Blacksmith vs SolidStart

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.

What people use each for

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

Where each one falls short

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

Pricing, plan by plan

Which should you pick?

Questions people ask

Is Blacksmith or SolidStart better?

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

Which is cheaper, Blacksmith or SolidStart?

Blacksmith starts at Free and SolidStart at Free.

Does Blacksmith or SolidStart run on more platforms?

Blacksmith runs on GitHub Actions, Linux, Windows, macOS. SolidStart runs on Web.

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 SolidStart is typically brought in for.

What can Blacksmith do that SolidStart cannot?

Blacksmith covers Bare metal runners, Multiple OS support, ARM support, Docker layer caching. SolidStart covers Fine-grained reactivity, Server actions, Single-flight mutations, Request deduplication.