Actuated Alternatives for GitHub Actions in 2026
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Teams leave Actuated when they tire of supplying and running the servers themselves. The alternatives that remove that work are compiler.dev, WarpBuild, Blacksmith and Namespace. RunsOn and Cirrus Runners are the closest if you want a flat or owned-infrastructure cost. This is a buyer's list; prices were checked in October 2026.
Why teams look for alternatives to Actuated
Actuated gives unlimited minutes, CPUs and concurrency on servers you provide, running each job in a microVM. That is a strong model for Arm, bare metal and data that must stay in your network. The reasons people move:
- You provide the hardware. Per its pricing page, the subscription is $150 a month for the first server and $125 for each additional one, on top of whatever bare metal or nested-virtualization hosts cost you.
- You do the capacity planning. Concurrency is bounded by the servers you bought, so a busy week can queue.
- Support is community email on the self-service plan.
- Maintenance falls on you: kernel, hosts, disks and monitoring.
- You want per-minute billing, so cost follows usage and idle servers do not count.
- Cold caches. A fresh microVM per job is clean, but you must design caching yourself.
Strengths to keep in mind before leaving: unlimited usage at a flat price, microVM isolation, and control of where code runs.
Quick picks
| Alternative | Best for | Pricing model | Link |
|---|---|---|---|
| compiler.dev | No hardware, one line, fresh VM per job | Prepaid credit, no expiry | compiler.dev/pricing |
| WarpBuild | Managed runners, Arm, macOS | Per minute | warpbuild.com |
| Blacksmith | Free minutes, co-located cache | Per minute plus add-ons | blacksmith.sh |
| Namespace | Many shapes | Pay as you go or plans | namespace.so |
| RunsOn | Your own AWS, no per-minute markup | Annual license plus AWS | runs-on.com |
| Cirrus Runners | Flat cost, nothing to host | $150 per runner per month | cirrus-runners.app |
The alternatives
compiler.dev
You provide nothing. One line, runs-on: [self-hosted, Linux, compiler-ci], runs jobs on a fresh VM that is deleted after the job, 8 vCPU / 16 GB at $0.012/min, with 2 to 32 vCPU sizes available. Credit is prepaid and never expires; if it runs out, jobs run on your original runners. Tradeoffs: no Arm, no Windows, and macOS is early access. It will not give you unlimited minutes at a flat price. See the benchmarks.
WarpBuild
Public per-size prices: x64 $0.004/min (2 vCPU) to $0.064/min (32 vCPU), Arm from $0.003/min, macOS M4 Pro from $0.08/min. Good if Arm was why you chose Actuated. Cache storage is extra at $0.20 per GB per month.
Blacksmith
Free 3,000 minutes a month, then per minute (2 vCPU x64 $0.004, Arm $0.0025). Windows and macOS too. Bigger sizes are not on its pricing page.
Namespace
Linux x64 from $0.003 to $0.048 per minute pay as you go. Team ($100/month) and Business ($250/month) plans include prepaid minutes at lower rates.
RunsOn
Closest in spirit if control matters. It runs in your AWS account: EC2 by the second, no markup, license from EUR 300 a year. You still run AWS, but not the hosts.
Cirrus Runners
$150 per runner per month, unlimited minutes. Nothing to host. Each runner is one concurrent job: Linux x86 16 vCPU / 48 GB, Linux arm64 8 vCPU / 24 GB, macOS 4 M4 Pro cores / 16 GB. It is the nearest managed equivalent to Actuated's flat price.
How to choose
- Work out your current monthly cost: Actuated fee plus server cost, plus the time you spend maintaining it.
- Convert your minutes to per-minute cost with the cost calculator. If minutes are low, per-minute wins; if they are high and steady, flat wins.
- List hard requirements: Arm, bare metal, private network access. Cross out providers that cannot do them.
- Read the self-hosted vs GitHub-hosted guide for the tradeoffs that apply either way.
Migration notes
Actuated jobs usually use a label such as actuated-4cpu-8gb. Replace per job:
jobs:
build:
# was: runs-on: actuated-4cpu-8gb
runs-on: [self-hosted, Linux, compiler-ci]If you rely on Arm or nested virtualization (for example running KVM inside the job), confirm the new provider supports it before moving. Private-network access is another check, since a hosted runner lives outside your network. Caches stored on your servers do not carry over. You can keep Actuated for those jobs and move the rest, since runs-on is per job. For the full comparison with compiler.dev, see Actuated vs compiler.dev. The provider ranking has more.
FAQ
Is Actuated cheaper than hosted runners?
It can be at high, steady volume, because minutes are unlimited. Add the cost of the servers you provide.
Which alternative needs no servers?
compiler.dev, WarpBuild, Blacksmith, Namespace and Cirrus Runners all host the machines.
Which alternative keeps a flat price?
Cirrus Runners at $150 per runner per month, or RunsOn with its annual license (plus AWS cost).
Can I move only some jobs?
Yes, runs-on is per job.
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