Figment vs YourMini: Mac Hosting Compared

Direct verdict

If your current YourMini plan is the M1 base and your toolchain is Xcode 16.4 or earlier with no ARM-only execution, the $29/month Figment virtual Intel macOS plan is the direct swap: it runs supported Intel Xcode toolchains and cross-compiles arm64 device and universal macOS binaries. If you need Apple silicon execution, Xcode 26+ or visionOS, request the Figment M-series quote (from $95/month) and match the chip in writing before you cancel YourMini.

YourMini (海外Mini管家) rents US-located Mac minis with Chinese-language support, published in CNY. Its M1 base is ¥399/month, dropping to roughly ¥319/month on an annual plan, tax included (yourmini.org, read 2026-11-10). Figment's prices are in USD. We are not quoting a fixed CNY/USD conversion here; use your bank's quoted rate on the day of purchase and expect card or FX fees on top. On list-price terms, YourMini M1 annual can be cheaper than Figment's M-series entry; the Figment $29 Intel plan is cheaper than YourMini M1 at most reasonable rates, with the caveat below about chip architecture.

See all Figment Mac plans · Request a configuration quote

Plan, term and effective cost

YourMini pricing from yourmini.org (read 2026-11-10). Figment pricing and inclusions from current Figment product data (2026-11-10). YourMini states prices include tax; Figment taxes and fees are as shown in the actual offer or quote.

Figment does not publish a daily rate; a two-week engagement still pays one monthly charge. Figment physical M-series and i3 offers collect configuration requests until supply is confirmed — do not plan on same-day provisioning.

Hardware, access and toolchain fit

YourMini's base tier is a 2020-generation M1; its M4 tier is Apple silicon with current Neural Engine; the M6 tier is the 2025 flagship. All three are Apple silicon and can run current macOS and Xcode releases that support their model. Figment's $29 plan is a virtual Intel macOS environment — not Apple silicon — and is the right pick only when your toolchain is Intel-compatible.

Per Apple's Xcode system requirements (read 2026-11-10):

• Xcode 16.4 and earlier run on Apple silicon or Intel (macOS pair varies per point release).
• Xcode 26.x and Xcode 27.x require Apple silicon; Xcode 27 drops Intel entirely, as noted in Apple's porting guide.
• visionOS development requires Apple silicon on every current Xcode version.

On the Figment $29 plan you reach the Mac via its browser console and run commands in the desktop terminal; outbound CI agents can register with your runner service. It is not a jump host into a separate machine — the Mac environment is where you work. On YourMini, access methods listed include UU Remote, RustDesk, VNC, and SSH.

YourMini buy-out break-even (worked example)

YourMini is unusual in offering a hardware buy-out. For the M1 tier, the listed numbers are ¥3,500 hardware + ¥400 setup, then ¥199/month hosting. Against the ¥399/month M1 rental:

• Monthly saving after buy-out: ¥399 − ¥199 = ¥200/month
• Upfront cost: ¥3,500 + ¥400 = ¥3,900
• Break-even: ¥3,900 ÷ ¥200 = 19.5 months

If hosting is quoted at ¥249/month instead, the saving is ¥150/month and break-even is ¥3,900 ÷ ¥150 = 26 months. Convert the upfront ¥3,900 and the ¥150–200/month saving at your bank's quoted rate on the day you decide. The buy-out is rational only if you plan to use the specific machine for ~20–26 months and accept that you cannot physically retrieve it. There is no equivalent buy-out on Figment; the comparison is month-to-month rental against a quoted M-series term.

Migration checklist (YourMini → Figment)

Before cancelling YourMini:

• Request a Figment M-series quote at /mac-hosting/start and agree an evaluation window; confirm chip, RAM, disk and delivery in writing. For Intel-only workflows, order the $29 virtual Intel macOS directly.
• Contact YourMini support (Beijing time) to confirm the written cancellation and refund terms for your plan type.
• Inventory installed tools on the YourMini Mac:

  brew list --formula > ~/brew-formulae.txt
  brew list --cask    > ~/brew-casks.txt
  ls /Applications/ | grep -i Xcode > ~/xcode-versions.txt
  

• Export each signing identity as an encrypted .p12 from Keychain Access → right-click → Export → Personal Information Exchange, with a strong password. Do not export the whole keychain. Do not write environment variables to a plaintext file; record only the names of secrets and restore values from your secret manager on the new host.
• Copy provisioning profile files from ~/Library/MobileDevice/Provisioning Profiles/ to your artifact store or encrypted external storage. Provisioning profiles are files — they are not imported into Keychain.
• Note the YourMini host IP. Update any allowlists that you control (your firewall, artifact store, CI service) to include the new Figment host IP after provisioning. Do not try to allowlist App Store Connect or TestFlight on your side.

On the new Figment host:

• Install the exact Xcode version your project needs from developer.apple.com/download. Check the Xcode/macOS pair against Apple's system requirements before downloading.
• Replay Homebrew packages from the inventory files above.
• Import the encrypted .p12 into the login keychain and restore provisioning profiles to ~/Library/MobileDevice/Provisioning Profiles/.
• Restore secret values from your secret manager into the CI environment on the new host.
• Run one real build end-to-end using your project's actual scheme. Only cancel YourMini after a clean build and a successful signed artifact.

A minimal sanity-check build (unexecuted example — replace the placeholders with your scheme and workspace, then run and read the output yourself):

#!/usr/bin/env bash
set -euo pipefail

SCHEME="YOUR_SCHEME_NAME"
WORKSPACE="/path/to/YourApp.xcworkspace"

sw_vers
system_profiler SPHardwareDataType | grep -E "Chip|Processor Name|Memory"
xcodebuild -version

rm -rf ~/Library/Developer/Xcode/DerivedData

time xcodebuild clean build \
  -workspace "$WORKSPACE" \
  -scheme "$SCHEME" \
  -destination 'generic/platform=iOS' \
  CODE_SIGNING_ALLOWED=NO

The script stops on failure (set -euo pipefail); a failed run is not a benchmark. Compare the real elapsed time on your project — not a generic reference — before deciding.

Choose the Figment plan

If YourMini's M1 at ¥319–399/month suits an Xcode 16.x workflow and you are comfortable with Chinese-language support windows and a 2–3 day provisioning lead time, it is a reasonable rental. If you need a specific Apple silicon chip class, managed CI work, or a dated Figment delivery, ask for a quote and lock the configuration in writing.

Explore Figment Mac hosting · Start with a configuration quote

Related reading:

• Figment vs Zavcloud
• Figment vs ZoneMac
• Single host vs two hosts: when to scale up