Figment vs HostMyApple: Mac Hosting Compared

Verdict and the Figment option

If an Apple M1 Mac mini is enough for your pipeline, HostMyApple's M1 8 GB plan at $69.99/month (listed on that page as a sale price) is cheaper than any Figment physical M-series offer, and it is the honest pick on cost alone while the sale holds. Choose Figment when you want a $29 virtual Intel macOS runtime for scripted work, a quoted i3 or M-series Mac with Figment support, or a managed CI bundle that HostMyApple's dedicated Mac page does not advertise.

Figment's current approved monthly offers:

• $29 virtual Intel macOS on Linux/KVM — 2 vCPU, 8 GiB RAM, 80 GiB disk. Intel macOS runtime for compatible toolchains. No GPU acceleration, no audio, not Apple silicon.
• $49 i3 Mac — request-based until supply is confirmed. Chip generation, RAM, disk, installed macOS, and access method are set in the quote.
• M-series from $95 — request-based. The $95 is an entry price, not a chip/RAM spec. Whether a quoted Mac is M1, M2, M4 or newer is confirmed in the quote.
• $249 Managed Build Mac — one M-series Mac with CI setup, backups, monitoring, and 30 minutes of monthly support.
• $999 Managed Mac Team — two M-series Macs, two CI runners, team setup, backups, monitoring, and one hour of monthly support.

Request your Figment Mac →

Published prices, side by side

Prices below are taken directly from HostMyApple's dedicated Mac hosting page. No annual prepay, discount, setup fee, free trial, or uptime SLA figure is published on that page, so the monthly rate is what is being compared. Figment entry prices come from the Figment plans; physical hardware is request-based until Figment confirms supply.

HostMyApple's page also advertises unlimited bandwidth, a 1000 Mbps link, dedicated IP, 24-hour support availability, and instant activation. The Intel i7 plan lists NoMachine, VNC and SSH access with full root; the Apple-silicon plans list remote desktop access with full root. No uptime SLA figure is published on that page, which is not proof none exists. Figment does not publish an uptime SLA either; its managed bundles describe the support minutes included.

Hardware, access, and Xcode fit

The $29 Figment VM runs macOS on Linux/KVM as a virtual Intel environment. Access is through a browser console, and outbound CI agents on the VM can reach your service. It can host Intel-compatible Xcode 26-or-earlier toolchains, Homebrew, scripted builds, and signing provided the Xcode/macOS pair matches Apple's Xcode system requirements. From that page: Xcode 16.4 runs on macOS Sequoia 15.3 through macOS Tahoe 26.1.x, Xcode 26.3 pairs with macOS Sequoia 15.6 through macOS Tahoe 26.x, and Xcode 27 requires macOS Tahoe 26.6 on Apple silicon. visionOS development also requires Apple silicon.

The Figment i3 at $49 and M-series from $95 are request-based physical plans. Chip generation, RAM, disk, the installed macOS image, and the specific access method (browser console, admin credentials, VPN scope, remote desktop) are set in the quote; treat the headline prices as entry prices, not spec or access promises. Figment's managed bundles — $249 Managed Build Mac and $999 Managed Mac Team — are the clearest Figment advantage when you would otherwise contract CI setup, backups, and monitoring separately, and they come with the support minutes stated above.

HostMyApple's Intel i7 ships on macOS Monterey, which caps the Xcode versions you can run on it. The M1/M4/M6 plans list "Golden Gate" as the OS label on the page, which is not an Apple release name in the Xcode system-requirements matrix. Confirm the actual macOS version with HostMyApple against your Xcode row before buying.

Switcher's worksheet: SKU match plus 12-month cost

Use this to decide which Figment plan actually beats the HostMyApple SKU you are on today.

