---
title: "About 9apes - Managed GitHub Actions Runners"
description: "What 9apes is, how the managed GitHub Actions runner service works, where jobs run, and how to reach the team."
url: https://9apes.com/about/
---

# About 9apes - Managed GitHub Actions Runners

9apes provides managed GitHub Actions runners that are faster and cheaper than GitHub-hosted runners. Teams keep their existing workflows and change one line to move a job across.

## What 9apes does

GitHub Actions is where most teams already run CI, and 9apes does not ask them to leave it. Instead of replacing the platform, 9apes replaces the machine underneath the job. You install the 9apes GitHub App, change a job’s `runs-on` value from `ubuntu-latest` to a 9apes runner label, and the job is picked up by a 9apes runner on the next push.

That means no new CI syntax, no migration of secrets, and no rewrite of workflow files beyond the runner label. Rolling back is the same edit in reverse.

## How the runners are built

Runners use high single-core performance machines with NVMe disks, because most CI jobs are bound by single-threaded work and disk throughput rather than raw core count. Every job runs inside an ephemeral Firecracker microVM on bare metal, protected by a private VPN.

When a job finishes, its microVM is destroyed along with all of its state. Jobs never share a kernel. Build caches live on Cloudflare R2, co-located on the same bare-metal fleet as the runners, so repeat jobs stay warm.

## How 9apes charges

Pricing is usage-based per runner minute, with no seats and no minimums. Every account includes 3000 free runner minutes each month, and paid usage is calculated after those free minutes and charged at the end of the month. No credit card is required to start.

Per-minute rates for each runner label are published on the Available Runners page alongside the equivalent GitHub-hosted rate, so the comparison is visible before you migrate anything.

## Security and compliance posture

- **Job isolation** — Each job runs in its own Firecracker microVM, destroyed with its state when the job ends.

- **Scoped tokens** — Each job gets a just-in-time token scoped to that job which expires after one hour. The GitHub integration cannot directly access organization or repository secrets.

- **Access** — Login is exclusively through GitHub SSO.

- **Compliance** — SOC 2 is in progress. Hardware runs in ISO/IEC 27001:2022 certified data centers, and 9apes commissions quarterly penetration testing.

## Status and contact

9apes is in public beta. Linux x86_64 runners on Ubuntu 24.04 are generally available; Linux arm64, Windows, and macOS runners are handled case by case, so email the team to discuss workload, scale, and timing.

Reach the team at support@9apes.com for setup and troubleshooting, or contact@9apes.com for anything else. The team is also on GitHub at github.com/9apes, on LinkedIn at linkedin.com/company/9apes, and on X as @nineapes.