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GitHub Actions Runners Benchmark

This page offers a detailed comparison of CPU speeds and queuing times for various providers of GitHub Actions runners. The aim is to assist in identifying the best GitHub Actions runner provider for your projects, based on your specific needs.

Providers included in the benchmark:

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.

Note that x64 and arm64 CPU speed numbers are not directly comparable.

An analysis is provided below the benchmark results. Note that this benchmark is published by RunsOn, but I try my best to provide a fair comparison with the details available.

Results

x64 runners

Provider Processor CPU speed
(p50 | p95) 		Queue time (s)
(p50 | p95) 		Infra Samples
Namespace (2x cheaper)
  • nscloud-ubuntu-22.04-amd64-2x8
 AMD EPYC (x86_64) 3898 | 4102 21 | 24 Hetzner Online 34
Blacksmith (2x cheaper)
  • blacksmith-2vcpu-ubuntu-2204
 AMD EPYC (x86_64) 3327 | 3566 23 | 36 Hetzner Online 34
Cirrus (fixed price per runner)
  • ghcr.io/cirruslabs/ubuntu-runner-amd64:22.04-md
 Intel Xeon Gold 5412U (x86_64) 3240 | 3244 22 | 24 Hetzner Online 34
Buildjet (2x cheaper)
  • buildjet-2vcpu-ubuntu-2204
  • buildjet-16vcpu-ubuntu-2204
 AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D 16-Core Processor (x86_64) 3749 | 3951 24 | 25 Hetzner Online 22
Buildjet (2x cheaper)
  • buildjet-2vcpu-ubuntu-2204
  • buildjet-16vcpu-ubuntu-2204
 AMD Ryzen 9 5950X 16-Core Processor (x86_64) 3267 | 3465 25 | 30 Hetzner Online 40
RunsOn (10x cheaper)
  • runs-on,family=r7iz
 Intel Xeon Gold 6455B (x86_64) 3155 | 3161 31 | 34 Amazon.com 33
RunsOn (10x cheaper)
  • runs-on,family=c7a
 AMD EPYC 9R14 (x86_64) 2901 | 2904 30 | 36 Amazon.com 33
RunsOn (10x cheaper)
  • runs-on,family=m7i-flex
 Intel Xeon Platinum 8488C (x86_64) 2835 | 2999 32 | 38 Amazon.com 33
Warpbuild (2x cheaper)
  • warp-ubuntu-2204-x64-2x
  • warp-ubuntu-2204-x64-16x
 AMD EPYC 9R14 (x86_64) 2902 | 2904 16 | 59 Amazon.com 32
Ubicloud (10x cheaper)
  • ubicloud-standard-2
  • ubicloud-standard-16
 AMD EPYC 9454P 48-Core Processor (x86_64) 2582 | 2598 18 | 43 Hetzner Online 61
GitHub
  • github-16cpu-x64
  • ubuntu-latest
  • github-16cpu
 AMD EPYC 7763 64-Core Processor (x86_64) 2302 | 2401 12 | 15 Microsoft Azure 68

arm64 runners

Provider Processor CPU speed
(p50 | p95) 		Queue time (s)
(p50 | p95) 		Infra Samples
RunsOn (10x cheaper)
  • runs-on,family=m7g
 (aarch64) 1546 | 1552 32 | 46 Amazon.com 31
Warpbuild (2x cheaper)
  • warp-ubuntu-latest-arm64-2x
 (aarch64) 1546 | 1551 12 | 13 Amazon.com 22
Cirrus (fixed price per runner)
  • ghcr.io/cirruslabs/ubuntu-runner-arm64:22.04-md
 Neoverse-N1 (aarch64) 1326 | 1327 22 | 24 Hetzner Online GmbH 32
GitHub
  • github-2cpu-arm64
 Neoverse-N1 (aarch64) 1321 | 1324 13 | 14 Microsoft Azure 19
Ubicloud (10x cheaper)
  • ubicloud-standard-2-arm
 Neoverse-N1 (aarch64) 1319 | 1322 17 | 19 Hetzner Online 32
Buildjet (2x cheaper)
  • buildjet-2vcpu-ubuntu-2204-arm
 Neoverse-N1 (aarch64) 1321 | 1325 38 | 41 Hetzner Online 32
Namespace (2x cheaper)
  • nscloud-ubuntu-22.04-arm64-2x8
 Neoverse-N1 (aarch64) 1315 | 1319 24 | 25 Hetzner Online 32

Analysis

What are the best providers for GitHub Actions runners?

The best provider for GitHub Actions runners will heavily depend on your primary requirement:

  • Fastest machines: Buildjet, Namespace, Cirrus (x64, arm64, macOS), and Blacksmith (x64 only) are good choices. Be aware that they are hosted at Hetzner, with variable performance for the network speeds. Buildjet also doesn’t guarantee you to end up on one of their fastest runners.

  • Cheapest pricing: RunsOn, Ubicloud, or Cirrus (if ok with limited concurrency) are the best options. Be aware that Ubicloud has a slightly lower CPU speed and somewhat variable queue times for x64 (but improving).

  • Low queue times: GitHub has the best queue time, and all third-parties are good on that front.

  • On-premise deployment: RunsOn is the only solution that is entirely hosted in your AWS infrastructure, with no third-party centralized service.

  • All rounder: RunsOn is a good option, due to top-of-the-line CPU speeds (especially ARM64), cheapest pricing, stable queue times across x64 and arm64, and the ability to deploy on-premise. If you need MacOS machines, Cirrus or Warpbuild are good choices. If you cannot use AWS and want the cheapest prices, try Ubicloud.

When should I use GitHub’s official Action runners?

GitHub’s official Action runners are best used for short-lived jobs or those that do not require fast CPUs. They boot quickly, making them ideal for smaller, less intensive tasks. However, for larger or more CPU-intensive jobs, consider alternative runners due to the slower performance and higher costs of GitHub’s larger runners.

About those benchmarks

Benchmarks are performed using the Passmark benchmarking tool ↗, using the CPU Single Threaded metric.

The table displays the last 30 days of data, before the last updated date.

Last updated: