Dedicated GitLab CI/CD Runners
Managed, isolated runners for your GitLab projects and groups — hosted in the EU and US, billed by the minute.
48-hour free trial · pay only for what you use
Dedicated GitLab CI/CD runners, without the ops
RocketRunner gives your GitLab project or group its own dedicated CI/CD runner on an isolated cloud VM — automatically provisioned, automatically registered, and billed only for the time you use it. No servers to babysit, no runner config to maintain, no noisy neighbours.
Shared vs. self-hosted vs. dedicated
| Shared runners | Self-hosted | RocketRunner | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Isolation | Shared with everyone | Full | Full — your own VM |
| Setup effort | None | Provision + install + register | None — automated |
| Ongoing ops | None | Patching, upgrades, cleanup | Handled for you |
| Cost model | Per-minute quota | Server + your time | Per-minute, monthly cap |
Shared runners are convenient until your jobs queue behind everyone else's. Self-hosting fixes the isolation but hands you a server to own forever. A dedicated, managed runner sits in between: the isolation of self-hosting with none of the maintenance.
How it works
- Connect GitLab — sign in and pick the project or group the runner should serve.
- Choose a size and region — from small to large, in the EU or US.
- We provision and register it — a dedicated Hetzner VM comes online and registers itself with GitLab. Your pipelines start using it right away.
Delete the runner whenever you like — the VM is destroyed and billing stops.
Regions
Runners are hosted on Hetzner cloud infrastructure in the EU (Falkenstein, Nuremberg, Helsinki) and the US (Ashburn, Hillsboro), so you can keep CI close to your team and your data.
Simple, capped pricing
You pay by the minute, but every size has a fixed monthly maximum, so your bill stays a predictable line item month to month. Small runners start around 45/month. See the full breakdown on the pricing section of the homepage.
Bonus: an AI teammate on your runner
Every runner can also host @rocket, our AI coding agent for GitLab. Mention it in any issue or merge request and it reads your code, implements changes, and pushes commits — running on the same private infrastructure.
Want to go deeper? Read more on the blog.
Frequently asked questions
What is a dedicated GitLab runner?
A dedicated GitLab runner is a CI/CD runner that lives on its own isolated virtual machine, used only by your project or group. Unlike GitLab's shared runners, you don't share CPU, memory, or disk with anyone else — so your pipelines aren't slowed down by other tenants.
How is this different from self-hosting my own runner?
Self-hosting means you provision a server, install and register the runner, then own patching, upgrades, and cleanup forever. RocketRunner provisions the machine, registers it with GitLab automatically, and tears it down when you're done — you get the isolation of self-hosting without the operational overhead.
Where are the runners hosted?
On dedicated Hetzner cloud VMs in the EU (Falkenstein, Nuremberg, Helsinki) and the US (Ashburn, Hillsboro). You pick the region when you create the runner.
How much do dedicated GitLab runners cost?
You pay by the minute, with a fixed monthly cap so the price stays a predictable line item. Small runners start around $10/month and larger sizes go up to roughly $45/month. Billing stops the moment you delete the runner, and every account gets a 48-hour free trial.
Do I need to configure the server or use SSH?
No. Provisioning is fully automated — there's no SSH access and no manual runner configuration. You connect your GitLab project or group, pick a size and region, and the runner is registered and ready.
48-hour free trial · pay only for what you use