# Alternatives to CircleCI

> 20 ways to run GitHub Actions jobs instead of CircleCI, each at its vendor's list price checked 17 October 2026 and ranked by what a month of CI costs. Staying with CircleCI is on the list too.

At 5,000 minutes a month, the cheapest macOS option is one machine you already have on Buildhound Team at $24 and the cheapest Linux option is Ubicloud at $6.25. Staying with CircleCI costs $600 for macOS and $30 for Linux.

## A month of macOS CI

At 5,000 minutes of macOS CI a month, one machine you already have on Buildhound Team costs least, $24; staying with CircleCI costs $600. List prices for private repositories, before free minutes or credits on any side, cheapest first at 5,000 minutes. Public repositories run free on GitHub-hosted standard runners and on Buildhound. Runner sizes differ, as each note says, and a bigger runner may finish the same work in fewer minutes, so a row is the price of the same minutes, not of the same work. One machine runs these minutes a job at a time.

| Option | 2,000 minutes | 5,000 minutes | 10,000 minutes |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Buildhound Personal (one machine you already have, on a personal account) | $10 | $10 | $10 |
| Buildhound Team (one machine you already have, in an organisation) | $24 | $24 | $24 |
| [Xcode Cloud](https://developer.apple.com/xcode-cloud/get-started/), checked 16 October 2026 (sold by the hour) | $49.99 | $49.99 | $99.99 |
| [MacRun](https://macrun.dev/pricing), checked 16 October 2026 (sold by the Mac) | $139 | $139 | $139 |
| [Manzanita](https://manzanita.run/), checked 16 October 2026 (sold by the runner) | $149 | $149 | $149 |
| [Bitrise Build Hub](https://bitrise.io/pricing), checked 17 October 2026 (M4 Large, 5 CPU, 14 GB, sold in monthly tiers) | $90 | $180 | $300 |
| [Namespace](https://namespace.so/pricing), checked 16 October 2026 (4 vCPU, list price) | $120 | $300 | $600 |
| [GitHub-hosted runners](https://docs.github.com/en/billing/reference/actions-runner-pricing), checked 15 October 2026 (`macos-latest`, 3 vCPU, list price) | $124 | $310 | $620 |
| [Blacksmith](https://www.blacksmith.sh/pricing), checked 16 October 2026 (6 vCPU, list price) | $160 | $400 | $800 |
| [Depot](https://depot.dev/docs/github-actions/runner-types), checked 16 October 2026 (8 vCPU, list price, at least the $200 plan) | $200 | $400 | $800 |
| [WarpBuild](https://www.warpbuild.com/pricing), checked 16 October 2026 (6 vCPU, list price) | $160 | $400 | $800 |
| [Codemagic](https://codemagic.io/pricing/), checked 17 October 2026 (Mac mini M2, list price) | $190 | $475 | $950 |
| [CircleCI](https://circleci.com/pricing/price-list/), checked 17 October 2026, the option to stay (M4 Pro Medium, 6 CPU, 28 GB, list price, at least the $15 plan) | $240 | $600 | $1,200 |
| [Buildkite](https://buildkite.com/pricing), checked 17 October 2026 (Hosted M4 Medium, 6 vCPU, list price, at least the $30 plan) | $240 | $600 | $1,200 |

## A month of Linux CI

At 5,000 minutes of Linux CI a month, Ubicloud costs least, $6.25; staying with CircleCI costs $30. List prices for private repositories, before free minutes or credits on any side, cheapest first at 5,000 minutes. Public repositories run free on GitHub-hosted standard runners and on Buildhound. Runner sizes differ, as each note says, and a bigger runner may finish the same work in fewer minutes, so a row is the price of the same minutes, not of the same work. One machine runs these minutes a job at a time.

| Option | 2,000 minutes | 5,000 minutes | 10,000 minutes |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| [Ubicloud](https://www.ubicloud.com/docs/about/pricing), checked 16 October 2026 (2 vCPU, list price) | $2.50 | $6.25 | $12.50 |
| Buildhound Personal (one machine you already have, on a personal account) | $10 | $10 | $10 |
| [Namespace](https://namespace.so/pricing), checked 16 October 2026 (2 vCPU, list price) | $6 | $15 | $30 |
| [Blacksmith](https://www.blacksmith.sh/pricing), checked 16 October 2026 (2 vCPU, list price) | $8 | $20 | $40 |
| [WarpBuild](https://www.warpbuild.com/pricing), checked 16 October 2026 (2 vCPU, list price) | $8 | $20 | $40 |
| Buildhound Team (one machine you already have, in an organisation) | $24 | $24 | $24 |
| [AWS CodeBuild](https://aws.amazon.com/codebuild/pricing/), checked 17 October 2026 (Linux Small, 2 vCPU, 4 GiB, list price) | $10 | $25 | $50 |
| [GitHub-hosted runners](https://docs.github.com/en/billing/reference/actions-runner-pricing), checked 15 October 2026 (`ubuntu-latest`, 2 vCPU, list price) | $12 | $30 | $60 |
| [Depot](https://depot.dev/docs/github-actions/runner-types), checked 16 October 2026 (2 vCPU, list price, at least the $20 plan) | $20 | $30 | $60 |
| [CircleCI](https://circleci.com/pricing/price-list/), checked 17 October 2026, the option to stay (Docker Medium, 2 CPU, 4 GB, list price) | $12 | $30 | $60 |
| [Buildkite](https://buildkite.com/pricing), checked 17 October 2026 (Hosted Small, 2 vCPU, list price, at least the $30 plan) | $30 | $40 | $80 |
| [Bitrise Build Hub](https://bitrise.io/pricing), checked 17 October 2026 (Linux Medium, 4 vCPU, 16 GB, sold in monthly tiers) | $45 | $90 | $180 |
| [Codemagic](https://codemagic.io/pricing/), checked 17 October 2026 (Linux X2, list price) | $90 | $225 | $450 |

## Stay with CircleCI when

- Your team already runs CircleCI.
- You want its orbs, test splitting and insights.
- Nobody on the team has a machine to spare.

