Compare
OpenRunners vs Blacksmith
Blacksmith runs GitHub Actions jobs on Firecracker microVMs on bare-metal hardware, with a free monthly allowance, broad OS coverage and a large observability feature set.
Side by side
The facts, sourced.
Blacksmith values come from its public pages, accessed 2026-10-14. OpenRunners values come from its published pricing policy and product limits.
| Attribute | OpenRunners | Blacksmith |
|---|---|---|
| Linux x64 $/vCPU-minute | $0.0020 (planned) | $0.0020 |
| Linux arm64 $/vCPU-minute | Not offered | $0.00125 |
| Billing unit | Per second, 10-second minimum (planned) | Not stated on the pricing page |
| Free tier | None; discretionary one-time alpha credits | 3,000 x64 2-vCPU minutes per month |
| Fixed fees | None | None listed |
| Isolation | Firecracker + jailer microVM per job (design target, in validation) | Firecracker microVM per job |
| Cache | Serverless cache plane on object storage (in validation) | Co-located Actions cache; Docker layer cache and sticky disks at $0.50/GB-month |
| Source license | Apache-2.0; source publication follows release review | Closed platform; some helper actions are public |
| Agent tooling | JSON CLI, REST API, two-tool MCP server from one registry | JSON-default CLI and Testboxes; no first-party MCP server found |
| Operating systems | Linux x64 only | Linux x64 and arm64, Windows (beta), macOS |
| Example month (4 vCPU, 50,000 job-minutes) | $400 | $400 |
Source: blacksmith.sh/pricing (accessed 2026-10-14). Before the free monthly allowance. Example month excludes free tiers, credits and rounding. Tell us at [email protected] if a value is out of date.
Choosing
Which one fits your team.
Choose Blacksmith when
- You need arm64, Windows or macOS runners today.
- You want a recurring free monthly allowance.
- You want built-in log search, test analytics and monitors in a mature product today.
Where OpenRunners differs
- OpenRunners is licensed under Apache-2.0 and designed to be self-hosted; Blacksmith's runners and control plane are closed.
- OpenRunners plans per-second billing that counts only customer-code execution; Blacksmith does not state its billing unit on the pricing page.
- OpenRunners exposes one operation registry through an API, a JSON CLI and an MCP server.
- OpenRunners is an invite-only alpha with customer admission closed; Blacksmith is generally available.
Migration
One line per job.
After your organization is admitted and a repository is selected, change the runs-on label. Workflow syntax does not change.
jobs:
build:
- runs-on: blacksmith-4vcpu-ubuntu-2404
+ runs-on: openrunners-4vcpu-ubuntu-2404FAQ
OpenRunners and Blacksmith.
Not on list price. The planned OpenRunners x64 rate and Blacksmith's published x64 rate are both $0.0020 per vCPU-minute. Blacksmith lists a lower arm64 rate and a free monthly allowance; OpenRunners offers neither.
Blacksmith documents Firecracker microVMs. Firecracker with jailer is the OpenRunners customer boundary by design; its runtime gates are still being validated before customer admission opens.
Both products are selected with a runs-on label. Replace the Blacksmith label with an OpenRunners label once your organization is admitted.
Run your next job on a runner that shows its work.
Admission is manual for trusted GitHub repositories while the release gates close. Sign in with GitHub to request access and we will review your organization when a slot opens.