diff --git a/packages/plugin-coverage/package.json b/packages/plugin-coverage/package.json
index 65be3a008..86c6bfef2 100644
--- a/packages/plugin-coverage/package.json
+++ b/packages/plugin-coverage/package.json
@@ -37,7 +37,6 @@
     "@code-pushup/models": "0.96.1",
     "@code-pushup/utils": "0.96.1",
     "parse-lcov": "^1.0.4",
-    "yargs": "^17.7.2",
     "zod": "^4.0.5"
   },
   "peerDependencies": {
diff --git a/packages/plugin-coverage/src/bin.ts b/packages/plugin-coverage/src/bin.ts
deleted file mode 100644
index fc625dd73..000000000
--- a/packages/plugin-coverage/src/bin.ts
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,7 +0,0 @@
-import process from 'node:process';
-import { Parser } from 'yargs/helpers';
-import { executeRunner } from './lib/runner/index.js';
-
-const { runnerConfigPath, runnerOutputPath } = Parser(process.argv);
-
-await executeRunner({ runnerConfigPath, runnerOutputPath });
diff --git a/packages/plugin-coverage/src/lib/coverage-plugin.ts b/packages/plugin-coverage/src/lib/coverage-plugin.ts
index 93a94b4c6..f8f727749 100644
--- a/packages/plugin-coverage/src/lib/coverage-plugin.ts
+++ b/packages/plugin-coverage/src/lib/coverage-plugin.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,4 @@
 import { createRequire } from 'node:module';
-import path from 'node:path';
-import { fileURLToPath } from 'node:url';
 import {
   type Audit,
   type Group,
@@ -13,7 +11,7 @@ import {
   type CoverageType,
   coveragePluginConfigSchema,
 } from './config.js';
-import { createRunnerConfig } from './runner/index.js';
+import { createRunnerFunction } from './runner/index.js';
 import { coverageDescription, coverageTypeWeightMapper } from './utils.js';
 
 /**
@@ -60,12 +58,6 @@ export async function coveragePlugin(
     })),
   };
 
-  const runnerScriptPath = path.join(
-    fileURLToPath(path.dirname(import.meta.url)),
-    '..',
-    'bin.js',
-  );
-
   const packageJson = createRequire(import.meta.url)(
     '../../package.json',
   ) as typeof import('../../package.json');
@@ -82,7 +74,7 @@ export async function coveragePlugin(
     version: packageJson.version,
     audits,
     groups: [group],
-    runner: await createRunnerConfig(runnerScriptPath, coverageConfig),
+    runner: createRunnerFunction(coverageConfig),
     ...(scoreTargets && { scoreTargets }),
   };
 }
diff --git a/packages/plugin-coverage/src/lib/coverage-plugin.unit.test.ts b/packages/plugin-coverage/src/lib/coverage-plugin.unit.test.ts
index 6967a58f1..9cbe5c973 100644
--- a/packages/plugin-coverage/src/lib/coverage-plugin.unit.test.ts
+++ b/packages/plugin-coverage/src/lib/coverage-plugin.unit.test.ts
@@ -1,15 +1,8 @@
 import path from 'node:path';
 import { describe, expect, it } from 'vitest';
-import { type RunnerConfig, pluginConfigSchema } from '@code-pushup/models';
+import { pluginConfigSchema } from '@code-pushup/models';
 import { coveragePlugin } from './coverage-plugin.js';
 
-vi.mock('./runner/index.ts', () => ({
-  createRunnerConfig: vi.fn().mockReturnValue({
-    command: 'node',
-    outputFile: 'runner-output.json',
-  } satisfies RunnerConfig),
-}));
-
 describe('coveragePlugin', () => {
   const LCOV_PATH = path.join(
     'packages',
@@ -30,7 +23,7 @@ describe('coveragePlugin', () => {
         title: 'Code coverage',
         audits: expect.any(Array),
         groups: expect.any(Array),
-        runner: expect.any(Object),
+        runner: expect.any(Function),
       }),
     );
   });
diff --git a/packages/plugin-coverage/src/lib/runner/index.ts b/packages/plugin-coverage/src/lib/runner/index.ts
index 34801d8cb..09d988a78 100644
--- a/packages/plugin-coverage/src/lib/runner/index.ts
+++ b/packages/plugin-coverage/src/lib/runner/index.ts
@@ -1,62 +1,34 @@
-import { writeFile } from 'node:fs/promises';
-import path from 'node:path';
-import type { RunnerConfig, RunnerFilesPaths } from '@code-pushup/models';
-import {
-  createRunnerFiles,
-  ensureDirectoryExists,
-  executeProcess,
-  filePathToCliArg,
-  objectToCliArgs,
-  readJsonFile,
-} from '@code-pushup/utils';
+import type { RunnerFunction } from '@code-pushup/models';
+import { executeProcess } from '@code-pushup/utils';
 import type { FinalCoveragePluginConfig } from '../config.js';
 import { lcovResultsToAuditOutputs } from './lcov/lcov-runner.js';
 
