Blacksmith Alternatives for GitHub Actions in 2026

The best Blacksmith alternative depends on why you are leaving: WarpBuild is the closest match, Ubicloud is the cheapest, RunsOn is cheapest at scale on your own AWS account, and compiler.dev is the simplest if you only need Linux x64 and want a fallback. This is a buyer's list. All prices were checked in October 2026 on each vendor's public pricing page, and the options are ranked by fit for teams already on Blacksmith.

Why teams look for alternatives to Blacksmith

Blacksmith is a good product, so the reasons are usually narrow ones.

• Size pricing is hard to read. Its pricing page lists a 2 vCPU x64 rate of $0.004/min and Arm at $0.0025/min, but does not map prices to larger vCPU sizes. Teams that run 8 or 16 vCPU jobs have to work out their real rate before they commit.
• Add-ons stack up. Docker layer caching and sticky disks are $0.50 per GB per month, and static IPs are $100 per IP per month.
• GitHub organizations only. Per its quickstart docs it does not work on personal repositories.
• macOS price. M4 is listed at $0.08/min, which is higher than some competitors.
• You want a fallback. The pricing page does not describe what happens to jobs if the provider has a problem.
• You want your own cloud account. Some security teams want jobs to run inside their AWS account.

Blacksmith's strengths are real: 3,000 free minutes a month, a co-located cache, and Linux, Arm, Windows and macOS under one login. If none of the points above bite you, staying is a fair choice.

Quick picks

The alternatives

WarpBuild

The nearest like-for-like swap. It lists Linux x64 from $0.004/min at 2 vCPU to $0.064/min at 32 vCPU, Arm from $0.003/min, and macOS M4 Pro at $0.08/min for 6 vCPU. Prices are public at every size, which fixes the main complaint above. The tradeoff: cache storage is billed at $0.20 per GB per month plus $0.0001 per operation, so cache-heavy repos need an estimate. Its bring-your-own-cloud mode is $0.002/min.

Ubicloud

The lowest rates in this list: 2 vCPU x64 at $0.00125/min, 8 vCPU at $0.005/min, 16 vCPU at $0.01/min (standard x64). The tradeoff is that the default for new accounts is the premium x64 tier, which costs more, and there are no macOS runners.

RunsOn

Runs inside your own AWS account. There is no per-minute markup: you pay AWS for EC2 by the second, plus an annual license from EUR 300 for the Starter tier. Control-plane costs start around $7 a month. It suits teams with high volume or data-residency rules. The tradeoff is that you own the AWS side, including quotas and spot interruptions.

compiler.dev

Change one line, runs-on: [self-hosted, Linux, compiler-ci], and jobs run on an 8 vCPU / 16 GB fresh VM at $0.012/min. Other Linux sizes (2, 4, 16, 32 vCPU) are $0.003, $0.006, $0.024 and $0.048. If credit runs out or anything fails, jobs run on your original runners. It has no Arm or Windows, and macOS is early access. Measured full-pipeline benchmarks show median 1.5× faster across 18 measured stacks (15 faster, 2 the same, 1 slower) than GitHub-hosted; we have not benchmarked Blacksmith.

Namespace

Many machine shapes, including more RAM per vCPU. Pay-as-you-go Linux x64 is $0.003/min at 2 vCPU and $0.012/min at 8 vCPU; macOS 6 vCPU is $0.09/min. Team ($100/month) and Business ($250/month) include prepaid minutes at lower rates. The tradeoff is plan tiers to understand, and the rates shown are overage rates.

Depot

Best when the slow part is Docker image building. Remote builders keep a persistent cache disk. Plans start at $20 a month for 2,000 runner minutes, with overage at $0.006/min at 2 vCPU. The tradeoff is a monthly plan fee and no free tier, only a 7-day trial.

Cirrus Runners

A flat $150 per runner per month with unlimited minutes. Each runner runs one job at a time. If your runners are busy most of the day, this is cheap and predictable. If they sit idle, it is not.

How to choose

1. Write down the shapes you actually use (for example 8 vCPU x64) and compare real rates at that size, not the cheapest size.
2. List what you rely on: Arm, Windows, macOS, sticky disks, static IPs. Cross out any provider without it.
3. Decide whether your own cloud account is a requirement. If yes, RunsOn or WarpBuild BYOC.
4. Run the real workflow on two candidates for a day each. The cost calculator shows what a minute rate means for your bill, and the runner price table compares providers side by side.

Migration notes

runs-on is set per job, so you can move one workflow at a time. Replace the label and keep everything else:

jobs:
  test:
    # was: runs-on: blacksmith-4vcpu-ubuntu-2404
    runs-on: [self-hosted, Linux, compiler-ci]

Two things need care. First, if you use Blacksmith's Docker builder actions, switch back to docker/setup-buildx-action and docker/build-push-action before you move, since those are Blacksmith-specific. Second, caches are not portable between providers, so the first run on a new provider is cold. See GitHub Actions caching for how keys work. For the full comparison with compiler.dev, see Blacksmith vs compiler.dev. A ranking across all providers is in the runner provider guide.

FAQ

What is the cheapest Blacksmith alternative?

On published per-minute rates, Ubicloud's standard x64 tier is lowest (2 vCPU at $0.00125/min). For very high volume, RunsOn on your own AWS account can be cheaper still. Always compare at the vCPU size you use.

Is there a free Blacksmith alternative?

Ubicloud gives a $2.50 monthly credit, about 1,250 minutes at 2 vCPU. Namespace has a 30-day trial without a card. compiler.dev has a 200 minute trial with a card required. None matches Blacksmith's 3,000 free minutes a month.

Do I have to change my workflows?

Only the runs-on label, plus any Blacksmith-specific actions such as its Docker builder.

Can I use two providers at once?

Yes. runs-on is per job, so you can split work, for example Docker builds on one and tests on another.