Figment vs Keyweb: Mac Hosting Compared in 2026

Keyweb lists two Mac mini M4 configurations in a German data center but publishes no price; you must email or phone sales to get a number (keyweb.de/en/server/mac-server-hosting). Figment's M-series Mac starts at $95/month and the exact chip, RAM and disk are confirmed in the quote before purchase. If you need a Mac only to run Intel macOS tooling, Figment also offers a $29/month virtual Intel macOS instance that Keyweb does not sell. Start a configuration at /mac-hosting/start.

The direct verdict

For a single developer who needs a real Apple silicon Mac and does not have a German data-residency requirement, request Figment's M-series Mac from $95/month. Figment confirms chip generation, RAM and disk on the quote; the $95 entry is not advertised as an M4/16 GB/512 GB match to Keyweb's Starter tier, so compare the returned configuration against Keyweb's published spec before deciding.

For teams that also want CI runners managed for them, Figment's Managed Build Mac is $249/month and includes one M-series Mac, CI setup, backups, monitoring and 30 minutes of monthly support. Keyweb's listing mentions CI tool suitability and 24/7 managed support but does not itemise a managed-CI product; ask sales what "managed" covers in writing.

If your workload is Intel-only macOS scripting, a notarisation step on legacy toolchains, or a one-off Xcode 16-era build, Figment's virtual Intel macOS at $29/month (2 vCPU, 8 GiB RAM, 80 GiB disk, browser-console access) is the cheapest entry; Keyweb does not sell an equivalent.

Published offer and effective cost

Treat this as an entry-price comparison, not an equal-hardware comparison. Keyweb's published spec is M4/16 GB/512 GB on the Starter tier; Figment's $95 line is "from" and the returned configuration can differ. If Keyweb's quote comes back above $95/month, the twelve-month difference is (Keyweb_monthly − 95) × 12. Example: a $129 Keyweb quote would be (129 − 95) × 12 = $408 more than Figment's entry over a year, before any discount, setup fee or tax that either vendor adds in writing.

Hardware, access and toolchain fit

Keyweb ships both tiers with macOS 26 (Tahoe), root/admin and SSH, VNC and Remote Desktop. macOS Tahoe runs on Apple silicon and on specific later Intel Macs (Intel MacBook Pro 2019/2020, iMac 2020, Mac Pro 2019); see Apple's Tahoe compatibility list. Keyweb's listed hardware is M4 Apple silicon, so Tahoe on those machines is the ARM build.

Figment's M-series is Apple silicon; the chip generation is confirmed in the quote. Figment's $29 plan is virtual Intel macOS on Linux/KVM with 2 vCPU, 8 GiB RAM and 80 GiB disk. It has no GPU acceleration and no audio, and access is through the browser console (desktop terminal inside the session; no inbound public SSH). It is a real Intel macOS environment for Intel-compatible toolchains, including supported Xcode 26 or earlier releases on Intel — not an SSH proxy to a physical Mac elsewhere. Xcode 27 is Apple silicon only; check the exact Xcode/macOS pair for your project on Apple's Xcode system requirements. visionOS development requires Apple silicon regardless of host.

Choose the physical Figment M-series when you need ARM execution, Metal GPU work, iOS simulators that require Apple silicon, or a stable long-lived CI runner. Choose the $29 VM when you need Intel macOS for legacy build steps or a cheap second machine for scripting.

Worked cost worksheet for a Keyweb buyer

Keyweb will not price the Mac mini until you ask, so run the comparison once their quote arrives. Fill in from the written quote:

Keyweb M4 Starter quoted monthly ............ A = $____   (convert EUR at the ECB rate on your invoice date; 2026-11-10 reference: 1 EUR = 1.1214 USD)
Keyweb setup/one-off fee .................... B = $____
Keyweb contract term (months) ............... N = ____

Figment M-series quoted monthly ............. F = $____   (entry from $95; confirmed in your quote)
Figment setup fee ........................... S = $____   (as stated in the quote)

Keyweb N-month total  = A*N + B
Figment N-month total = F*N + S
Difference            = (A*N + B) - (F*N + S)

Only treat the two totals as comparable if the returned Figment configuration matches Keyweb's M4/16 GB/512 GB Starter or M4 Pro/24 GB/1 TB Pro spec. If it does not, record which spec you are buying on each side.

Keyweb quote-request brief

Send this when you contact Keyweb so the reply is directly comparable to a Figment quote.

Mac server quote request — [Company]

1. Hardware: [ ] M4 Starter (16 GB/512 GB)  [ ] M4 Pro (24 GB/1 TB)
2. Quantity: ___
3. Monthly price and any annual prepayment option, in EUR
4. One-off setup fee
5. Minimum term and cancellation notice
6. Discount applicable to this product (the site mentions "up to 20%" on cloud products — confirm eligibility here)
7. Written uptime SLA and credit terms, if any
8. Data-center city and GDPR DPA availability
9. Network: 1 Gbit committed or burst; additional public IPs and price
10. Backup product, retention, and price
11. Earliest provisioning date
12. VAT treatment for a non-German customer

Keyweb-to-Figment migration checklist

• Get Keyweb's written notice period before you provision anything new
• Request a Figment M-series configuration at /mac-hosting/start and confirm chip, RAM, disk and monthly price in writing
• Export signing certificates as encrypted .p12 files with the private key included; download provisioning profiles as .mobileprovision from the Apple Developer portal (profiles are files, not Keychain exports)
• Capture the list of secret names used by your CI; restore the values on the new machine through your team's secret manager — do not dump environment variables to a plaintext file
• On Keyweb: brew bundle dump --file=Brewfile; copy Fastfile, pipeline YAML and helper scripts into your repo if they are not already versioned
• List the IP allowlists you control (artifact store, internal APIs, VPN, CI service) that reference the Keyweb host; update them once Figment assigns an address
• On the new Figment Mac: install Xcode for the version your project requires per Apple's Xcode system requirements; brew bundle install --file=Brewfile; import .p12 into the login keychain and install .mobileprovision via Xcode
• Re-add secrets through the CI service's vault, not as shell exports
• Run one real build of your own project end-to-end before cancelling Keyweb

Note on benchmarking: a build is not a benchmark unless it succeeds. If you time builds across the two hosts, use your own project and scheme, require the run to exit zero, and compare medians across at least three successful runs on each side. Do not treat an unexecuted xcodebuild snippet as a measurement.

Choose the Figment plan

If Germany data residency is a hard requirement, say so in the Figment quote request so capacity can be confirmed, and keep Keyweb in the shortlist specifically for that reason. Otherwise, the published-price M-series entry plus the $29 Intel VM covers most of what Keyweb's two listed tiers address.

Related reading: Figment vs Kvmkit, Figment vs Lumio, Colocation vs Mac rental.

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