# Blacksmith (GitHub Actions runners)

Official pricing: https://www.blacksmith.sh/pricing  
Category: macos · Isolation: vm

## Pricing regimes (raw)

- **macOS M4 runners, per minute** (sizes): blacksmith-6vcpu-macos (M4, 6 vCPU / 24 GB) 6 vCPU/24 GiB $4.8/h; blacksmith-12vcpu-macos (M4, 12 vCPU / 48 GB) 12 vCPU/48 GiB $9.6/h
- **Windows Server 2025 runners (public beta), per minute** (sizes): 2 vCPU / 7 GB 2 vCPU/7 GiB $0.48/h; 4 vCPU / 14 GB 4 vCPU/14 GiB $0.96/h; 8 vCPU / 28 GB 8 vCPU/28 GiB $1.92/h; 16 vCPU / 56 GB 16 vCPU/56 GiB $3.84/h; 32 vCPU / 112 GB 32 vCPU/112 GiB $7.68/h [beta]
- **Ubuntu x64 runners, per minute** (sizes): 2 vCPU / 8 GB 2 vCPU/8 GiB $0.24/h; 4 vCPU / 16 GB 4 vCPU/16 GiB $0.48/h; 8 vCPU / 32 GB 8 vCPU/32 GiB $0.96/h; 16 vCPU / 64 GB 16 vCPU/64 GiB $1.92/h; 32 vCPU / 128 GB 32 vCPU/128 GiB $3.84/h
- **Ubuntu ARM runners, per minute** (sizes): blacksmith-2vcpu-ubuntu-2404-arm (2 vCPU / 6 GB) 2 vCPU/6 GiB $0.15/h; blacksmith-4vcpu-ubuntu-2404-arm (4 vCPU / 12 GB) 4 vCPU/12 GiB $0.3/h; blacksmith-8vcpu-ubuntu-2404-arm (8 vCPU / 24 GB) 8 vCPU/24 GiB $0.6/h; blacksmith-16vcpu-ubuntu-2404-arm (16 vCPU / 48 GB) 16 vCPU/48 GiB $1.2/h; blacksmith-32vcpu-ubuntu-2404-arm (32 vCPU / 96 GB) 32 vCPU/96 GiB $2.4/h
- **Testbox (agent dev VM on x64 runner rates, early beta)** (sizes): 2 vCPU / 8 GB 2 vCPU/8 GiB $0.24/h; 4 vCPU / 16 GB 4 vCPU/16 GiB $0.48/h; 8 vCPU / 32 GB 8 vCPU/32 GiB $0.96/h; 16 vCPU / 64 GB 16 vCPU/64 GiB $1.92/h; 32 vCPU / 128 GB 32 vCPU/128 GiB $3.84/h [beta]

## Features

Yes: persistent disk, volumes, idle auto-stop, ≥24 h sessions, full VM (own kernel), Docker inside, nested virtualization, root, browser, SSH, static egress IP, SOC 2, arm64, Windows, macOS, Python, Node.js, EU data residency, gVisor or VM (no shared kernel), firewall inside (nftables), extra volumes

No: snapshots, memory snapshots, fork/clone, pause/resume, custom image (Docker or snapshot), start from your own snapshot, your own Docker/OCI image, systemd, desktop GUI, computer-use API, code interpreter, browser + desktop control, anti-bot stealth, CAPTCHA solving, residential IPs, preinstalled agents, public IPv4, HTTPS preview URLs, custom domains, raw TCP inbound, egress allowlist, private networking, self-hosting, BYOC, open source, HIPAA, SSO, GPU, GPU desktop, HTTP method/path egress rules, wake on request, live resize, live fork (no pause), memory fork, MCP server, automatic snapshots, snapshots on demand, agent harness API, hosted agent API (their own agent), inbound access rules, secret proxy, secret proxy for any API, shared volumes

Unknown: everything else. Evidence (source + quote) per feature: https://battleships.dev/data/providers/blacksmith.json → feature_evidence

