GitHub Actions pricing 2026
./free-tier --per-minute --jan-2026-cuts
GitHub Actions is the most-used CI/CD platform in the world and the pricing model is simple in theory: a per-user seat fee plus per-minute compute charges, with a generous free allowance. On 1 January 2026 GitHub cut hosted-runner rates by up to 39%, folding a new $0.002/min platform charge into the lower meter prices. In practice the bill still creeps because of macOS runners and storage. This guide covers exactly what you'll pay in 2026 at every team size.
Is GitHub Actions free?
Yes, with limits. GitHub Actions is completely free and unlimited for public repositories and personal accounts. For private repositories the free tier includes 2,000 Linux minutes per month plus 500 MB of artifact storage. Once you exceed that you either move to a paid plan (Team at $4/user/month for 3,000 minutes, Enterprise at $21/user for 50,000) or pay $0.006 per extra Linux 2-core minute, the all-in rate since the January 2026 cut. Windows minutes count double and macOS minutes count tenfold against the included quota.
Plans / 2026
| Plan | Seat | Linux mins included | Storage | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | 2,000 / month | 500 MB | Solo / OSS |
| Team | $4 / user | 3,000 / month | 2 GB | Most teams |
| Enterprise | $21 / user | 50,000 / month | 50 GB | Compliance / scale |
Per-minute runner rates
| Runner | 2025 rate | Since Jan 2026 | Cut | 100K mins / month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Linux 2-core | $0.008 | $0.006 | -25% | $600 |
| Linux 4-core | $0.016 | $0.012 | -25% | $1,200 |
| Linux 8-core | $0.032 | $0.022 | -31% | $2,200 |
| Windows 2-core | $0.016 | $0.010 | -38% | $1,000 |
| macOS 3/4-core | $0.080 | $0.062 | -23% | $6,200 |
Rates: docs.github.com Actions minute multipliers, re-verified June 2026. The 2026 rates are all-in meter prices and include the $0.002/min Actions cloud platform charge. The announced self-hosted runner charge was postponed indefinitely in December 2025 and is not billed.
Real-world monthly costs
Numbers below assume Linux 2-core runners at $0.006/min, the Team plan, 21 working days per month, and average build duration as listed.
Five ways to cut your GitHub Actions bill
- 01. Cache aggressively. Use actions/cache for npm, pip, gradle, and docker layer caches. A 6-minute install often drops to 30 seconds. Caching alone can cut billable minutes by 30 to 50 percent.
- 02. Run jobs conditionally. Use paths filters to skip frontend tests on backend-only PRs. Use github.event_name to skip slow integration tests on draft PRs.
- 03. Self-host hot paths. The biggest jobs (full integration test suite, release builds, macOS) deserve self-hosted runners. Keep PR check jobs on hosted for elasticity.
- 04. Right-size runners. A 4-core runner that finishes a build in 4 minutes can be cheaper than a 2-core runner that takes 12 minutes. Time the trade-off, don't assume the cheap runner wins.
- 05. Set a spending limit. The cheapest invoice is one that didn't happen. Org-level spending limits at github.com/organizations/{org}/billing prevent runaway loops from costing thousands.
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