Runloft vs Blacksmith
Blacksmith is a fast, well-established runner provider for GitHub organizations. Runloft is cheaper per minute on every OS, and it also works on personal GitHub accounts.
| Feature | Blacksmith | Runloft |
|---|---|---|
| Linux, 2 vCPU, per minute | $0.004 | $0.003 |
| Windows, 2 vCPU, per minute | $0.008 | $0.007 (by request) |
| macOS, per minute | about $0.08 | $0.06 (by request) |
| Personal GitHub accounts | No, organizations only | Yes |
| Billing | Per-minute rates, 3,000 free minutes per month | Per second, 3,000 free Linux minutes per month |
| Setup | Install a GitHub App, change runs-on | Install a GitHub App, change runs-on |
Blacksmith prices from blacksmith.sh/pricing, October 2026. The macOS rate is approximate. Runloft prices are on the pricing page.
When Blacksmith is the better fit
- You want their add-ons: co-located dependency caching, Docker layer caching, sticky disks and static IPs.
- You rely on their CI observability features, such as test and log search across runs.
When Runloft is
- You work from a personal GitHub account, or want the same runners for personal and organization repositories.
- Price per minute matters more than caching add-ons.
- You run agent workloads where every job must start on a clean machine.
Trying it takes one line
Install the GitHub App on one repository and change one job. If it is not for you, change the line back; there is nothing else to undo.
All comparisons. Others: GitHub-hosted runners, Depot, Ubicloud, WarpBuild, Namespace, RunsOn
.github/workflows/ci.yml
jobs:
build:
- runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+ runs-on: runloft-ubuntu-24.04