Blacksmith CI alternatives for GitHub Actions

We build CRACI, so weigh that in; we describe every option from its own documentation and say when another tool fits better.

Why teams look for alternatives

Blacksmith (blacksmith.sh) is a managed runner service for GitHub Actions, focused on speed and cost. Jobs run in Firecracker microVMs on Ubuntu x64 and ARM from 2 to 32 vCPU, with Windows in public beta and macOS on Apple M4. A colocated cache works with the standard cache actions, sticky disks provide Docker layer caching, and SSH access, metrics and test analytics help with debugging. Blacksmith states it is SOC 2 Type 2 compliant. As of September 2026, 2 vCPU x64 costs $0.004 per minute and ARM $0.0025, with 3,000 free minutes a month.

That is a strong offer. The reasons to compare are about fit:

• Size. Some builds want more than 32 vCPU on a single machine.
• Location. You want runners in your own cloud account, which the Blacksmith pages we cite do not describe.
• Network control. Blacksmith offers static IPs for allowlisting ($100 per IP per month). You may want a policy that limits what a job can reach.
• Evidence. SBOMs are not among Blacksmith's documented features, and a customer or regulation may ask for them.
• Platform maturity. You need Windows runners that are generally available today.

What to look for

• Price per vCPU-minute on x64 and ARM, memory per vCPU, and how usage is rounded.
• The largest machine you need, and which operating systems.
• Dependency, Docker layer and build tool caching.
• Whether runners can live in your cloud account.
• Egress control, SBOMs and provenance.
• The build evidence your procurement asks for.

The options

CRACI (our product)

Switching to CRACI is the same kind of change as switching to Blacksmith: install a GitHub App and change the label to runs-on: craci. Billing is $0.002 per vCPU-minute, metered per second, so 2 vCPU costs $0.004 per minute on x86-64 and on ARM64, with no monthly fee and no per-SBOM charge. The x64 list price is the same as Blacksmith's, and Blacksmith's ARM price is lower. What differs is what the runner records: each job produces an SBOM of what it fetched, with a completeness state, and runs under an egress policy that fails closed. CRACI then monitors those SBOMs, which export as CycloneDX or SPDX.

Best for: teams that want supply chain security handled by the CI itself, for Linux builds of software where you must show what went into each release.

Consider if: you want security built into the runner, not only speed. Like Blacksmith, CRACI runs builds about twice as fast as GitHub-hosted runners. CRACI runs Linux today, with Windows and macOS on the roadmap.

CRACI vs Blacksmith

Depot

Depot offers fast runners and caching, plus build services. Linux runners go up to 64 vCPUs, alongside Windows and macOS. depot build runs Docker builds on remote BuildKit hosts with a persistent NVMe cache, and a remote cache serves Bazel, Gradle, Turborepo and sccache. Linux runners support egress allow and deny rules, and on the Business plan Depot Managed runs the data plane in your own AWS account. As of September 2026, the Developer plan is $20 per month with 2,000 minutes, and 2 vCPU costs $0.006 per minute beyond that, tracked per second.

Best for: teams where Docker image builds dominate CI time.

Consider if: you need 64 vCPU runners or runners in your AWS account.

CRACI vs Depot

Namespace

Namespace runs Linux, Windows and macOS runners on hardware it operates, with Linux shapes up to 64 vCPUs. Cache volumes keep data on local storage between runs, and it offers Docker build caching and Bazel remote execution. Its egress policies block anything not allowed, or run in advisory mode first so you can build an allowlist from real traffic. As of September 2026, a 2 vCPU, 4 GB Linux runner costs $0.002 per minute in plan, and Team is $100 per month with 100,000 unit minutes. Usage has a one-minute minimum per job.

Best for: teams that want egress policy and fast caching from the same runner vendor.

Consider if: you also want Bazel remote execution or cloud dev environments.

CRACI vs Namespace

WarpBuild

WarpBuild lists the same x86-64 price as Blacksmith: $0.004 per minute for 2 vCPU, and $0.003 on arm64, as of September 2026. It offers Windows Server 2022 and 2025, macOS on Apple M4 Pro, container-layer caching and snapshot runners. Its bring-your-own-cloud option runs the same runners in your AWS, GCP or Azure account for $0.002 per minute plus your cloud bill. For enterprises it lists SAML SSO, SCIM and a 99.9% uptime SLA.

Best for: managed runners inside your own cloud account.

Consider if: you run GitHub Enterprise Server, which WarpBuild supports.

CRACI vs WarpBuild

Ubicloud

Ubicloud is an open source cloud with managed GitHub Actions runners. You switch with one label, such as ubicloud-standard-2, and get Ubuntu runners on x64 and arm64 from 2 to 30 vCPUs. As of September 2026, 2 vCPU costs $0.00125 per minute on both architectures, billed by the minute, and every account gets a $2.50 monthly credit, about 1,250 minutes. Ubicloud also lets you manage your own runners.