## A machine you already have fits when

- Your CI already lives in GitHub Actions.
- You want a flat price per machine instead of credits.
- You have a recent Mac and want macOS jobs off the per-minute meter.

## Questions

### What is the cheapest alternative to CircleCI for macOS CI?

At 5,000 minutes a month, one machine you already have on Buildhound Team at $24, then Xcode Cloud at $49.99, at list prices for private repositories checked 15 and 17 October 2026. Xcode Cloud is Apple's own CI rather than GitHub Actions.

### Is CircleCI cheaper than GitHub-hosted runners for macOS?

No. At 5,000 minutes a month CircleCI costs $600 and GitHub-hosted $310 at list price.

### What is the cheapest alternative to CircleCI for Linux CI?

At 5,000 minutes a month, Ubicloud at $6.25, then Namespace at $15, at list prices for private repositories checked 15 and 17 October 2026.

### Is CircleCI cheaper than GitHub-hosted runners for Linux?

They cost the same. At 5,000 minutes a month CircleCI costs $30 and GitHub-hosted $30 at list price.

## Every alternative, by kind

### Machines you already have

A flat price per machine, never per minute, with GitHub-hosted as the fallback.

- [Buildhound](https://buildhound.sh): Clean runners on machines you already have. $24 a machine a month on Team.

### Hosted runners

Someone else's machines.

- [GitHub-hosted runners](https://buildhound.sh/compare/github-hosted.md): GitHub's own machines, billed by the minute. $0.062 a macOS minute.
- [Blacksmith](https://buildhound.sh/compare/blacksmith.md): Hosted runners on bare metal, by the minute. $0.08 a macOS minute.
- [Depot](https://buildhound.sh/compare/depot.md): Hosted runners on AWS, sold in monthly plans. $20 a month for 2,000 minutes.
- [WarpBuild](https://buildhound.sh/compare/warpbuild.md): Hosted runners by the minute, or in your cloud. $0.004 a Linux minute.
- [Namespace](https://buildhound.sh/compare/namespace.md): Hosted runners by the minute or a monthly plan. $0.06 a macOS minute, pay as you go.
- [Ubicloud](https://buildhound.sh/compare/ubicloud.md): Low-cost hosted Linux runners, by the minute. $0.00125 a Linux minute.
- [Vercel Daemons](https://buildhound.sh/compare/vercel-daemons.md): Runner containers on Vercel, in public beta. No price published in the beta.
- [Bitrise Build Hub](https://buildhound.sh/compare/bitrise.md): Hosted Mac and Linux runners for GitHub Actions, in monthly tiers. $15 a month and up.

### Runners in your own cloud

Your cloud account's machines, some with a licence or a platform fee.

- [RunsOn](https://buildhound.sh/compare/runs-on.md): Runners in your own AWS account, for a yearly licence. €300 a year and up, plus your AWS bill.
- [Cirun](https://buildhound.sh/compare/cirun.md): Runners in your own cloud, for a platform fee. $29 a month for 3 private repositories.
- [AWS CodeBuild](https://buildhound.sh/compare/aws-codebuild.md): GitHub Actions runners in your AWS account, by the build minute. $0.005 a Linux Small build minute.

### macOS only

Apple's own CI, and Macs rented by the month.

- [Xcode Cloud](https://buildhound.sh/compare/xcode-cloud.md): Apple's own CI for Apple platforms, by the hour. 25 hours free a month, then from $49.99.
- [Manzanita](https://buildhound.sh/compare/manzanita.md): macOS runners rented by the month, a VM per job. $149 a runner a month.
- [MacRun](https://buildhound.sh/compare/macrun.md): A whole Mac mini rented by the month. $139 a Mac a month.

### Other CI services

A different CI system with its own configuration, not GitHub Actions.

- [Codemagic](https://buildhound.sh/compare/codemagic.md): Mobile CI with its own workflow file, by the minute or a yearly plan. $0.095 a Mac mini M2 minute.
- [Buildkite](https://buildhound.sh/compare/buildkite.md): Pipelines on your own agents or its hosted machines. $0.12 a hosted M4 Medium minute.

### Your own machines

Other ways to run jobs on hardware you have.

- [ushr](https://buildhound.sh/compare/ushr.md): Open-source runners on your own machines, by host. Free for one host, then $49 for 3.
- [Actions Runner Controller](https://buildhound.sh/compare/actions-runner-controller.md): GitHub's Kubernetes operator for self-hosted runners, free. Free software, on a cluster you run.
- [GitHub's own self-hosted runner](https://buildhound.sh/docs/why-not-a-plain-runner.md): GitHub's free runner, registered and kept up by hand. $0, and your time.

Buildhound has no referral agreement with any vendor on this page. Source: https://buildhound.sh/alternatives/circleci.