GHCR vs Amazon ECR: Which Registry for CI?
GHCR integrates seamlessly with GitHub Actions; ECR integrates with AWS deploys and IAM - your deploy target usually decides.
GitHub Container Registry (GHCR) stores images alongside your GitHub repos with built-in Actions auth. Amazon ECR is AWS’s registry, tightly integrated with IAM and AWS compute (ECS, EKS, Lambda).
| GHCR | Amazon ECR | |
|---|---|---|
| Auth in CI | GITHUB_TOKEN built-in | AWS IAM / OIDC |
| Tightest integration | GitHub Actions | AWS compute (ECS/EKS/Lambda) |
| Cost model | GitHub plan storage/egress | AWS storage + data transfer |
| Pull speed to AWS | Over the internet | In-region, fast to AWS |
| Best for | GitHub-centric workflows | AWS deployments |
In CI
Pushing and pulling via GHCR with the built-in GITHUB_TOKEN is frictionless inside GitHub Actions. ECR is the natural choice when you deploy to AWS: images live in-region next to ECS/EKS/Lambda for fast, IAM-scoped pulls, and OIDC from Actions to AWS avoids long-lived keys. The deciding factor is usually where the image gets deployed.
Choosing for pipelines
Deploying to AWS compute: ECR for in-region pulls and IAM. GitHub-centric workflows or non-AWS targets: GHCR for built-in auth. Some teams build once and push to both - GHCR for sharing, ECR for AWS deploys.
The verdict
Deploying on AWS: ECR for in-region, IAM-scoped pulls. GitHub-centric or non-AWS: GHCR for built-in Actions auth. Let the deploy target choose, and consider pushing to both.