Ephemeral Tart VMs
Each build runs in a fresh Tart-spawned macOS VM. Hypervisor isolation. The VM is destroyed at job exit.
iOS build CI
Mac builds at $0.04 / minute. No lease. No minimum.
GitHub Actions Mac is $0.08 / minute. Bitrise and Codemagic start at $0.10. AWS EC2 Mac is $26 minimum per session. iogrid is half the cheapest no-commit option, with zero floor.
Why home Macs work for CI
Apple Silicon first
M1, M2, M3 providers preferred. Faster compiles than data-center Intel Macs.
Latest Xcode
Latest 3 Xcode versions live in our pre-baked Tart base images. Older versions on request.
GitHub Actions runner
Use us as a self-hosted runner with a single labelled workflow. Drop-in replacement.
Artifact bucket
S3-compatible build artifact bucket included. .ipa, .xcarchive, dSYMs delivered via signed URL.
No idle waste
Per-second billing after the first minute. A 7-minute build costs $0.28. A 90-second build costs $0.06.
The math, for an indie iOS dev
One commit pushes a fresh build. Assume 10 commits / day, 8 minutes per build, 22 working days / month = 1,760 build-minutes.
| Service | Per minute | 1,760 min / month | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| iogrid | $0.04 | $70 | Per-second billing, no minimum |
| GitHub Actions Mac | $0.08 | $141 | Subject to rate quota |
| GitHub Actions M-series | $0.16 | $282 | 2× cost for faster CPU |
| Bitrise (typical) | $0.20 | $352 | Plus monthly platform fee |
| AWS EC2 Mac (effective) | $0.018 | $32 + lease floor | Cheaper per minute, BUT $26 / 24-hour minimum each session |
Your real-world ratio may differ. Indie devs typically save 40–60% / month switching to iogrid from GitHub Actions Mac.
The deep dive
Why home Macs work for CI, how Tart isolation protects providers, and the per-Xcode-minute math at indie and enterprise scale — our blog post walks the whole story.
Read “iOS CI is 50% cheaper on home Macs” →Already using GitHub Actions Mac?
Switch in five lines of YAML. Self-hosted runner labellediogrid-macpicks up jobs from your existing workflow. Half the price, no minimum, same Apple Silicon.