Mac cloud hosting, explained

Why every Mac cloud is a rack of real Macs

On Linux, a cloud provider can buy any server and slice it up. macOS is different. Section 2J of Apple's macOS license forbids running it on any computer that is not Apple-branded. We read the macOS Tahoe 26 version in October 2026. So every Mac host buys Macs, usually Mac minis, and puts them on shelves.

That is why Mac hosting costs more than a Linux VPS. The host has to buy a whole computer for each customer, or close to it. A base M6 Mac mini lists at $899 on apple.com.

Dedicated, shared and virtual

• Dedicated. One customer gets the whole Mac. You usually get admin rights and can install anything. AWS works this way, with one Mac instance per Dedicated Host.
• Shared. You get a user account on a Mac that other customers also log into. It is cheaper. You usually get no admin rights, so you cannot install your own Xcode version or tools.
• Virtual. macOS runs in a virtual machine on a physical Mac. Hosted CI runners work this way. GitHub's macos-26 runner is a virtual M2 Pro with 5 cores and 14 GB. It is fresh for every job and billed per minute.

The Apple rules every host works under

Section 3 of the macOS license is titled "Leasing for Permitted Developer Services". It allows leasing a Mac only when these conditions hold.

• The Mac is used only for developer services, such as CI, builds and testing.
• Each lease lasts at least 24 consecutive hours.
• One customer has sole and exclusive use of the Mac for the lease.
• The customer agrees to the macOS terms and to Xcode's terms.

You can see these rules in the hosts' own terms. AWS runs Mac instances only on Dedicated Hosts, one instance per host. Its docs say a host has "a minimum allocation period of 24 hours" before you can release it. Its Mac page says billing has that 24-hour minimum "to comply with the Apple macOS Software License Agreement". We read both in October 2026.

Our post on the macOS license quotes Section 3 word for word.

What it costs, from the hosts' own pages

• AWS lists a mac2-m2 Dedicated Host (M2, 24 GiB) at $0.878 an hour in US East (N. Virginia). That is about $641 for a 730-hour month. Source: AWS on-demand Dedicated Host prices, October 2026.
• Scaleway lists an M4 Mac mini with 16 GB and 256 GB at €149 a month before tax, in Paris. Source: Scaleway pricing page, October 2026.
• MacRun rents an M6 Mac mini with 16 GB and 256 GB for $139 a month, in New Jersey. The first month is $69.

AWS docs say its Mac instances boot from EBS storage volumes. Check how those are billed, and read each host's full price list before you compare.

What to check before you pay

• Is the Mac dedicated to you, or shared with other customers?
• Do you get admin rights and sudo?
• Which chip, how much memory, and how big is the disk?
• What is the billing unit and the minimum term?
• Where is it? Distance adds delay to screen sharing.
• How do you connect, and is any port open to the internet?
• What is installed on day one, and is the Mac wiped between customers?
• How do you reach support, and how fast do they answer?

Where MacRun fits

MacRun is dedicated Mac mini hosting, billed monthly. Each M6 is for one customer, with admin rights, macOS 27 and Xcode 26.6 installed. It is ready 1 to 4 hours after payment. You reach it over a private Tailscale network. We run one location, our own private facility in New Jersey.

We are not the right host for everyone. Choose someone else if you need hourly billing, a static IP, an SLA, or several regions. The same goes for a Mac Studio, a Mac Pro, or a GPU server. If you only need a Mac for a few builds a month, hosted minutes may cost less.

The pricing page lists every tier. For the two hosts people ask about most, read MacinCloud vs MacStadium.