## Caveats

- GitHub Actions runners only: jobs must be triggered by workflows; not a general agent sandbox.
- Per-minute rounding assumed (GitHub job minutes); not explicitly stated.
- Sticky disks / Docker layer cache $0.50/GB-month; static IPs $100/IP/month (Windows/Ubuntu).
- macOS capacity and regions not published.
- ARM prices for 4-32 vCPU ($0.005-$0.04/min) and macOS 12 vCPU ($0.16/min) are shown directly on the pricing page vCPU selector.
- Blacksmith Sandboxes (full-VM sandboxes for coding agents with environment snapshots) is waitlist-only beta with no published price; not encoded.
- Sticky disks / Docker layer cache ($0.50/GB-month, metered hourly) are auto-evicted after 7 days without use. actions/cache is free: 25 GB per repo per week, LRU eviction.

## How this provider charges


Blacksmith sells drop-in GitHub Actions runners (Linux x64/arm64, Windows Server 2025 beta, macOS M4), billed per minute. Prices scale with vCPU relative to a **2-vCPU x64 base minute ($0.004)**:
- ARM: 0.625x
- Windows: 2x
- macOS: 20x per 6 vCPU

## Regime table

| # | Regime | When it applies | How billed | Numbers | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ubuntu x64 | `blacksmith-Nvcpu-ubuntu-*` | Per minute, proportional to vCPU | $0.004/min per 2 vCPU (2/8 $0.004 up to 32/128 $0.064) | https://www.blacksmith.sh/pricing, https://docs.blacksmith.sh/blacksmith-runners/overview |
| 2 | Ubuntu arm64 | arm labels | same | $0.0025/min per 2 vCPU | same |
| 3 | Windows x64 (public beta) | Windows Server 2025 | same, 2x x64 | 2 vCPU/7 GB **$0.008**; 4/14 $0.016; 8/28 $0.032; 16/56 $0.064; 32/112 $0.128 | same |
| 4 | macOS M4 | `blacksmith-6vcpu-macos-*` / 12vcpu | same, 20x x64 per 6 vCPU | 6 vCPU/24 GB **$0.08/min**; 12 vCPU/48 GB $0.16/min | same |
| 5 | Free minutes | Every org | 3,000 x64-2vCPU minutes/month, consumed faster on bigger, Windows or macOS runners | ≈ $12/month of usage | docs overview |
| 6 | Sticky disks / Docker layer cache | Opt-in | GB-month | $0.50/GB-month | pricing |
| 7 | Static IPs | Windows/Ubuntu | Per IP per month | $100/IP/month | pricing |
| 8 | Enterprise | Contact | SLA, support | Custom | pricing |

## Gotchas

1. GitHub Actions jobs only (`runs-on:` label), not a general sandbox.
2. Free minutes are x64-equivalent: 3,000 free minutes = only 150 macOS 6-vCPU minutes.
3. Windows is beta. macOS capacity and regions are not published.
4. Per-minute rounding is assumed (GitHub job minutes).

## Worked example

Workload: 4 vCPU / 8 GiB, 50 concurrent × 8 h/day × 22 days (8,800 h), 30% CPU, 50 GiB "snapshots" (sticky disk), 100 GiB egress. Illustrative: CI jobs, not sessions.

| Regime | Compute | Sticky disk 50 GB | Free credit | **Monthly** |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| macOS 6 vCPU ($4.80/h) | $42,240.00 | $25.00 | -$12.00 | **$42,253.00** |
| Windows 4 vCPU/14 GB ($0.96/h; RAM 14 ≥ 8) | $8,448.00 | $25.00 | -$12.00 | **$8,461.00** |
| Linux 4 vCPU/16 GB ($0.48/h) | $4,224.00 | $25.00 | -$12.00 | $4,237.00 |

Egress is not metered or published. CPU utilisation does not matter.

Sources: https://www.blacksmith.sh/pricing · https://docs.blacksmith.sh/blacksmith-runners/overview