1. Name the HostMyApple SKU in use. Record the exact monthly list price — one of $59.99, $69.99, $84.99, $119.99, $139.99, $179.99 — and the chip and RAM.
2. Pick the Figment row that matches the real need, not the headline chip.
   • Scripted Intel macOS work, no GPU → $29 VM.
   • Physical Intel Mac → request the $49 i3.
   • Current Xcode on Apple silicon → request an M-series quote from $95.
   • Hand off CI runner, backups and monitoring → $249 Managed Build Mac.
   • Two engineers, two runners, standing support → $999 Managed Mac Team.
3. Do the 12-month math at list price. Multiply each monthly rate by 12:
   • HostMyApple M1 8 GB (sale): 69.99 × 12 = $839.88/year
   • HostMyApple M1 16 GB: 84.99 × 12 = $1,019.88/year
   • HostMyApple M4 16 GB: 119.99 × 12 = $1,439.88/year
   • HostMyApple M6 16 GB: 139.99 × 12 = $1,679.88/year
   • HostMyApple M6 32 GB: 179.99 × 12 = $2,159.88/year
   • Figment $29 VM: 29 × 12 = $348.00/year
   • Figment $49 i3 (at quote): 49 × 12 = $588.00/year
   • Figment $95 M-series entry (at quote): 95 × 12 = $1,140.00/year
   • Figment Managed Build Mac: 249 × 12 = $2,988.00/year
   • Figment Managed Mac Team: 999 × 12 = $11,988.00/year
4. Add the switching cost. Budget one to two engineering days to re-key secrets, reinstall tooling, run a parallel build, and cut over. If your net monthly savings are only $10, a one-day switch at a $500 day rate takes 50 months to pay back; be honest about whether the Figment option is cheaper or simply more useful.
5. Decide on the quoted spec, not the floor. If Figment's quote returns an M2 for $95 and your HostMyApple SKU is an M4, do not pretend the chips are equivalent. Compare dollar-for-dollar against the quoted chip, or ask Figment for an M4 quote and recompute.

Migration steps from HostMyApple to Figment

On HostMyApple, before cutover:

• Export signing certificates with their private keys via Keychain Access → File → Export Items → encrypted .p12 with a strong passphrase. A certificate without its private key cannot sign.
• Copy provisioning profiles as files from ~/Library/MobileDevice/Provisioning Profiles/, or regenerate with fastlane match. Profiles are files, not Keychain entries.
• Dump Homebrew state: brew bundle dump --file=~/Brewfile --force.
• Archive Xcode archives: tar czf ~/archives.tgz ~/Library/Developer/Xcode/Archives/.
• Export required secret names only: env | awk -F= '{print $1}' | sort > env-names.txt. Do not copy the full environment, .zshrc, or .bash_profile into a plaintext file — they usually contain API tokens. Restore values on Figment through your existing secret manager and rotate CI runner tokens rather than copying them.
• Record sw_vers and xcodebuild -version so you can confirm that the Figment-quoted macOS runs your required Xcode row before cutover.

On Figment, after the quote is accepted:

• Import the .p12 into Keychain, drop provisioning profile files back into ~/Library/MobileDevice/Provisioning Profiles/, restore the Brewfile, and register fresh CI runner tokens.
• Update allow-lists you actually control (your firewall, artifact store, self-hosted CI, VPN). Apple does not publish a static App Store Connect or TestFlight IP range to allow-list.
• Run a full build, sign, and TestFlight upload end to end before you point production CI at Figment.
• Run both providers in parallel for three to five business days, then cancel HostMyApple before its next billing date.

The script below is an unexecuted example, not a benchmark. It stops on the first failure so a failed check cannot be counted as a pass.

#!/usr/bin/env bash
set -euo pipefail
for check in \
  "xcode-select -p" \
  "xcodebuild -version" \
  "brew --version" \
  "git --version" \
  "ruby --version" \
  "security list-keychains"; do
  echo "RUN: $check"
  eval "$check"
done
echo "All checks passed."

Pick the Figment plan

• Replacing a HostMyApple Intel i7 for scripted or CI work with no GPU need: $29 virtual Intel macOS, or request the $49 i3 Mac if you need a physical Intel machine.
• Running current Xcode on native Apple silicon: request a Figment M-series quote from $95 and compare the quoted chip against the HostMyApple M1, M4, or M6 SKU at list.
• Handing off CI runner setup, backups and monitoring: $249 Managed Build Mac.
• Two engineers, two runners, standing monthly support: $999 Managed Mac Team.

Explore Figment Mac plans → · Start your Figment Mac →

Related: Figment vs Mac Mini Vault · Figment vs Scaleway Mac · Managed vs self-managed Mac hosting