What is RunsOn used for?

RunsOn is a self-hosted GitHub Actions runner service for AWS that launches a fresh EC2 instance per job and scales back to zero. It is a good fit for reducing GitHub-hosted runner costs, running CI on GPU or high-frequency CPUs and replacing an Actions Runner Controller cluster.

Is RunsOn open source?

Yes. RunsOn is open source under the MIT licence. Its source code is on GitHub at runs-on/runs-on.

Yes. RunsOn is open source, so the software itself is free to use. Paid plans are also available, starting at €300 per year.

Can I self-host RunsOn?

Yes. RunsOn can be self-hosted on your own server or infrastructure.

What is RunsOn an alternative to?

RunsOn is an open-source alternative to Blacksmith, Depot and Namespace. Other open-source alternatives to Depot include Earthly and NativeLink.

Is RunsOn actively maintained?

Yes. The most recent commit to RunsOn was on 2 October 2026, and the latest release is v3.4.0, published on 2 October 2026. The project has 1.4k stars on GitHub.

RunsOn: open-source alternative to Blacksmith, Depot

About RunsOn

RunsOn is a control plane for self-hosted GitHub Actions runners on AWS. For every workflow job it launches an isolated EC2 instance with a runner image compatible with GitHub's own Linux images, so existing actions and toolchains keep working while the compute runs in your own AWS account.

You keep control of IAM, networking, images, caches and the AWS bill, and the project says there is no per-minute markup, only spot or on-demand EC2 rates. Setup is done with a CloudFormation stack or Terraform module, runners scale back to zero when idle, and you can pick high-frequency instance families or GPU types. It is presented as an alternative to Actions Runner Controller without needing a Kubernetes cluster.

The repository is licensed under MIT and is meant to run inside your AWS account, with documentation and a cost calculator on the project website. Its topics mention on-premise and self-hosted runners as well. It suits engineering teams with heavy GitHub Actions usage who want to cut CI spend and gain more control over runner hardware.

Key features

Fresh EC2 runner for every job
Compatible with GitHub Linux runner images
CloudFormation or Terraform deployment
Spot and on-demand instance support
Scales to zero when idle
Runs inside your own AWS account

Good fit for

→Reducing GitHub-hosted runner costs
→Running CI on GPU or high-frequency CPUs
→Replacing an Actions Runner Controller cluster

Tags: github-actions; ci; aws; ec2; self-hosted-runners; devops; cloudformation; spot-instances; terraform

RunsOn: questions and answers

What is RunsOn used for?: RunsOn is a self-hosted GitHub Actions runner service for AWS that launches a fresh EC2 instance per job and scales back to zero. It is a good fit for reducing GitHub-hosted runner costs, running CI on GPU or high-frequency CPUs and replacing an Actions Runner Controller cluster.
Is RunsOn open source?: Yes. RunsOn is open source under the MIT licence. Its source code is on GitHub at runs-on/runs-on.
Is RunsOn free?: Yes. RunsOn is open source, so the software itself is free to use. Paid plans are also available, starting at €300 per year.
Can I self-host RunsOn?: Yes. RunsOn can be self-hosted on your own server or infrastructure.
What is RunsOn an alternative to?: RunsOn is an open-source alternative to Blacksmith, Depot and Namespace. Other open-source alternatives to Depot include Earthly and NativeLink.
Is RunsOn actively maintained?: Yes. The most recent commit to RunsOn was on 2 October 2026, and the latest release is v3.4.0, published on 2 October 2026. The project has 1.4k stars on GitHub.