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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)
  • nscloud-ubuntu-22.04-amd64-2x8
 3918 | 4246 14 | 18 AMD EPYC (x86_64) Deft Hosting (might vary) 22
Blacksmith (2x cheaper)
  • blacksmith-2vcpu-ubuntu-2204
 3831 | 4026 22 | 25 AMD EPYC (x86_64) Hetzner Online 22
Buildjet (2x cheaper)
  • buildjet-2vcpu-ubuntu-2204
 3335 | 3470 23 | 29 AMD Ryzen 9 5950X 16-Core Processor (x86_64) Hetzner Online 16
Cirrus (fixed price per runner)
  • ghcr.io/cirruslabs/ubuntu-runner-amd64:22.04-md
 3169 | 3226 23 | 32 Intel Xeon Gold 5412U (x86_64) Hetzner Online GmbH 22
RunsOn (10x cheaper)
  • runs-on,family=r7iz
 3074 | 3085 25 | 32 Intel Xeon Gold 6455B (x86_64) Amazon.com 18
RunsOn (10x cheaper)
  • runs-on,family=c7a
 2883 | 2886 26 | 34 AMD EPYC 9R14 (x86_64) Amazon.com 18
RunsOn (10x cheaper)
  • runs-on,family=m7i-flex
 2733 | 2995 27 | 96 Intel Xeon Platinum 8488C (x86_64) Amazon.com 18
Ubicloud (10x cheaper)
  • ubicloud-standard-2
 2932 | 2975 15 | 37 AMD EPYC 9454P 48-Core Processor (x86_64) Hetzner Online 22
GitHub
  • github-16cpu-x64
 2394 | 2400 8 | 83 AMD EPYC 7763 64-Core Processor (x86_64) (custom) Microsoft Azure 22
GitHub
  • ubuntu-22.04
 2291 | 2299 9 | 11 AMD EPYC 7763 64-Core Processor (x86_64) Microsoft Azure 22
AWS CodeBuild
  • codebuild-ubuntu-7.0-small
  • codebuild-ubuntu-7.0-medium
  • codebuild-ubuntu-7.0-large
 2132 | 2153 29 | 33 Intel Xeon Platinum 8275CL CPU @ 3.00GHz (x86_64) Amazon.com 49
Warpbuild (2x cheaper)
  • N/A
 N/A N/A N/A Amazon.com 0
Depot (2x cheaper)
  • 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)
  • runs-on,family=r8g
 1933 | 1936 26 | 30 Neoverse-V2 (aarch64) Amazon.com 19
RunsOn (10x cheaper)
  • runs-on,family=m7g
 1542 | 1547 27 | 36 (aarch64) Amazon.com 19
Cirrus (fixed price per runner)
  • ghcr.io/cirruslabs/ubuntu-runner-arm64:22.04-md
 1325 | 1326 19 | 25 Neoverse-N1 (aarch64) Hetzner Online GmbH 23
Buildjet (2x cheaper)
  • buildjet-2vcpu-ubuntu-2204-arm
 1324 | 1325 35 | 39 Neoverse-N1 (aarch64) Hetzner Online 23
GitHub
  • github-2cpu-arm64
 1317 | 1322 7 | 77 Neoverse-N1 (aarch64) Microsoft Azure 22
Blacksmith (2x cheaper)
  • blacksmith-2vcpu-ubuntu-2204-arm
 1318 | 1322 23 | 27 Neoverse-N1 (aarch64) Hetzner Online 23
Ubicloud (10x cheaper)
  • ubicloud-standard-2-arm
 1314 | 1321 14 | 16 Neoverse-N1 (aarch64) Hetzner Online 23
Namespace (2x cheaper)
  • nscloud-ubuntu-22.04-arm64-2x8
 1253 | 1272 17 | 17 (aarch64) Deft Hosting (might vary) 2
Warpbuild (2x cheaper)
  • N/A
 N/A N/A N/A Amazon.com 0
Depot (2x cheaper)
  • 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.