BuildJet ARM Runners for GitHub Actions: Labels & Migration
BuildJet offered native ARM runners alongside AMD64. If your pipeline builds arm64 artifacts on BuildJet, you need an ARM-capable destination as BuildJet winds down.
BuildJet provided native ARM runners across its hardware tiers, which mattered for teams building arm64 images or binaries without QEMU emulation. According to BuildJet's materials, ARM runners use the same buildjet-<vcpu>-<os>-<version> label pattern as AMD64. With BuildJet winding down, ARM workflows specifically need an ARM-capable replacement. According to BuildJet's own announcement, BuildJet for GitHub Actions is winding down: new signups were halted effective February 6th, 2026, and BuildJet stops running jobs on March 31st, 2026. Dates and details can change, so verify the current status on BuildJet's site before you plan a migration.
Why native ARM mattered
Building arm64 artifacts on an AMD64 runner usually means QEMU emulation, which is slow. Native ARM runners run those builds on real arm64 hardware, which is a meaningful speedup for container images and compiled binaries. This was a genuine BuildJet strength worth preserving in any migration.
BuildJet's ARM migration guidance
According to BuildJet's shutdown announcement, the recommended path for ARM workflows is GitHub's native ARM runners, changing your runs-on to ubuntu-24.04-arm. GitHub added native ARM support, which is part of why BuildJet says the gap it filled has closed.
# BuildJet ARM -> GitHub native ARM
# runs-on: buildjet-4vcpu-ubuntu-2204-arm
runs-on: ubuntu-24.04-armIf you want to keep cheaper-than-hosted ARM
Moving to GitHub-hosted ARM is the simplest path, but it gives up the cost advantage. If keeping cheaper ARM runners matters, evaluate a managed provider that offers arm64. With any managed runner, confirm ARM sizes and current pricing on the vendor site, since ARM availability and rates change.
Verify the target label
Whatever destination you pick, confirm the exact ARM label it expects. GitHub uses ubuntu-24.04-arm; other providers use their own naming. A wrong ARM label leaves jobs waiting for a runner that never matches.
Frequently asked questions
What replaces BuildJet ARM runners?
ubuntu-24.04-arm runners. If you want to keep cheaper-than-hosted ARM, evaluate a managed provider that offers arm64 and verify current pricing on their site.