{
  "id": 20166105,
  "title": "Latchkey vs Blacksmith for GitHub Actions runners",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/11/15/latchkey-vs-blacksmith-for-github-actions-runners",
  "topic": "tech",
  "section": "Tech",
  "published": "2026-11-15T11:39:48.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Dev.to",
    "slug": "dev-to",
    "url": "https://dev.to/kalemi/latchkey-vs-blacksmith-for-github-actions-runners-5h98"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Latchkey and Blacksmith offer managed GitHub Actions runners, both billing per minute. The main difference lies in pricing, features and supported operating systems. Latchkey charges $0.0025 per minute for 2 vCPU and 8 GB RAM on Linux, while Blacksmith charges $0.004 per minute for the same configuration. Blacksmith offers arm64, Windows and macOS runners, plus 3,000 free minutes a month, which Latchkey does not provide. Blacksmith also offers collocated cache, sticky disks for Docker layer reuse, and self-healing agent for transient failures. Latchkey offers a 100 GB disk at both 2 and 4 vCPU sizes, compared to Blacksmith's 80 GB. Latchkey wins in cost for most CI jobs, being 37.5% cheaper at 2 vCPU and 8 GB.",
  "summary": "Latchkey and Blacksmith both replace ubuntu-latest with a one-line runs-on change and both bill per minute, so the choice comes down to three things: the rate, what you need beyond Linux x64, and whether a failed job costs you a re-run. Latchkey is $0.0025 a minute at 2 vCPU against Blacksmith at $0.004, and Blacksmith ships arm64, Windows and macOS runners plus 3,000 free minutes a month, none…",
  "key_points": [
    "Latchkey charges $0.0025 per minute for 2 vCPU and 8 GB RAM on Linux",
    "Blacksmith charges $0.004 per minute for the same configuration",
    "Blacksmith offers arm64, Windows, macOS runners and 3,000 free minutes/month"
  ],
  "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."
}