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Blacksmith alternatives: 5 apps ranked by verified data

Facts checked Oct 25, 2026AppBreakup editorialHow we rank

Common reasons people leave Blacksmith: only works with GitHub Actions, and caching features are paid add-ons. We ranked 5 alternatives by how directly each one replaces Blacksmith, then by reviews, real visits and how recently each app's facts were checked against its own website. Depot currently ranks first.

Quick comparison

#AppPricingOpen sourcePlatformsVerified factsScore
1Depot logoDepotPaidNoWeb4 of 466.5
2GitHub Actions logoGitHub ActionsFree plan + paidNoWeb, Self-hosted4 of 462.6
3Buildkite logoBuildkiteFree plan + paidNoWeb, Self-hosted4 of 459.6
4CircleCI logoCircleCIFree plan + paidNoWeb, Self-hosted4 of 457.2
5Semaphore logoSemaphorePaidYesWeb, Self-hosted4 of 455.3
  1. Depot logo

    1. DepotTop pick

    Best for: Teams whose Docker builds and GitHub Actions runs are slow and costly

    PaidWeb

    66.5

    score / 100

    Why switch from Blacksmith

    Faster runners plus accelerated Docker builds and remote caching.

    Pros

    • Much faster Docker builds with shared cache
    • Drop-in faster GitHub Actions runners
    • Per-second billing

    Cons

    • No free plan beyond a trial
    • Another vendor alongside your CI
    • Mostly helps container-heavy workflows
    Visit Depot Details and reviews
    How this score is calculated
    Editorial fit ×0.3100
    Reviews ×0.363
    Clicks (90 days) ×0.150
    Freshness ×0.1585
    Votes ×0.150

    0 counted reviews, 0 up and 0 down votes. Full formula

    Is Depot a good Blacksmith alternative?

    Verified facts

    4 of 4 verified
    Developer plan
    $20/month
    Checked Oct 25, 2026depot.dev(opens source in a new tab)
    Startup plan
    $200/month
    Checked Oct 25, 2026depot.dev(opens source in a new tab)
    Free trial
    7 days
    Checked Oct 25, 2026depot.dev(opens source in a new tab)
    Developer plan Actions minutes
    2,000/month
    Checked Oct 25, 2026depot.dev(opens source in a new tab)
  2. GitHub Actions logo

    2. GitHub Actions

    Best for: Teams hosting code on GitHub who want CI/CD right next to their repositories

    Free plan + paidWeb, Self-hosted

    62.6

    score / 100

    Why switch from Blacksmith

    Standard hosted runners with no extra vendor.

    Pros

    • No separate tool to set up for GitHub repos
    • Large marketplace of reusable actions
    • Free for public repositories

    Cons

    • Hosted runners are slower than specialist providers
    • YAML workflows get hard to debug at scale
    • Only works with GitHub-hosted code
    Visit GitHub Actions Details and reviews
    How this score is calculated
    Editorial fit ×0.387
    Reviews ×0.363
    Clicks (90 days) ×0.150
    Freshness ×0.1585
    Votes ×0.150

    0 counted reviews, 0 up and 0 down votes. Full formula

    Is GitHub Actions a good Blacksmith alternative?

    Verified facts

    4 of 4 verified
    Free usage
    Public repos and self-hosted runners
    Checked Oct 25, 2026docs.github.com(opens source in a new tab)
    Free plan minutes
    2,000/month
    Checked Oct 25, 2026docs.github.com(opens source in a new tab)
    Team plan minutes
    3,000/month
    Checked Oct 25, 2026docs.github.com(opens source in a new tab)
    Linux minute price
    $0.006 per minute
    Checked Oct 25, 2026docs.github.com(opens source in a new tab)
  3. Buildkite logo

    3. Buildkite

    Best for: Engineering teams with large build volumes who want builds on their own infrastructure

    Free plan + paidWeb, Self-hosted

    59.6

    score / 100

    Why switch from Blacksmith

    Run CI on your own hardware with a hosted control plane.

    Pros

    • Builds run on your own machines, keeping code private
    • Scales to very high concurrency
    • Dynamic pipelines suit large monorepos

    Cons

    • You manage the agent infrastructure unless you pay for hosted agents
    • Per-user pricing adds up for big orgs
    • More setup than all-hosted CI
    Visit Buildkite Details and reviews
    How this score is calculated
    Editorial fit ×0.377
    Reviews ×0.363
    Clicks (90 days) ×0.150
    Freshness ×0.1585
    Votes ×0.150

    0 counted reviews, 0 up and 0 down votes. Full formula

    Is Buildkite a good Blacksmith alternative?