-export async function executeRunner({
-  runnerConfigPath,
-  runnerOutputPath,
-}: RunnerFilesPaths): Promise<void> {
-  const { reports, coverageToolCommand, continueOnCommandFail, coverageTypes } =
-    await readJsonFile<FinalCoveragePluginConfig>(runnerConfigPath);
+export function createRunnerFunction(
+  config: FinalCoveragePluginConfig,
+): RunnerFunction {
+  return async () => {
+    const {
+      reports,
+      coverageToolCommand,
+      continueOnCommandFail,
+      coverageTypes,
+    } = config;
 
-  // Run coverage tool if provided
-  if (coverageToolCommand != null) {
-    const { command, args } = coverageToolCommand;
-    try {
-      await executeProcess({ command, args });
-    } catch {
-      if (!continueOnCommandFail) {
-        throw new Error(
-          'Coverage plugin: Running coverage tool failed. Make sure all your provided tests are passing.',
-        );
+    // Run coverage tool if provided
+    if (coverageToolCommand != null) {
+      const { command, args } = coverageToolCommand;
+      try {
+        await executeProcess({ command, args });
+      } catch {
+        if (!continueOnCommandFail) {
+          throw new Error(
+            'Coverage plugin: Running coverage tool failed. Make sure all your provided tests are passing.',
+          );
+        }
       }
     }
-  }
-
-  // Calculate coverage from LCOV results
-  const auditOutputs = await lcovResultsToAuditOutputs(reports, coverageTypes);
-
-  await ensureDirectoryExists(path.dirname(runnerOutputPath));
-  await writeFile(runnerOutputPath, JSON.stringify(auditOutputs));
-}
-
-export async function createRunnerConfig(
-  scriptPath: string,
-  config: FinalCoveragePluginConfig,
-): Promise<RunnerConfig> {
-  // Create JSON config for executeRunner
-  const { runnerConfigPath, runnerOutputPath } = await createRunnerFiles(
-    'coverage',
-    JSON.stringify(config),
-  );
 
-  return {
-    command: 'node',
-    args: [
-      filePathToCliArg(scriptPath),
-      ...objectToCliArgs({ runnerConfigPath, runnerOutputPath }),
-    ],
-    configFile: runnerConfigPath,
-    outputFile: runnerOutputPath,
+    // Calculate coverage from LCOV results
+    return lcovResultsToAuditOutputs(reports, coverageTypes);
   };
 }
diff --git a/packages/plugin-coverage/src/lib/runner/runner.int.test.ts b/packages/plugin-coverage/src/lib/runner/runner.int.test.ts
index 91c2579b7..4d135a992 100644
--- a/packages/plugin-coverage/src/lib/runner/runner.int.test.ts
+++ b/packages/plugin-coverage/src/lib/runner/runner.int.test.ts
@@ -1,54 +1,12 @@
 import path from 'node:path';
 import { fileURLToPath } from 'node:url';
 import { expect } from 'vitest';
-import type { AuditOutputs, RunnerConfig } from '@code-pushup/models';
-import { createRunnerFiles, readJsonFile } from '@code-pushup/utils';
-import type { FinalCoveragePluginConfig } from '../config.js';
-import { createRunnerConfig, executeRunner } from './index.js';
+import { type AuditOutputs, DEFAULT_PERSIST_CONFIG } from '@code-pushup/models';
+import { createRunnerFunction } from './index.js';
 
