Depot alternative: Sengi vs Depot for GitHub Actions runners

What is the best Depot alternative for GitHub Actions runners?

Sengi. Every job runs on an AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D desktop CPU boosting past 5 GHz, on bare metal with local NVMe, in a fresh VM for every job, and 2 vCPU jobs start on a pre-booted VM in 2 seconds. Builds finish up to 1.9× faster than on GitHub’s runners, for up to 74% less per build. Against Depot, every minute costs half: $0.003 against $0.006 at 2 vCPU, $0.006 against $0.012 at 4 vCPU and $0.012 against $0.024 at 8 vCPU, with no monthly plan and Docker layer caching included. The switch is one runs-on line.

Last checked October 23, 2026, against Depot's pricing page and GitHub Actions runner-type docs. Linux x64, USD, list prices per minute.

How do Sengi and Depot compare?

Both keep your CI in GitHub Actions and replace the machine behind runs-on. Here is where they differ.

Depot figures: Depot's pricing page and its GitHub Actions runner-type docs, checked October 23, 2026.

What does Sengi cost against Depot?

Half, at every size. Matched sizes, Ubuntu x64, per minute:

A team running 20,000 minutes a month at 4 vCPU pays $120 on Sengi against $240 at Depot's list rate, and Sengi has no plan fee on top. 3,000 minutes are included on Sengi every month. Work out your own month with the GitHub Actions cost calculator, or see Sengi runner pricing.

Depot vs Blacksmith vs Sengi: what does each charge?

Depot and Blacksmith are the two runner services most often compared. Here are both beside Sengi at matched sizes.

Sengi is the lowest of the three at every size. Sources: Depot's pricing page and runner-type docs; Blacksmith's pricing page; both checked October 23, 2026. See the full GitHub Actions runner comparison and Sengi vs Blacksmith.

How fast is Sengi?

Measured against GitHub’s runner of the same size on RunsOn’s open benchmark harness, run on Sengi October 9, 2026 at 4 vCPU: a production Docker image builds 1.9× faster at 74% less per build (7m34s against 14m36s), and Rust, TypeScript and Docker builds together run 1.8× faster at 72% less. Disk-bound steps get 15× the random-read speed of GitHub’s runner (296k against 19.6k IOPS). On the same 2 vCPU as GitHub’s ubuntu-latest, the Ryzen 9 7950X3D delivers up to 3× the multi-core and 1.65× the single-core CPU. More in faster GitHub Actions runners.

How do I switch from Depot to Sengi?

Change one line per job and merge. Your workflows stay GitHub Actions workflows.

jobs:
  build:
-   runs-on: depot-ubuntu-24.04-4
+   runs-on: sengi-standard-4-ubuntu-2404

depot-ubuntu-24.04 becomes sengi-standard-2-ubuntu-2404, -4 becomes sengi-standard-4-ubuntu-2404 and -8 becomes sengi-standard-8-ubuntu-2404; the depot-ubuntu-22.04 labels map the same way. For Docker builds on the runner, use docker/build-push-action with cache-from: type=gha and cache-to: type=gha,mode=max, and the layers stay cached on Sengi between runs: see Docker layer caching on Sengi.

Or give your coding agent one prompt: it finds every job Sengi can run, changes the label and opens the pull request. See how switching works. Switching back is one revert.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best Depot alternative for GitHub Actions runners?

Sengi. Every job runs on an AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D desktop CPU boosting past 5 GHz, on bare metal with local NVMe, in a fresh VM; 2 vCPU jobs start on a pre-booted VM in 2 seconds. Each minute costs half Depot's list price at every size, $0.003 against $0.006 at 2 vCPU, with no monthly plan, and Docker layer caching is included.

How does Depot pricing compare with Sengi?

Depot lists $0.006 a minute for its 2 vCPU, 8 GB runner, $0.012 for 4 vCPU and $0.024 for 8 vCPU, on a plan from $20 a month. Sengi charges $0.003, $0.006 and $0.012 for the same sizes: half Depot's rate at every size, with no subscription and no minimum.

Depot vs Blacksmith: which costs less per minute?

Blacksmith, at $0.004 a minute for 2 vCPU against Depot's $0.006. Sengi costs less than both at every size: $0.003 for 2 vCPU, $0.006 for 4 vCPU and $0.012 for 8 vCPU, against $0.004, $0.008 and $0.016 on Blacksmith and $0.006, $0.012 and $0.024 on Depot.

Does Sengi include a cache like Depot?

Yes. On Sengi, docker/build-push-action with type=gha, actions/cache and the setup actions' caches are all served from Sengi's own cache with no workflow changes and no per-GB charge. Depot includes 25 GB of cache on its $20 plan and 250 GB on its $200 plan, then charges $0.20 per GB per month.

Which Sengi label replaces depot-ubuntu-24.04?

sengi-standard-2-ubuntu-2404, the same 2 vCPU and 8 GB. depot-ubuntu-24.04-4 becomes sengi-standard-4-ubuntu-2404 and depot-ubuntu-24.04-8 becomes sengi-standard-8-ubuntu-2404. The depot-ubuntu-22.04 labels map to the same Sengi labels.

Do I need a plan or a seat count on Sengi?

No. Sengi has no subscription, no seats and no monthly minimum. You pay for the job minutes your workflows run, and boot and teardown are never billed.