GitHub Actions arm64 runners pricing is a discount that grows with the machine: 16.7 percent below x64 on the standard 2-core Linux runner, and 39.5 percent below it at 64 cores, read from GitHub's runner pricing reference on 21 September 2026. The standard Windows runner is the exception that catches people out, because arm64 and x64 are both $0.010 a minute there, so switching a small Windows job to arm64 saves nothing at all.

The arm64 discount at each Linux size, computed from the per-minute rates published on docs.github.com/en/billing/reference/actions-runner-pricing and read on 21 September 2026.

There is one arithmetic question on this page and everything else serves it: how much slower is your job allowed to be on arm64 before the cheaper minute stops being cheaper? The answer is the ratio of the two rates, it is different at every size, and at the standard size it is tighter than most people expect.

The rates below are GitHub's published ones.…