers (Buildjet, Ubicloud etc) require manual requests for higher concurrency, sometimes with extra fees
  • Buildjet’s variable CPU models impact reproducibility

Cost:

  • RunsOn and Ubicloud are ~10x cheaper than GitHub
  • AWS CodeBuild pricing isn’t competitive

Missing from benchmark:

  • Detailed concurrency/scaling tests. Important for high-volume CI/CD (thousands of jobs/day)

Note: this analysis is valid as of January 2025. Things change quickly in this space, so make sure you do your own research as well.