Best for: a lower per-minute price than Blacksmith on Linux jobs.

Consider if: you only need Linux; Ubicloud's runner documentation lists Ubuntu images only.

CRACI vs Ubicloud

RunsOn

RunsOn launches one ephemeral EC2 instance per job in your own AWS account, from a single CloudFormation or Terraform stack. It runs Linux on x64 and arm64, Windows, and GPU instances, with an S3 cache in your VPC and Docker layer caching built in; macOS jobs stay on GitHub-hosted runners. As of September 2026, the license is a flat annual fee per legal entity, from about $348 (€300) a year to about $4,176 (€3,600), and AWS bills the compute with no RunsOn markup.

Best for: runners inside your own AWS account for a flat license fee.

Consider if: your workloads are non-commercial, which RunsOn covers for free.

CRACI vs RunsOn

Cirun

Cirun starts runners in your own account on AWS, Google Cloud, Azure, Oracle, OpenStack or DigitalOcean, set up in a .cirun.yml file. Runners can use Linux or Windows, ARM machines, and GPUs such as the NVIDIA Tesla T4. As of September 2026, Cirun is free for public repositories, Startup is $29 per month for 3 private repositories and Business is $79 for 10, and the machines run on your own cloud bill.

Best for: GPU runners in your own cloud account, on the cloud of your choice.

Consider if: you maintain open source projects, which Cirun supports for free.

Managed vs self-hosted runners

GitHub larger runners

Staying with GitHub is a real alternative. Larger runners go up to 64 cores and add static IP addresses and Azure private networking. GitHub also offers artifact attestations, which it states provide SLSA v1.0 Build Level 2 (Level 3 with reusable workflows). The trade-off is price: as of September 2026 a 32-core larger runner is $0.082 per minute on x64 and $0.050 on arm64, and larger runners cannot use your plan's included minutes.

Best for: teams that want one vendor and a documented SLSA level.

Consider if: you already route builds through Azure networking.

CRACI vs GitHub-hosted runners

Self-hosted runners

You can run the GitHub Actions runner on your own machines, or on Kubernetes with Actions Runner Controller, which scales runner scale sets with the number of workflows running. GitHub does not charge per minute for self-hosted usage as of September 2026. You pay for the hosts, busy or idle, and you are responsible for patching, isolation and hardening; GitHub warns that self-hosted runners should almost never be used for public repositories.

Best for: jobs that must run inside your network or on your own hardware.

Consider if: you have spare capacity and the time to maintain it.

Managed vs self-hosted runners

Side by side

"Not stated" means we could not confirm it in the vendor's public pages. For the wider field, including StepSecurity Harden-Runner, see GitHub-hosted runner alternatives.

When to stay with Blacksmith

• Speed and cost are your goals, and Blacksmith's figures hold up on your own pipeline.
• You rely on sticky disks specifically, or SSH into running jobs.
• You want Linux, Windows and macOS from one runner vendor with a low ARM price.

Read more about CI/CD integration and CRACI pricing.

Blacksmith alternatives FAQ

Short answers to the questions teams ask when they compare

Is Blacksmith cheaper than GitHub Actions?

Yes, at list prices. As of September 2026, Blacksmith charges $0.004 per minute for a 2 vCPU x64 runner and $0.0025 on ARM, against $0.006 and $0.005 for GitHub's standard 2-core Linux runners. Blacksmith also includes 3,000 free minutes a month.

What is the best Blacksmith alternative?

It depends on the gap. For a lower price per minute, Ubicloud lists 2 vCPU at $0.00125. For larger machines, Depot and Namespace go to 64 vCPUs. For runners in your own cloud, look at WarpBuild, RunsOn or Cirun. For a record of what each build fetched and an egress policy that fails closed, CRACI does both on every job.

Can I run GitHub Actions runners in my own cloud?

Yes. WarpBuild's bring-your-own-cloud option runs in AWS, GCP or Azure, Depot runs in your AWS account on the Business plan, RunsOn runs in your AWS account for a flat annual license, and Cirun supports six clouds including OpenStack. Actions Runner Controller runs self-hosted runners on your own Kubernetes. CRACI runners are managed today, with customer-hosted runners on the roadmap for Enterprise.

Is CRACI cheaper than Blacksmith?

No. CRACI costs $0.004 per minute for 2 vCPU on x86-64 and ARM64, the same list price as Blacksmith's x64 runner, and Blacksmith's ARM price is lower. CRACI competes on what the runner records and controls: an SBOM of what each job fetched and an egress policy that fails closed.

Does Blacksmith support Windows and macOS?

Yes. Alongside Ubuntu on x64 and ARM, Blacksmith offers Windows in public beta and macOS on Apple M4. CRACI runs Linux x86-64 and ARM64 today, with Windows and macOS on the roadmap.