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:
- GitHub (Azure)
- RunsOn (AWS on-premise)
- Warpbuild (AWS & GCP)
- Buildjet (Hetzner)
- Blacksmith (Hetzner)
- Namespace (Hetzner)
- Ubicloud (Hetzner)
- Cirrus (Hetzner)
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)
| AMD EPYC (x86_64) | 3898 | 4102 | 21 | 24 | Hetzner Online | 34 |
Blacksmith (2x cheaper)
| AMD EPYC (x86_64) | 3327 | 3566 | 23 | 36 | Hetzner Online | 34 |
Cirrus (fixed price per runner)
| Intel Xeon Gold 5412U (x86_64) | 3240 | 3244 | 22 | 24 | Hetzner Online | 34 |
Buildjet (2x cheaper)
| AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D 16-Core Processor (x86_64) | 3749 | 3951 | 24 | 25 | Hetzner Online | 22 |
Buildjet (2x cheaper)
| AMD Ryzen 9 5950X 16-Core Processor (x86_64) | 3267 | 3465 | 25 | 30 | Hetzner Online | 40 |
RunsOn (10x cheaper)
| Intel Xeon Gold 6455B (x86_64) | 3155 | 3161 | 31 | 34 | Amazon.com | 33 |
RunsOn (10x cheaper)
| AMD EPYC 9R14 (x86_64) | 2901 | 2904 | 30 | 36 | Amazon.com | 33 |
RunsOn (10x cheaper)
| Intel Xeon Platinum 8488C (x86_64) | 2835 | 2999 | 32 | 38 | Amazon.com | 33 |
Warpbuild (2x cheaper)
| AMD EPYC 9R14 (x86_64) | 2902 | 2904 | 16 | 59 | Amazon.com | 32 |
Ubicloud (10x cheaper)
| AMD EPYC 9454P 48-Core Processor (x86_64) | 2582 | 2598 | 18 | 43 | Hetzner Online | 61 |
GitHub
| 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)
| (aarch64) | 1546 | 1552 | 32 | 46 | Amazon.com | 31 |
Warpbuild (2x cheaper)
| (aarch64) | 1546 | 1551 | 12 | 13 | Amazon.com | 22 |
Cirrus (fixed price per runner)
| Neoverse-N1 (aarch64) | 1326 | 1327 | 22 | 24 | Hetzner Online GmbH | 32 |
GitHub
| Neoverse-N1 (aarch64) | 1321 | 1324 | 13 | 14 | Microsoft Azure | 19 |
Ubicloud (10x cheaper)
| Neoverse-N1 (aarch64) | 1319 | 1322 | 17 | 19 | Hetzner Online | 32 |
Buildjet (2x cheaper)
| Neoverse-N1 (aarch64) | 1321 | 1325 | 38 | 41 | Hetzner Online | 32 |
Namespace (2x cheaper)
| 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: