Prices read from Blacksmith's own pages on 1 October 2026
Blacksmith pricing: per-minute runner rates and the free allowance
Blacksmith charges per runner minute with no plan fee, and gives every account 3,000 free minutes a month. Its 2 vCPU Linux x64 runner lists at $0.004 per minute against GitHub's $0.006, and its ARM runner at $0.0025 against GitHub's $0.005.
We run no affiliate links and earn nothing from Blacksmith. Every figure below is copied from Blacksmith's published pricing and links to its source; nothing is estimated. Read the methodology.
THE SHORT VERSION · 1 OCTOBER 2026
Runner rates by size
Blacksmith's pricing page has a vCPU selector for each OS. These are the per-minute prices it shows for each size.
| vCPU | Ubuntu x64 | Ubuntu ARM | Windows x64 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | $0.004 | $0.0025 | $0.008[1] |
| 4 | $0.008 | $0.005 | $0.016[1] |
| 8 | $0.016 | $0.01 | $0.032[1] |
| 16 | $0.032 | $0.02 | $0.064[1] |
| 32 | $0.064 | $0.04 | $0.128[1] |
macOS M4 is offered in two sizes: 6 vCPU at $0.08/min and 12 vCPU at $0.16/min.
Add-ons and programmes
| Item | Price |
|---|---|
| Docker layer caching (Ubuntu) | +$0.50/GB/month[1] |
| Sticky disks (Ubuntu) | +$0.50/GB/month[1] |
| Static IPs | +$100/IP/month[1] |
| Startup discount | On request: under 100 employees, under $50 million raised, under 5 years old[1] |
| Enterprise | Contact sales: 99.9% SLA, 24/7 priority support, dedicated Slack channel[1] |
Blacksmith against GitHub-hosted runners
Blacksmith's per-minute rates against GitHub's rate for the nearest runner. Blacksmith's own headline of 67% total savings assumes its runners finish jobs twice as fast; the table below is per-minute price only.
| Runner | Blacksmith | GitHub-hosted | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Linux x64, 2 vCPU | $0.004[1] | $0.006 (2-core)[2] | -33% |
| Linux x64, 4 vCPU | $0.008[1] | $0.012 (4-core)[2] | -33% |
| Linux x64, 8 vCPU | $0.016[1] | $0.022 (8-core)[2] | -27% |
| Linux ARM, 2 vCPU | $0.0025[1] | $0.005 (2-core arm64)[2] | -50% |
| Windows x64, 2 vCPU | $0.008[1] | $0.010 (2-core)[2] | -20% |
| macOS (Blacksmith 6 vCPU M4 vs GitHub 3-4 core) | $0.08[1] | $0.062[2] | +29% (different hardware) |
Difference = Blacksmith rate against the GitHub-hosted rate in the same row; negative means Blacksmith is cheaper per minute. GitHub rates from our GitHub Actions pricing page, re-read from GitHub's docs on 1 October 2026. Shapes are not identical across vendors, so compare like with like where a row says so.
WORKED EXAMPLE: 25,000 Linux minutes a month on the 2 vCPU runner
List prices only. The GitHub figures are before any minutes your GitHub plan includes. The free-minute lines assume the 3,000 free minutes all go to this runner; Blacksmith's page does not say how they apply across OS types.
On Linux and Windows Blacksmith is cheaper per minute than GitHub-hosted at every size it lists, and with no plan fee the saving starts from the first minute. ARM is where the gap is widest: half GitHub's arm64 rate.
macOS is the exception. Blacksmith's 6 vCPU M4 runner costs more per minute than GitHub's standard macOS runner, so any macOS saving depends on jobs finishing faster on the larger machine.
Billing details that change the bill
Docker layer caching and sticky disks are charged per GB per month on top of runner minutes ($0.50/GB/month each).[1]
The 67% and 75% savings figures on Blacksmith's page combine the per-minute discount with an estimated 2x faster runtime. Only the per-minute part is a published price.[1]
Static IPs cost $100 per IP per month, which matters if your builds reach allow-listed infrastructure.[1]
Frequently asked questions
How much does Blacksmith cost?+
Is Blacksmith cheaper than GitHub Actions?+
Does Blacksmith have a free tier?+
Does Blacksmith have a monthly minimum or plan fee?+
SOURCES · ALL READ 1 OCTOBER 2026
- [1]Blacksmith pricing page: https://www.blacksmith.sh/pricing, read 1 October 2026.
- [2]GitHub Docs, Actions runner pricing: https://docs.github.com/en/billing/reference/actions-runner-pricing, read 1 October 2026.
Vendors change prices without notice. If a figure here no longer matches Blacksmith's page, the vendor page wins; tell us and we will re-read it.