GitHub Actions on ARM64: Native Runners, Cross-Compilation, and QEMU Pitfalls

Calendar February 21, 2026
Cicd
Intermediate
Ci-Pipeline-Design, Cross-Architecture-Builds
Github-Actions, Arm64, Ci, Cross-Compilation, Runners
Github-Actions, Docker-Buildx, Qemu

GitHub Actions on ARM64#

ARM64 is no longer optional infrastructure. AWS Graviton instances, Apple Silicon developer machines, and Ampere cloud hosts all run ARM64 natively. If your CI pipeline only builds and tests on x86, you are shipping untested binaries to a growing share of your deployment targets.

GitHub-Hosted ARM64 Runners#

GitHub offers native ARM64 runners. For public repositories, these have been available since late 2024. Private repositories gained access in 2025. Use them with: