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Developer Tools · head to head

Blacksmith vs Rill Data

Blacksmith logo

Blacksmith

Developer Tools

2x faster GitHub Actions with 60% cost savings

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Visit BlacksmithFull review
Rill Data logo

Rill Data

Business Intelligence

Local-first BI on DuckDB and ClickHouse with dashboards defined as code

From
$20/month
Free plan
No
Visit Rill DataFull review

The short version

  • Blacksmith is a GitHub Actions runner service.
  • Blacksmith has a free plan, then $0.004/mo; Rill Data starts at $20/mo.
  • Only Blacksmith lists bare metal runners; only Rill Data lists local development.
  • Where Blacksmith falls short: per-minute pricing model requires estimating usage to predict costs.
  • Prices and features on this page were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Blacksmith and Rill Data actually diverge.

Attributes where Blacksmith and Rill Data differ
AttributeBlacksmithRill Data
Starting priceFree$20/month
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsGitHub Actions, Linux, Windows, macOSWeb, Linux, macOS, Windows
CategoryDeveloper ToolsBusiness Intelligence

Not yet recorded: pricing model for Blacksmith.

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 Rill Data

  • Local development
  • Dashboards as code
  • Embedded DuckDB
  • Bring your own database
  • Alerts and scheduled reports
  • Embedded analytics

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 Rill Data
  • Accelerating CI build times for organizations with heavy CI loadnot Rill Data
  • Reducing cloud spend on GitHub Actions by 60% or morenot Rill Data
  • Supporting ARM architecture builds without GitHub runnersnot Rill Data

Rill Data

  • An analytics team that wants dashboard changes to go through code review rather than being edited in a web UInot Blacksmith
  • Interactive exploration of event-scale data where a warehouse round trip per filter click is too slownot Blacksmith
  • Embedding fast slice-and-dice dashboards into a product where the underlying store is already ClickHouse or Druidnot Blacksmith
  • A data engineer prototyping a metrics layer locally on a laptop before committing to any cloud spendnot 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

Rill Data

  • The seat price of 20 dollars is misleading as a budget figure: Rill’s own calculator puts a small two-seat project at around 256 dollars a month, with compute making up the great majority
  • Dashboards are defined in YAML and SQL, so business users cannot create or change one without a developer and a Git workflow, which stalls self-service adoption
  • It is built for the explore-a-metric pattern and does not produce pixel-perfect financial or operational reports, so most organisations still need a second reporting tool
  • AI tokens and API calls are quota-limited per seat, with API overage at a cent per call, so programmatic consumers can create an unbudgeted line item
  • As a smaller vendor competing against Looker, Tableau and Power BI, the ecosystem of consultants, templates and trained analysts is thin, which raises the cost of hiring for it

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

Rill Data

$20/month
  • Starter$20/mo
    • Per seat, up to twenty seats
    • Three projects
    • Compute at 0.15 USD per compute unit hour
  • Growth$30/mo
    • Per seat, up to one hundred seats
    • Ten projects
    • Compute at 0.20 USD per compute unit hour
  • EnterpriseOn request
    • Annual platform licence with negotiated capacity
    • Unlimited seats and projects
    • Dedicated infrastructure

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 Rill Data if

  • You need local development.
  • You work on Web, Linux, macOS, Windows.
  • You also want dashboards as code.
Rill Data review

Questions people ask

Is Blacksmith or Rill Data better?
Neither clearly leads. Blacksmith starts at Free and Rill Data at $20/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Blacksmith or Rill Data?
Blacksmith has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Blacksmith and $20/month for Rill Data.
Does Blacksmith or Rill Data run on more platforms?
Blacksmith runs on GitHub Actions, Linux, Windows, macOS. Rill Data runs on Web, Linux, macOS, Windows.
Can I use Blacksmith for free?
Yes. Blacksmith has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Rill Data starts at $20/month.
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 Rill Data is typically brought in for.
What can Blacksmith do that Rill Data cannot?
Blacksmith covers Bare metal runners, Multiple OS support, ARM support, Docker layer caching. Rill Data covers Local development, Dashboards as code, Embedded DuckDB, Bring your own database.

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
Rill Data: Is Rill open source?

The Rill developer binary is open source and free to run locally; Rill Cloud is the paid product.

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
Rill Data: How much does it actually cost?

Seats start at 20 USD per month, but hosted compute at 0.15 USD per compute unit hour typically dominates the bill. Bringing your own database removes the usage fee.

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
Rill Data: Can business users build dashboards?

Not directly. Dashboards are YAML and SQL under version control.

Rill Data: Which databases can back a deployed project?

DuckDB, ClickHouse, Druid, Pinot, Snowflake and others.

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