-describe('createRunnerConfig', () => {
-  it('should create a valid runner config', async () => {
-    const runnerConfig = await createRunnerConfig('executeRunner.ts', {
-      reports: ['coverage/lcov.info'],
-      coverageTypes: ['branch'],
-      scoreTargets: 0.85,
-      continueOnCommandFail: true,
-    });
-    expect(runnerConfig).toStrictEqual<RunnerConfig>({
-      command: 'node',
-      args: [
-        '"executeRunner.ts"',
-        expect.stringContaining('plugin-config.json'),
-        expect.stringContaining('runner-output.json'),
-      ],
-      outputFile: expect.stringContaining('runner-output.json'),
-      configFile: expect.stringContaining('plugin-config.json'),
-    });
-  });
-
-  it('should provide plugin config to runner in JSON file', async () => {
-    const pluginConfig: FinalCoveragePluginConfig = {
-      coverageTypes: ['line'],
-      reports: ['coverage/lcov.info'],
-      coverageToolCommand: { command: 'npm', args: ['run', 'test'] },
-      scoreTargets: 0.85,
-      continueOnCommandFail: true,
-    };
-
-    const { configFile } = await createRunnerConfig(
-      'executeRunner.ts',
-      pluginConfig,
-    );
-
-    expect(configFile).toMatch(/.*plugin-config\.json$/);
-    const config = await readJsonFile<FinalCoveragePluginConfig>(configFile!);
-    expect(config).toStrictEqual(pluginConfig);
-  });
-});
-
-describe('executeRunner', () => {
+describe('createRunnerFunction', () => {
   it('should successfully execute runner', async () => {
-    const config: FinalCoveragePluginConfig = {
+    const runner = createRunnerFunction({
       reports: [
         path.join(
           fileURLToPath(path.dirname(import.meta.url)),
@@ -61,18 +19,11 @@ describe('executeRunner', () => {
       ],
       coverageTypes: ['line'],
       continueOnCommandFail: true,
-    };
-
-    const runnerFiles = await createRunnerFiles(
-      'coverage',
-      JSON.stringify(config),
-    );
-    await executeRunner(runnerFiles);
+    });
 
-    const results = await readJsonFile<AuditOutputs>(
-      runnerFiles.runnerOutputPath,
-    );
-    expect(results).toStrictEqual<AuditOutputs>([
+    await expect(
+      runner({ persist: DEFAULT_PERSIST_CONFIG }),
+    ).resolves.toStrictEqual([
       {
         slug: 'line-coverage',
         score: 0.7,
@@ -112,6 +63,6 @@ describe('executeRunner', () => {
           ],
         },
       },
-    ]);
+    ] satisfies AuditOutputs);
   });
 });
diff --git a/packages/plugin-js-packages/package.json b/packages/plugin-js-packages/package.json
index f1df17065..bd7354a69 100644
--- a/packages/plugin-js-packages/package.json
+++ b/packages/plugin-js-packages/package.json
@@ -41,7 +41,6 @@
     "@code-pushup/utils": "0.96.1",
     "build-md": "^0.4.1",
     "semver": "^7.6.0",
-    "yargs": "^17.7.2",
     "zod": "^4.0.5"
   },
   "files": [
diff --git a/packages/plugin-js-packages/project.json b/packages/plugin-js-packages/project.json
index 5ef4c7cf1..208cc4668 100644
--- a/packages/plugin-js-packages/project.json
+++ b/packages/plugin-js-packages/project.json
@@ -7,7 +7,6 @@
     "build": {},
     "lint": {},
     "unit-test": {},
-    "int-test": {},
     "code-pushup": {},
     "code-pushup-eslint": {},
     "code-pushup-coverage": {},
diff --git a/packages/plugin-js-packages/src/bin.ts b/packages/plugin-js-packages/src/bin.ts
deleted file mode 100644
index fc625dd73..000000000
--- a/packages/plugin-js-packages/src/bin.ts
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,7 +0,0 @@
-import process from 'node:process';
-import { Parser } from 'yargs/helpers';
-import { executeRunner } from './lib/runner/index.js';
-
-const { runnerConfigPath, runnerOutputPath } = Parser(process.argv);
-
-await executeRunner({ runnerConfigPath, runnerOutputPath });
diff --git a/packages/plugin-js-packages/src/lib/js-packages-plugin.ts b/packages/plugin-js-packages/src/lib/js-packages-plugin.ts
index 8fe2491cd..d2754e30b 100644
--- a/packages/plugin-js-packages/src/lib/js-packages-plugin.ts
+++ b/packages/plugin-js-packages/src/lib/js-packages-plugin.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,4 @@
 import { createRequire } from 'node:module';
-import path from 'node:path';
-import { fileURLToPath } from 'node:url';
 import type { Audit, Group, PluginConfig } from '@code-pushup/models';
 import {
   type DependencyGroup,
@@ -11,7 +9,7 @@ import {
 } from './config.js';
 import { dependencyDocs, dependencyGroupWeights } from './constants.js';
 import { packageManagers } from './package-managers/package-managers.js';
-import { createRunnerConfig } from './runner/index.js';
+import { createRunnerFunction } from './runner/index.js';
 import { normalizeConfig } from './utils.js';
 
