actions-runner-controllervsunleash
Two self-hosted projects, compared on the numbers selfhost.directory tracks live: score, popularity, release cadence and setup effort.
| actions-runner-controller | unleash | |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 71/100 | 75/100 |
| Rank in category | #7 of 28 in CI/CD | #1 of 8 in Feature Flags |
| GitHub stars | 6 613 | 13 912 |
| Stars, last 30 days | +96 | +90 |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 6 | 15 |
| Latest release | gha-runner-scale-set-0.15.1 · 23 Oct 2026 | v8.3.0 · 27 Oct 2026 |
| Setup | Advanced | Easy |
| Official Docker image | Yes | Yes |
| License | Apache-2.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Main language | Go | Typescript |
Which one should you pick?
unleash scores 75/100 against 71/100 for actions-runner-controller, so it is the safer default.
unleash ships more often: 15 stable releases in the past year, against 6 for actions-runner-controller.
If you want the quickest setup, unleash is easier to run; actions-runner-controller needs more configuration.
actions-runner-controller details →unleash details →