    Verified facts

    4 of 4 verified
    Free plan
    $0 for solo developers and small teams
    Checked Oct 25, 2026buildkite.com(opens source in a new tab)
    Pro plan
    $30 per active user/month
    Checked Oct 25, 2026buildkite.com(opens source in a new tab)
    Free trial
    30 days, no card
    Checked Oct 25, 2026buildkite.com(opens source in a new tab)
    Self-hosted agents
    Yes
    Checked Oct 25, 2026buildkite.com(opens source in a new tab)
  4. CircleCI logo

    4. CircleCI

    Best for: Teams with large test suites that want faster builds and better insight than built-in CI

    Free plan + paidSelf-hostableWeb, Self-hosted

    57.2

    score / 100

    Why switch from Blacksmith

    Full hosted CI with fast machines and test insights.

    Pros

    • Wide choice of machine types including macOS and GPU
    • Test splitting, caching and insights for speed
    • Works with GitHub, GitLab and Bitbucket

    Cons

    • Credit-based pricing takes effort to predict
    • Separate tool from your code host
    • Config can get complex with orbs and anchors
    Visit CircleCI Details and reviews
    How this score is calculated
    Editorial fit ×0.369
    Reviews ×0.363
    Clicks (90 days) ×0.150
    Freshness ×0.1585
    Votes ×0.150

    0 counted reviews, 0 up and 0 down votes. Full formula

    Is CircleCI a good Blacksmith alternative?

    Verified facts

    4 of 4 verified
    Free plan
    Up to 6,000 build minutes/month
    Checked Oct 25, 2026circleci.com(opens source in a new tab)
    Free plan users
    Up to 5 active users
    Checked Oct 25, 2026circleci.com(opens source in a new tab)
    Performance plan
    From $15/month
    Checked Oct 25, 2026circleci.com(opens source in a new tab)
    Included credits
    30,000 on Performance
    Checked Oct 25, 2026circleci.com(opens source in a new tab)
  5. Semaphore logo

    5. Semaphore

    Best for: Teams wanting fast hosted CI, with the option to self-host the same platform

    PaidOpen sourceSelf-hostableWeb, Self-hosted

    55.3

    score / 100

    Why switch from Blacksmith

    Fast hosted CI billed per minute, outside GitHub Actions.

    Pros

    • Fast machines with per-minute billing
    • Clear visual pipeline builder and promotions
    • Open-source Community Edition for self-hosting

    Cons

    • Support tiers cost extra on cloud
    • Smaller ecosystem than GitHub Actions
    • Self-hosting requires Kubernetes
    Visit Semaphore Details and reviews
    How this score is calculated
    Editorial fit ×0.363
    Reviews ×0.363
    Clicks (90 days) ×0.150
    Freshness ×0.1585
    Votes ×0.150

    0 counted reviews, 0 up and 0 down votes. Full formula

    Is Semaphore a good Blacksmith alternative?

    Verified facts

    4 of 4 verified
    Linux machine price
    $0.0075/min (2 vCPU x64)
    Checked Oct 25, 2026semaphore.io(opens source in a new tab)
    Arm machine price
    $0.003/min (2 vCPU)
    Checked Oct 25, 2026semaphore.io(opens source in a new tab)
    Basic support
    $50/month
    Checked Oct 25, 2026semaphore.io(opens source in a new tab)
    Editions
    Cloud, Community and Enterprise
    Checked Oct 25, 2026docs.semaphore.io(opens source in a new tab)

The best Blacksmith alternative for…

The highest-ranked app in this list for each need.

Depot logo

Best Blacksmith alternative for most people

Depot

Faster runners plus accelerated Docker builds and remote caching.

GitHub Actions logo

Best Blacksmith alternative for a free plan you can upgrade

GitHub Actions

Standard hosted runners with no extra vendor.

Semaphore logo

Best Blacksmith alternative for open source

Semaphore

Fast hosted CI billed per minute, outside GitHub Actions.

CircleCI logo

Best Blacksmith alternative for self-hosting

CircleCI

Full hosted CI with fast machines and test insights.

Buildkite logo

Best Blacksmith alternative for working in the browser

Buildkite

Run CI on your own hardware with a hosted control plane.

Blacksmith alternatives: common questions

What is the best alternative to Blacksmith?

Depot ranks first right now. Faster runners plus accelerated Docker builds and remote caching. GitHub Actions and Buildkite follow it in our ranking.

Is there a free alternative to Blacksmith?

Yes. GitHub Actions (free plan + paid), Buildkite (free plan + paid) and CircleCI (free plan + paid) have a free option. Check each app's verified facts for current plan limits.

Is there an open-source alternative to Blacksmith?

Yes: Semaphore. Semaphore can also be self-hosted.

Why do people switch from Blacksmith?

The complaints we hear most: only works with GitHub Actions; caching features are paid add-ons; adds a third party with access to your builds.

How is this list ranked?

Every app is scored with the same published formula: how directly it replaces Blacksmith, reviews (weighted by verification), visits from AppBreakup, how recently its facts were checked against its own website, and reader votes.