 /**
@@ -42,12 +40,6 @@ export async function jsPackagesPlugin(
     ...jsPackagesPluginConfigRest
   } = await normalizeConfig(config);
 
-  const runnerScriptPath = path.join(
-    fileURLToPath(path.dirname(import.meta.url)),
-    '..',
-    'bin.js',
-  );
-
   const packageJson = createRequire(import.meta.url)(
     '../../package.json',
   ) as typeof import('../../package.json');
@@ -63,7 +55,7 @@ export async function jsPackagesPlugin(
     version: packageJson.version,
     audits: createAudits(packageManager.slug, checks, depGroups),
     groups: createGroups(packageManager.slug, checks, depGroups),
-    runner: await createRunnerConfig(runnerScriptPath, {
+    runner: createRunnerFunction({
       ...jsPackagesPluginConfigRest,
       checks,
       packageManager: packageManager.slug,
diff --git a/packages/plugin-js-packages/src/lib/js-packages-plugin.unit.test.ts b/packages/plugin-js-packages/src/lib/js-packages-plugin.unit.test.ts
index 2b8b90dcb..66a4551ec 100644
--- a/packages/plugin-js-packages/src/lib/js-packages-plugin.unit.test.ts
+++ b/packages/plugin-js-packages/src/lib/js-packages-plugin.unit.test.ts
@@ -3,19 +3,11 @@ import { describe, expect, it } from 'vitest';
 import {
   type Group,
   type PluginConfig,
-  type RunnerConfig,
   pluginConfigSchema,
 } from '@code-pushup/models';
 import { MEMFS_VOLUME } from '@code-pushup/test-utils';
 import { jsPackagesPlugin } from './js-packages-plugin.js';
 
-vi.mock('./runner/index.ts', () => ({
-  createRunnerConfig: vi.fn().mockReturnValue({
-    command: 'node',
-    outputFile: 'runner-output.json',
-  } satisfies RunnerConfig),
-}));
-
 describe('jsPackagesPlugin', () => {
   it('should initialise the plugin without a given config for NPM', async () => {
     vol.fromJSON(
@@ -60,7 +52,7 @@ describe('jsPackagesPlugin', () => {
         title: 'JS Packages',
         audits: expect.any(Array),
         groups: expect.any(Array),
-        runner: expect.any(Object),
+        runner: expect.any(Function),
       }),
     );
   });
diff --git a/packages/plugin-js-packages/src/lib/runner/index.ts b/packages/plugin-js-packages/src/lib/runner/index.ts
index a4921ff75..04b9338dd 100644
--- a/packages/plugin-js-packages/src/lib/runner/index.ts
+++ b/packages/plugin-js-packages/src/lib/runner/index.ts
@@ -1,15 +1,9 @@
-import { writeFile } from 'node:fs/promises';
 import path from 'node:path';
-import type { RunnerConfig, RunnerFilesPaths } from '@code-pushup/models';
+import type { RunnerFunction } from '@code-pushup/models';
 import {
   asyncSequential,
-  createRunnerFiles,
-  ensureDirectoryExists,
   executeProcess,
-  filePathToCliArg,
   objectFromEntries,
-  objectToCliArgs,
-  readJsonFile,
 } from '@code-pushup/utils';
 import {
   type AuditSeverity,
@@ -26,54 +20,33 @@ import type { AuditResult } from './audit/types.js';
 import { outdatedResultToAuditOutput } from './outdated/transform.js';
 import { getTotalDependencies } from './utils.js';
 
