Is Blacksmith or Jaeger better?

Neither clearly leads. Blacksmith starts at Free and Jaeger at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.

Which is cheaper, Blacksmith or Jaeger?

Blacksmith starts at Free and Jaeger at Free.

Does Blacksmith or Jaeger run on more platforms?

Blacksmith runs on GitHub Actions, Linux, Windows, macOS. Jaeger runs on Linux, Kubernetes, Docker.

Can I use Blacksmith for free?

Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.

What is Blacksmith best used for?

Blacksmith is most often used for replacing github actions runners with faster, cheaper infrastructure, accelerating ci build times for organizations with heavy ci load, reducing cloud spend on github actions by 60% or more, supporting arm architecture builds without github runners. Of those, replacing github actions runners with faster, cheaper infrastructure and accelerating ci build times for organizations with heavy ci load are not what Jaeger is typically brought in for.

What can Blacksmith do that Jaeger cannot?

Blacksmith covers Bare metal runners, Multiple OS support, ARM support, Docker layer caching. Jaeger covers Distributed trace search, Dependency graph, Adaptive sampling, Pluggable storage.

Developer Tools · head to head

Blacksmith vs Jaeger

Blacksmith

Developer Tools

2x faster GitHub Actions with 60% cost savings

From: Free
Rated: -

Full review Website

Jaeger

Cloud

Open-source end-to-end distributed tracing

From: Free
Rated: -

Full review Website

The short version

Each has a real cost: Blacksmith per-minute pricing model requires estimating usage to predict costs; Jaeger tracing is only as good as the instrumentation, and partial instrumentation produces misleading gaps
They diverge on capability: Blacksmith covers Bare metal runners, Jaeger covers Distributed trace search.
Prices and features above were last checked on 29 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Blacksmith and Jaeger actually diverge.

Attributes where Blacksmith and Jaeger differ
Attribute	Blacksmith	Jaeger
Pricing model	Unknown	Open source, no licence fee
Platforms	GitHub Actions, Linux, Windows, macOS	Linux, Kubernetes, Docker
Category	Developer Tools	Cloud

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), user rating (Not yet rated).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Blacksmith

Bare metal runners
Multiple OS support
ARM support
Docker layer caching
Sticky disks
GitHub Actions observability
Free tier
Static IPs

Only in Jaeger

Distributed trace search
Dependency graph
Adaptive sampling
Pluggable storage

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Blacksmith

Replacing GitHub Actions runners with faster, cheaper infrastructurenot Jaeger
Accelerating CI build times for organizations with heavy CI loadnot Jaeger
Reducing cloud spend on GitHub Actions by 60% or morenot Jaeger
Supporting ARM architecture builds without GitHub runnersnot Jaeger

Jaeger

Finding which service in a request path causes the latencynot Blacksmith
Understanding real service dependencies rather than the diagram on the wikinot Blacksmith
Debugging failures that only appear under production traffic patternsnot Blacksmith

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Blacksmith

Per-minute pricing model requires estimating usage to predict costs
macOS M4 pricing ($0.08/min) is significantly higher than GitHub Actions
Docker layer caching and sticky disks are paid add-ons at $0.50/GB/mo
Static IP add-on costs $100/IP/mo

Jaeger

Tracing is only as good as the instrumentation, and partial instrumentation produces misleading gaps
Storage is the real operational cost: high-volume tracing on Elasticsearch or Cassandra is a cluster to run and pay for
Traces alone, without correlated metrics and logs, leave you switching between tools during an incident

Pricing, plan by plan

Blacksmith

Free

Ubuntu x64$0.004/minute
- 3,000 free minutes per month
- 2x faster hardware
- 4x faster cache downloads
Ubuntu ARM$0.0025/minute
- 3,000 free minutes per month
- 2x faster hardware
- 4x faster cache downloads
Windows x64$0.008/minute
- 3,000 free minutes per month
- 2x faster hardware
- 4x faster cache downloads
macOS M4$0.08/minute
- 3,000 free minutes per month
- 2x faster hardware
- 4x faster cache downloads

Jaeger

Free

JaegerFree
- Full functionality
- No usage limits
- Community support

Which should you pick?

Choose Blacksmith if

You need bare metal runners.
You want to start without paying.
You work on GitHub Actions, Linux, Windows, macOS.
You also want multiple os support.

Blacksmith review

Choose Jaeger if

You need distributed trace search.
You want to start without paying.
You work on Linux, Kubernetes, Docker.
You also want dependency graph.

Jaeger review

Questions people ask

Is Blacksmith or Jaeger better?: Neither clearly leads. Blacksmith starts at Free and Jaeger at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Blacksmith or Jaeger?: Blacksmith starts at Free and Jaeger at Free.
Does Blacksmith or Jaeger run on more platforms?: Blacksmith runs on GitHub Actions, Linux, Windows, macOS. Jaeger runs on Linux, Kubernetes, Docker.
Can I use Blacksmith for free?: Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Blacksmith best used for?: Blacksmith is most often used for replacing github actions runners with faster, cheaper infrastructure, accelerating ci build times for organizations with heavy ci load, reducing cloud spend on github actions by 60% or more, supporting arm architecture builds without github runners. Of those, replacing github actions runners with faster, cheaper infrastructure and accelerating ci build times for organizations with heavy ci load are not what Jaeger is typically brought in for.
What can Blacksmith do that Jaeger cannot?: Blacksmith covers Bare metal runners, Multiple OS support, ARM support, Docker layer caching. Jaeger covers Distributed trace search, Dependency graph, Adaptive sampling, Pluggable storage.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Blacksmith: How much do Blacksmith runners cost compared to GitHub Actions?

Blacksmith offers 60-75% cost savings depending on OS. Ubuntu x64 costs $0.004/min vs GitHub at $0.012/min. All plans include 3,000 free minutes monthly.

Source

Jaeger: Is Jaeger free?

Yes, open source and CNCF-graduated. Costs are the storage backend you run.

Blacksmith: Can I use Docker layer caching with Blacksmith?

Yes, Docker layer caching is available as an add-on at $0.50/GB/mo. Managed Docker layer persistence is included with the base service.

Source

Jaeger: Do I use Jaeger or OpenTelemetry?

Both, usually. Instrument with OpenTelemetry and use Jaeger to store and query the traces.

Blacksmith: What is the SLA for Enterprise plans?

Enterprise Blacksmith plans include a 99.9% SLA guarantee along with 24/7 priority support, dedicated Slack channels, white-glove onboarding, and CI optimization support.

Source

Jaeger: Does Jaeger handle metrics and logs?

No. It is a tracing system. Metrics and logs need Prometheus, Loki or an equivalent.

Blacksmith vs Jaeger

Blacksmith

Jaeger

The short version

Where they differ

What each one covers

Only in Blacksmith

Only in Jaeger

What people use each for

Blacksmith

Jaeger

Where each one falls short

Blacksmith

Jaeger

Pricing, plan by plan

Blacksmith

Jaeger

Which should you pick?

Choose Blacksmith if

Choose Jaeger if

Questions people ask

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Related pages

More on Blacksmith

More on Jaeger

Keep looking

Other head to heads