Figment vs Neolo: Mac Hosting Compared 2026

Verdict: Neolo sells one plan, Figment sells a ladder

Neolo publishes a single Mac mini product: a dedicated Apple M4 (10-core CPU), 16 GB RAM, 256 GB SSD at $99.99/month with no setup fee, cancel anytime, Xcode preinstalled, SSH/VNC/AnyDesk access, a 99.9% uptime claim and a 30-day money-back guarantee (neolo.com/usa/mac-mini-hosting, read 2026-11-10). That is the whole catalogue on that page.

Figment covers the same job with a wider range: a $29/month virtual Intel macOS for Intel Xcode work, an i3 Mac at $49, an M-series physical Mac from $95, a Managed Build Mac at $249, and a Managed Mac Team at $999. The $29 VM and the managed tiers are the places Figment is a stronger fit than Neolo; the direct $95 vs $99.99 comparison is a $4.99 entry-price gap on hardware that is not confirmed to be the same M4/16 GB/256 GB configuration.

Pick the Figment plan that actually fits the task:

• Intel-only Xcode builds, lowest cost: Virtual Mac $29/month (virtual Intel macOS).
• Dedicated Intel hardware: i3 Mac $49/month (request-based while supply is confirmed).
• Apple silicon builds, lowest Figment entry: M-series from $95/month (chip and RAM confirmed in the quote; request-based).
• CI set up for you on one M-series Mac: Managed Build Mac $249/month.
• Two M-series Macs plus two CI runners for a team: Managed Mac Team $999/month.

Request a configuration at /mac-hosting/start.

Published plan and price comparison

Neolo does not advertise an annual prepayment on the pricing page checked; the only term listed is month-to-month, cancel anytime (neolo.com/usa/mac-mini-hosting). Figment does not list an annual discount either. Over 12 months at headline rates, Neolo's M4 is $1,199.88 and Figment's M-series entry is from $1,140 — a difference of $59.88/year, subject to the exact chip/RAM Figment quotes.

Important: $95 is Figment's M-series starting price, not a verified M4/16 GB/256 GB configuration. Treat it as a lower entry price, not an equal-hardware saving. Confirm chip generation, RAM and storage in the quote before comparing to Neolo's published M4.

Hardware, access and toolchain fit

Neolo M4. Apple silicon with 16 GB unified memory. Runs every current Apple SDK, including visionOS. Xcode 26.2 requires macOS Sequoia 15.6 or later (Xcode 26.2 release notes), which supports the M4. Neolo states Xcode comes preinstalled; confirm the exact installed version matches your project.

Figment Virtual Mac $29. A virtual Intel macOS environment on Linux/KVM, not an Apple silicon Mac. It runs compatible Intel Mac toolchains, including supported Xcode 26-or-earlier versions, which is enough for many Intel iOS/macOS build and test pipelines. It has no GPU acceleration and no audio, and ARM-only execution or Xcode 27 require Apple silicon. Access is through the browser console; there is no public inbound SSH. Check the specific Xcode/macOS pair you need against Apple's Xcode system requirements.

Figment M-series from $95. Physical Apple silicon for ARM builds, visionOS, and GPU-bound work. Chip, RAM and storage are confirmed in the quote; physical plans are request-based until supply is confirmed, so request allocation before planning a cutover date.

Managed Build / Managed Mac Team. Figment's $249 and $999 tiers add the work Neolo's self-managed plan leaves to you: CI setup on the Mac, backups, monitoring, plus 30 minutes (Build) or 60 minutes (Team) of monthly support. Neolo's 24/7 support covers the hosting itself, not your CI pipeline.

A worked cost worksheet for a single Mac mini team

Use this instead of a generic migration script. Plug in your own numbers.

Inputs
  N_months            = planning horizon in months, e.g. 12
  neolo_monthly       = 99.99        # neolo.com/usa/mac-mini-hosting
  figment_m_monthly   = 95           # Figment M-series entry, quote-confirmed
  figment_mb_monthly  = 249          # Managed Build Mac
  setup_hours         = hours your team would spend wiring CI yourself
  hourly_rate         = loaded hourly cost of that engineer

Self-managed comparison
  neolo_total         = neolo_monthly       * N_months
  figment_m_total     = figment_m_monthly   * N_months
  entry_saving        = neolo_total - figment_m_total

Managed break-even (vs Neolo self-managed)
  monthly_premium     = figment_mb_monthly - neolo_monthly
  one_time_saving     = setup_hours * hourly_rate
  breakeven_months    = one_time_saving / monthly_premium   # if > 0

Worked example: 12 months, 4 setup hours at $100/hour.

• Neolo 12 months: 99.99 × 12 = $1,199.88.
• Figment M-series 12 months at $95: $1,140.00. Entry saving: $59.88 on hardware that is not confirmed equivalent.
• Managed Build premium over Neolo: 249 − 99.99 = $149.01/month.
• One-time setup saving: 4 × 100 = $400.
• Break-even on Managed Build: 400 ÷ 149.01 ≈ 2.68 months — after which the $149.01/month premium is a recurring cost you keep paying for the managed service itself (CI maintenance, monitoring, backups, support minutes), not a one-off.

That last line is the honest framing: managed hosting is not free after break-even; you are paying for ongoing managed work. Decide whether that work is worth $149.01/month to your team.

Migration steps from Neolo to Figment

1. Request a Figment quote at /mac-hosting/start with the chip, RAM, storage and macOS/Xcode version you need. Wait for allocation confirmation before cancelling Neolo.
2. On the Neolo Mac, export each signing identity from Keychain Access as an encrypted .p12 with a strong passphrase. Store the passphrase in your secret manager, not in shell history or a plain file.
3. Download provisioning profiles from developer.apple.com. They are files; they are not exported from Keychain.
4. List the environment variable names your CI uses. Move the values into the new machine through your secret manager — never cat the whole environment to a file.
5. Copy source via your Git remote. Copy build artefacts (.ipa, .dSYM, test reports) to your artefact store if you need history.
6. On the Figment Mac, install the exact Xcode version your project requires, import the .p12 into a dedicated keychain, and drop provisioning profiles into ~/Library/MobileDevice/Provisioning Profiles/.
7. Register your CI runner. Run one real build of your project (your own scheme, your own destination) end-to-end and confirm it produces a signed artefact. A failing build is not a benchmark.
8. Update only the allowlists you control — your firewall, artefact store, and CI service IP rules. Remove Neolo's IP after the Figment build has passed in production.
9. Cancel Neolo inside the 30-day money-back window if you are still evaluating, or at the next renewal date if you are past it.

Choose the right Figment plan

See Figment Mac hosting · Request a configuration quote

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