-export async function createRunnerConfig(
-  scriptPath: string,
+export function createRunnerFunction(
   config: FinalJSPackagesPluginConfig,
-): Promise<RunnerConfig> {
-  const { runnerConfigPath, runnerOutputPath } = await createRunnerFiles(
-    'js-packages',
-    JSON.stringify(config),
-  );
-
-  return {
-    command: 'node',
-    args: [
-      filePathToCliArg(scriptPath),
-      ...objectToCliArgs({ runnerConfigPath, runnerOutputPath }),
-    ],
-    configFile: runnerConfigPath,
-    outputFile: runnerOutputPath,
-  };
-}
-
-export async function executeRunner({
-  runnerConfigPath,
-  runnerOutputPath,
-}: RunnerFilesPaths): Promise<void> {
-  const {
-    packageManager,
-    checks,
-    auditLevelMapping,
-    packageJsonPath,
-    dependencyGroups: depGroups,
-  } = await readJsonFile<FinalJSPackagesPluginConfig>(runnerConfigPath);
+): RunnerFunction {
+  return async () => {
+    const {
+      packageManager,
+      checks,
+      auditLevelMapping,
+      packageJsonPath,
+      dependencyGroups: depGroups,
+    } = config;
 
-  const auditResults = checks.includes('audit')
-    ? await processAudit(
-        packageManager,
-        depGroups,
-        auditLevelMapping,
-        packageJsonPath,
-      )
-    : [];
+    const auditResults = checks.includes('audit')
+      ? await processAudit(
+          packageManager,
+          depGroups,
+          auditLevelMapping,
+          packageJsonPath,
+        )
+      : [];
 
-  const outdatedResults = checks.includes('outdated')
-    ? await processOutdated(packageManager, depGroups, packageJsonPath)
-    : [];
-  const checkResults = [...auditResults, ...outdatedResults];
+    const outdatedResults = checks.includes('outdated')
+      ? await processOutdated(packageManager, depGroups, packageJsonPath)
+      : [];
 
-  await ensureDirectoryExists(path.dirname(runnerOutputPath));
-  await writeFile(runnerOutputPath, JSON.stringify(checkResults));
+    return [...auditResults, ...outdatedResults];
+  };
 }
 
 async function processOutdated(
diff --git a/packages/plugin-js-packages/src/lib/runner/runner.int.test.ts b/packages/plugin-js-packages/src/lib/runner/runner.int.test.ts
deleted file mode 100644
index c61af31fc..000000000
--- a/packages/plugin-js-packages/src/lib/runner/runner.int.test.ts
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,45 +0,0 @@
-import { describe, expect, it } from 'vitest';
-import type { RunnerConfig } from '@code-pushup/models';
-import { readJsonFile } from '@code-pushup/utils';
-import type { FinalJSPackagesPluginConfig } from '../config.js';
-import { defaultAuditLevelMapping } from '../constants.js';
-import { createRunnerConfig } from './index.js';
-
-describe('createRunnerConfig', () => {
-  it('should create a valid runner config', async () => {
-    const runnerConfig = await createRunnerConfig('executeRunner.ts', {
-      packageManager: 'npm',
-      checks: ['audit'],
-      auditLevelMapping: defaultAuditLevelMapping,
-      dependencyGroups: ['prod', 'dev'],
-      packageJsonPath: 'package.json',
-    });
-    expect(runnerConfig).toStrictEqual<RunnerConfig>({
-      command: 'node',
-      args: [
-        '"executeRunner.ts"',
-        expect.stringContaining('plugin-config.json'),
-        expect.stringContaining('runner-output.json'),
-      ],
-      outputFile: expect.stringContaining('runner-output.json'),
-      configFile: expect.stringContaining('plugin-config.json'),
-    });
-  });
-
-  it('should provide plugin config to runner in JSON file', async () => {
-    const pluginConfig: FinalJSPackagesPluginConfig = {
-      packageManager: 'yarn-classic',
-      checks: ['outdated'],
-      dependencyGroups: ['prod', 'dev'],
-      auditLevelMapping: { ...defaultAuditLevelMapping, moderate: 'error' },
-      packageJsonPath: 'package.json',
-    };
-    const { configFile } = await createRunnerConfig(
-      'executeRunner.ts',
-      pluginConfig,
-    );
-    expect(configFile).toMatch(/.*plugin-config\.json$/);
-    const config = await readJsonFile<FinalJSPackagesPluginConfig>(configFile!);
-    expect(config).toStrictEqual(pluginConfig);
-  });
-});