CarbonRunner vs GitHub Actions
Discover why teams are switching from GitHub Actions to CarbonRunner. 90% lower emissions, 25% cheaper, 100% carbon-aware, 256 CPU runners. Smarter, greener CI/CD.
Looking for a GitHub Actions Alternative? Here's Why Teams Are Moving to CarbonRunner
Whether it's "decarbonising your tech stack", "saving money" or "improving performance" there are loads of reasons to shop around for your CI/CD.
GitHub Actions have a been a defacto standard for sometime now. Easy to install, great docs, but becoming increasingly out-dated, slow and expensive. There's been huge investment in CI/CD lately most noteably from the YC. It's the best time more than ever to switch up and find a CI/CD provider.
If you're running GitHub Actions and feeling frustrated with slow runners, spiralling costs, and limited control; you're not alone.
Why GitHub Actions Falls Short
GitHub Actions is a great choice for public repositories and small teams; especially when you value simplicity and tight integration. It just works, and for small workloads, it makes sense.
But as soon as you need bigger runners, arm64 runners, or GPU, the cracks start to show. Costs rise fast, build times lag behind, and flexibility becomes limited. Here’s what you’ll quickly notice as you scale.
- High Costs: GitHub Actions is among the most expensive CI/CD options, with costs increasing sharply as your team or workflow grows.
- Slow Runners: GitHub uses older, underpowered CPUs, making your jobs slower by default.
- Limited Concurrency: Scaling concurrency is expensive and can get capped quickly.
- Not Carbon-Aware: All jobs run blindly, regardless of regional emissions or efficiency.
- Limited regions: All jobs run blindly, regardless of regional emissions or efficiency.
Meet CarbonRunner: Fast, Affordable, Sustainable CI/CD
Compare the essential features of GitHub Actions vs CarbonRunner...
what really matters for your pipeline.
| Feature | GitHub Actions | CarbonRunner |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Expensive, especially for private repos | 25% Cheaper |
| Performance | Slow CPUs (especially arm64) | 25% Cheaper |
| Instance Sizes | 2 - 96 vCPU | 1 - 384 vCPU |
| Runner Types | x64, arm64, Windows | x64, Mac, Windows, GPUs |
| Free minutes | ✅ Public, Private 2k - 50k | ✅ 3000 |
| Region Preferencing Select regions to run your workloads in. | ❌ Not supported | ✅ Multiple regions |
| Multiple Clouds | ❌ Not supported | ✅ AWS, Azure and GCP |
| Carbon-Aware Scheduling | ❌ Not supported | ✅ 90% lower emissions |
| Infra Control | ❌ None | ✅ Fully self-hosted in your cloud accounts |
Key Benefits of CarbonRunner
CarbonRunner is designed to fix all of those frustrations.
- Massive Performance Gains: Speed up your workflows with faster CPUs and larger runners.
- Real Cost Savings: Cut your CI/CD bill by 25%+ without sacrificing quality.
- Full Cloud Control: Deploy runners in your own AWS, GCP, or Azure accounts.
- Unlimited Scaling: No concurrency caps. Spin up as many runners as you need.
- Low-Carbon by Default: CarbonRunner automatically shifts jobs to the greenest regions — without you lifting a finger.
- Better for Modern Workflows: Native support for arm64, GPUs, Windows, and Docker caching.
Why Developers Are Switching
CarbonRunner is ideal for:
- Teams frustrated with GitHub Actions costs and speed
- Companies scaling workloads across arm64 and GPU
- Developers wanting more transparency and control
- Organisations building climate-conscious software
Calculate The Impact Of your GitHub Actions!
Use our simple GitHub Actions calculator to estimate the emissions from your workflows based on runner type, duration, and location.