Runloft vs RunsOn
RunsOn runs GitHub Actions runners inside your own AWS account: you pay AWS for the instances and RunsOn a yearly license. Runloft is fully managed, so there is no AWS account, stack or quota to look after.
| Feature | RunsOn | Runloft |
|---|---|---|
| Where jobs run | EC2 instances in your AWS account | Our microVMs, one per job |
| Linux, 2 vCPU, per minute | about $0.0009 on spot, paid to AWS | $0.003 |
| License | From €300 per year for commercial use, free for non-commercial | None |
| Setup | Deploy a CloudFormation stack, then change runs-on | Install a GitHub App, change runs-on |
| Who operates it | You: AWS quotas, spot interruptions, upgrades | We do |
RunsOn prices from runs-on.com/pricing, October 2026; the AWS rate is the spot price RunsOn lists for m8a.large and varies by region. Runloft prices are on the pricing page.
When RunsOn is the better fit
- You already run on AWS and want jobs inside your VPC, next to your data, at AWS spot prices.
- Your volume is large enough that a yearly license plus spot instances beats any per-minute price.
When Runloft is
- You do not want to own an AWS account, stack and quotas just for CI.
- Your volume is small or spiky, and a few thousand free minutes a month cover much of it.
- You want per-second billing and spend limits without building them on top of AWS billing.
Trying it takes one line
Install the GitHub App on one repository and change one job. If it is not for you, change the line back; there is nothing else to undo.
All comparisons. Others: GitHub-hosted runners, Blacksmith, Depot, Ubicloud, WarpBuild, Namespace
.github/workflows/ci.yml
jobs:
build:
- runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+ runs-on: runloft-ubuntu-24.04