{
  "id": 20140595,
  "title": "RunsOn vs Blacksmith for GitHub Actions runners",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/11/15/runson-vs-blacksmith-for-github-actions-runners",
  "topic": "tech",
  "section": "Tech",
  "published": "2026-11-15T08:09:28.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Dev.to",
    "slug": "dev-to",
    "url": "https://dev.to/kalemi/runson-vs-blacksmith-for-github-actions-runners-3n5g"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "RunsOn and Blacksmith are two pricing models for GitHub Actions runners, as opposed to the traditional rate cards. RunsOn is a flat annual license of 300 euros, which installs into your own AWS account and utilizes the compute on your AWS bill. On the other hand, Blacksmith offers a managed fleet at $0.004 per Linux minute, with a free 3,000 minutes a month allocation. The comparison favors RunsOn due to its lower cost, provided you wish to own an AWS footprint.\n\nUnder the RunsOn pricing model, 10,000 Linux minutes at 2 vCPU plus 2,000 macOS minutes a month cost approximately $29, which is equivalent to the $350 annual license spread over 12 months. In contrast, Blacksmith charges $0.008 per minute for 4 vCPU Linux x64 and $0.005 per minute for 4 vCPU Linux x64, translating to a monthly total of $160 with no extra macOS support.\n\nLatchkey, another pricing model, charges $0.0025 per minute for Linux x64 and offers 2 to 32 vCPU options in Linux and arm64, with Windows Server 2025 in public beta. The monthly price ranges from $5 to $49, depending on the plan, and provides a 15-day trial with 2,000 included minutes, 4,000 minutes for the Launch plan, and 6,000 minutes for the Scale plan.",
  "summary": "RunsOn vs Blacksmith is a choice between two cost models rather than two rate cards: RunsOn is a flat annual license from 300 euros that installs into your own AWS account and leaves the compute on your AWS bill, and Blacksmith is a managed fleet at $0.004 a Linux minute with 3,000 free minutes a month. The rate comparison favors RunsOn heavily and it only counts if you want an AWS footprint to…",
  "key_points": [
    "RunsOn pricing model costs $29/month for 10,000 Linux minutes",
    "Blacksmith charges $0.004 per Linux minute with 3,000 free minutes/month",
    "Latchkey offers Linux x64 pricing from $0.0025 to $0.0025 per minute"
  ],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}