# MacStadium

Official pricing: https://www.macstadium.com/pricing  
Category: macos · Isolation: dedicated-host

## Pricing regimes (raw)

- **Individual hosted Mac, monthly subscription** (sizes): M2.S Mac mini: M2 8-core, 8 GB, 256 GB ($109/mo) 8 vCPU/8 GiB $0.149315/h; M4.S Mac mini: M4 10-core, 16 GB, 256 GB ($149/mo) 10 vCPU/16 GiB $0.20411/h; M2.M Mac mini: M2 8-core, 16 GB, 1 TB ($199/mo) 8 vCPU/16 GiB $0.272603/h; M4.M Mac mini: M4 10-core, 24 GB, 512 GB ($249/mo) 10 vCPU/24 GiB $0.341096/h; M2.L Mac mini: M2 Pro 10-core, 16 GB, 1 TB ($249/mo) 10 vCPU/16 GiB $0.341096/h; M4.L Mac mini: M4 Pro 12-core, 48 GB, 1 TB ($349/mo) 12 vCPU/48 GiB $0.478082/h
- **Orka macOS VM cluster (Mac Cloud Compute), contact sales** (sizes): Orka cluster node (price on request) ? vCPU/? GiB $null/h [sales]
- **Orka Burst elastic nodes (add-on to an Orka cluster)** (sizes): Burst node (price on request) ? vCPU/? GiB $null/h [sales]

## Features

Yes: snapshots, fork/clone, pause/resume, persistent disk, volumes, ≥24 h sessions, custom image (Docker or snapshot), start from your own snapshot, your own Docker/OCI image, full VM (own kernel), Docker inside, nested virtualization, root, browser, desktop GUI, SSH, public IPv4, raw TCP inbound, egress allowlist, open internet, static egress IP, private networking, self-hosting, BYOC, SOC 2, SSO, GPU, arm64, macOS, EU data residency, snapshots on demand, gVisor or VM (no shared kernel), inbound access rules, firewall inside (nftables), extra volumes, shared volumes

No: memory snapshots, idle auto-stop, systemd, computer-use API, code interpreter, browser + desktop control, anti-bot stealth, CAPTCHA solving, residential IPs, preinstalled agents, HTTPS preview URLs, open source, HIPAA, Windows, Python, Node.js, GPU desktop, HTTP method/path egress rules, wake on request, live resize, live fork (no pause), memory fork, webhooks, MCP server, automatic snapshots, agent harness API, hosted agent API (their own agent), secret proxy, secret proxy for any API

Unknown: everything else. Evidence (source + quote) per feature: https://battleships.dev/data/providers/macstadium.json → feature_evidence

## Caveats

- Monthly-only: modelled as requires_always_on; a part-time fleet still pays the full month per Mac.
- The ~$79/node/month Orka Engine price in providers/macstadium.json comes from a third-party listing (softwaresuggest.com) and is not on the vendor site; not used.
- Snapshots/fork only via Orka (sales); bare hosted Macs have none.
- Regions from research file (US/EU/APAC data centers); the pricing page does not tie SKUs to regions.
- Apple macOS SLA: leasing a Mac requires a minimum lease of 24 consecutive hours with sole use by the lessee, and allows at most 2 additional macOS VMs per Mac.
- Cancelling takes the Mac offline and destroys all data within 24 h, with no refund for the rest of the prepaid month; there is no stopped/paused state.
- Portal sign-up requires a business email; personal email domains are rejected.
- Annual pricing exists ("Flexible monthly or annual pricing options") but is only shown in the portal calculator after sign-up; not modelled.
- Inbound TCP 5900 (Screen Sharing) is blocked at MacStadium's network edge since Aug 2026 (CVE-2026-65400); use SSH tunnels/VPN.

## How this provider charges


MacStadium rents whole dedicated Macs (Mac mini M2/M4, Mac Studio M1 Max/M2 Ultra) on **monthly subscriptions** prepaid on the first day of the calendar month. Every Mac includes root access, a dedicated IPv4 and unlimited 1 Gbps bandwidth. Orka (macOS VM orchestration for CI, 2 VMs per Mac), bare-metal fleets and VDI are contact-sales.

## Regime table

| # | Regime | When it applies | How billed | Numbers | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Individual hosted Mac | Buy online (portal) | Monthly prepay. USD. No free trial | M2.S M2 8c/8 GB/256 GB **$109** · M4.S M4 10c/16/256 **$149** · M2.M 8c/16/1 TB $199 · M4.M 10c/24/512 $249 · M2.L M2 Pro 10c/16/1 TB $249 · M4.L M4 Pro 12c/48/1 TB $349 · M2.XL M2 Pro 12c/32/2 TB $349 · S1.M Studio M1 Max 10c/64/2 TB $249 · S2.M M2 Ultra 24c/64/2 TB $369 · S2.L M2 Ultra 24c/128/2 TB $449 | https://www.macstadium.com/pricing |
| 2 | Annual / multi-year / AWS Marketplace | Via sales engineers | Prepaid invoices | null | pricing FAQ |
| 3 | Orka for DevOps / Mac Cloud Compute / VDI | Enterprise | Contact sales | null (the ~$79/node figure in the research file is third-party, not used) | pricing |
| 4 | Bandwidth / IPv4 | All Macs | Included | Unlimited (1 Gbps), 1 dedicated IPv4 | pricing |

## Gotchas

1. **Monthly minimum:** a Mac used for one day still costs the month. That is fine for the Apple 24 h rule but poor for bursty agents.
2. **Net-15 invoicing only above $1,000.** Otherwise the card is charged up front.
3. **Snapshots and cloning come only with Orka (sales).** Bare hosted Macs have none.
4. The M4.S 16 GB is the cheapest way to host two 8 GB-class macOS VMs, but host overhead makes 2 × 8 GiB tight.

## Worked example

Workload: 4 vCPU / 8 GiB, 50 concurrent, 8 h/day × 22 days, 50 GiB snapshots, 100 GiB egress (free).

| Regime | Maths | Monthly |
|---|---|---|
| Card/engine: 50 × M2.S (8c/8 GB) always-on | 50 × $109 | **$5,450** |
| 2 VMs per Mac (Orka/Tart): 25 × M4.S 16 GB | 25 × $149 | $3,725 (RAM tight) |
| 2 VMs per Mac: 25 × M4.M 24 GB | 25 × $249 | $6,225 |
| Egress | unlimited | $0 |

Hours and CPU do not change the bill.

Sources: https://www.macstadium.com/pricing · https://docs.macstadium.com/orka/orka-overview/orka-overview