Per-minute rates for standard runners doesn't hint that Linux-2 core can be arm runners

[jsoref]

Code of Conduct

• I have read and agree to the GitHub Docs project's Code of Conduct

What article on docs.github.com is affected?

https://docs.github.com/en/billing/managing-billing-for-your-products/managing-billing-for-github-actions/about-billing-for-github-actions#per-minute-rates-for-standard-runners

What part(s) of the article would you like to see updated?

• Linux 2-core should gain a parenthetical, probably (Intel or Arm), but possibly something else similar to:
• macOS 3-core or 4-core (M1 or Intel)

Additional information

Even though I've probably read a whole bunch of blogs about Linux arm runners, and talked about it with people, I went to this pricing page to try to figure out if I can run a linux arm runner for free and if so how.

I came away from this page thinking that Linux Arm runners were only available in Large runners and that Large runners were paid only.

---

It is apparently a thing, as there's a changelog entry for it:

• https://github.blog/changelog/2025-01-16-linux-arm64-hosted-runners-now-available-for-free-in-public-repositories-public-preview/

[jc-clark]

Hey @jsoref! Thanks for the issues.

I agree with your take in #36649, and I definitely think there are some improvements we can make in that article to make the connection to the standard GitHub-hosted runners for public repos clearer. I'll make a comment on that issue with some follow up suggestions.

For this issue though, I don't think we need to update the per-minute rates with a parenthetical. These per-minute rates apply to private repositories. And under Standard GitHub-hosted runners for private repositories, x64 is the only architecture listed. So updating the list in the way you're suggesting wouldn't be accurate.

Perhaps there's an opportunity to make that nuance a bit clearer though. What do you think about adding some text like this under the Per-minute rates for standard runners header?

Per-minute rates for standard runners apply to usage in private repositories that exceeds the included minutes for your plan. For information about free standard runner availability in public repositories, see Standard GitHub-hosted runners for public repositories.

[jsoref]

I'm not looking for per-minute rates, i'm looking for a reference to arm (for Linux). There's already a hidden reference to arm for macOS (in the form of M1, which is a frustrating codeword). I don't care about the rates. I need to know:

1. Are they available for free for public repositories (with my current hat, I don't want to pay, and if they require setting up a large runner, I'm going to run away)
2. How to do that -- which means I eventually need something to link to the page that tells me the names of the "standard" arm runners.

[jc-clark]

1. In the changelog you posted, it says:

   Now in public preview, Linux arm64 hosted runners are available for free in public repositories.

2. To use them, use ubuntu-24.04-arm or ubuntu-22.04-arm in your workflows. This is in the standard GitHub-hosted runners for public repos table.

I don't think we need to update any docs for this issue.