How runner time is counted

Each managed runner comes with two monthly allowances: runner hours and starts. This page explains what uses each of them, so you can predict your usage. The allowance for each size is on the pricing page.

Runner time

Runner time counts from the moment your machine starts until your last job finishes. Gaps between jobs while the machine is running count. The time after your last job does not. Jobs that run in parallel on the same machine count once.

Starts

Each time your machine has to start, it uses one of your monthly starts. Jobs that arrive while the machine is already running use no start. After your last job finishes, the machine stays available until the end of its current hour. Jobs that arrive in that time run on the same machine and use no start.

After that hour, the machine is deleted, and the next job starts a clean one. Jobs in the same session share one machine, which runs only your builds. Nothing carries over from one session to the next.

An example

You push three times between 10:00 and 10:40, and each build takes six minutes. All three builds fall within the first hour, so they run on one machine. That uses one start and about 40 minutes of runner time.

Scheduled jobs

Each scheduled run that starts the machine uses a start. An hourly schedule needs about 730 starts a month, so frequent schedules are better run on your own runner. Your own runner is free on every plan, including Open Source.

Limits

There is no per-minute billing and no overage charge. We email you when you reach 80 percent of either allowance. At the limit, jobs wait in the queue until the next month, or until you move to a larger tier. Allowances reset at the start of each month, and unused hours and starts do not carry over.