Tenki vs Blacksmith
How Tenki and Blacksmith compare on price, performance, free tier, macOS support, and migration.
Tenki vs Blacksmith: at a glance
Tenki and Blacksmith are both bare-metal GitHub Actions runner providers that position themselves as faster, cheaper drop-in replacements for GitHub-hosted runners. The biggest practical differences are product scope (Tenki includes an AI code reviewer; Blacksmith is runner-only), hardware footprint (Tenki runs both x64 and Apple Silicon M4 Pro; verify Blacksmith's current macOS lineup on its site), and free-tier generosity.
How we compared
- Sources: Tenki numbers come from this site's product, pricing, and docs pages. Blacksmith numbers come from blacksmith.sh and Blacksmith's public documentation, captured on the "Last updated" date shown above the table of contents.
- Pricing: Tenki's $0.004/min standard rate is cited verbatim from
/pricing/actions. Where Blacksmith's pricing depends on plan or profile, we link to Blacksmith's pricing page rather than restating numbers that may differ across plans. - Hardware: Tenki's hardware claims are verifiable on
/hardware. Blacksmith's macOS availability is hedged ("verify on its site") because the Blacksmith fleet is documented as evolving — we'd rather link than freeze a snapshot that goes stale between updates. - Performance: this page does not run head-to-head perf benchmarks. Tenki's runner numbers are documented separately in Why Tenki with full methodology (hardware, baseline, cache state, sample size). Blacksmith's performance claims are restated from Blacksmith's marketing copy where cited.
- Updates: re-verified each quarter and on every update to this page. Changes are visible via the
dateModifiedshown above and in this repository's git history.
Quick comparison
| Dimension | Tenki | Blacksmith |
|---|---|---|
| Core product | Runners + AI code reviewer | Bare-metal GitHub Actions runners |
| Hardware | Bare-metal x64 and Apple Silicon M4 Pro | Bare-metal x64 (verify current macOS offering) |
| Standard runner price | $0.004/min (2 vCPU / 4 GB Linux) | See blacksmith.sh pricing |
| Free tier | $10 in free credit per month, renewed monthly | See Blacksmith's current free-tier terms |
| macOS runners | Apple M4 Pro bare-metal | Check availability |
| Isolation | Ephemeral Firecracker microVM per job | VM-level isolation |
| AI code review | Included (Tenki Code Reviewer, $1.00 per review) | Not offered |
| Migration effort | One-line runs-on change | One-line runs-on change |
When to choose Tenki
- You want a single vendor for runners and AI pull-request review.
- You need Apple M4 Pro macOS runners alongside Linux/Windows.
- You want Firecracker-microVM-level isolation between jobs.
- You want $10 in free credit every month for evaluation.
When to choose Blacksmith
- You want a runner-only vendor with no adjacent products.
- Blacksmith's specific hardware or region lineup matches your regulatory needs better than Tenki's.
Migration
Both vendors support a one-line runs-on change in your workflow YAML. Migrating to Tenki:
jobs:
build:
runs-on: tenki-standard-medium-4c-8g # was: ubuntu-latest or blacksmith-*See the Runners Quickstart for full setup including the two-click Migration Wizard.
FAQ
Is Tenki faster than Blacksmith?
Both vendors run on bare-metal hardware, so performance depends on the specific workload and profile. Tenki publishes benchmark numbers in the Why Tenki doc, we recommend running your own benchmark on a workload that matters to you on both vendors' free tiers.
Is Tenki cheaper than Blacksmith?
Tenki's standard 2 vCPU / 4 GB Linux runner is $0.004 per minute. Compare against Blacksmith's current published rates for the same profile.
Can I switch from Blacksmith to Tenki?
Yes. Change the runs-on: value in your workflow YAML and run Tenki's Migration Wizard to set up the GitHub App. No other workflow changes are needed.
Does Tenki offer AI code review like a separate add-on?
AI code review is a separate Tenki product (Tenki Code Reviewer) priced at $1.00 per review, drawn from your Tenki workspace credit balance. It can be used independently of Tenki runners.