GitHub announced a package of Actions pricing changes on 15 December 2025. Most of it was good news for buyers: hosted-runner meter rates came down across the board. One part of it was not: a first-ever charge for self-hosted runners. The reaction to the self-hosted fee was strong enough that GitHub reversed it within days, while letting the rate cuts proceed. This page lays out exactly what changed, the old-versus-new numbers, and what it means for your bill.
Figures come from the GitHub billing documentation and the December 2025 GitHub Changelog and community pricing thread, verified August 2026.
The rate cut: old versus new
Every standard GitHub-hosted runner got cheaper on 1 January 2026. These are the all-in overage rates you pay per minute once you exhaust your included allowance. The new rates already include the $0.002-per-minute Actions cloud platform charge.
Runner
Old rate (2025)
New rate (2026)
Change
Linux 2-core
$0.008 / min
$0.006 / min
-25%
Windows 2-core
$0.016 / min
$0.010 / min
-38%
macOS 3/4-core
$0.080 / min
$0.062 / min
-23%
The headline "up to 39%" reduction applies across the whole runner lineup; the larger and Arm-based runners were cut the most. New rates per docs.github.com billing docs, verified August 2026.
The timeline
15 Dec 2025
Changes announced
GitHub publishes the 2026 pricing update: hosted-runner rate cuts of up to 39%, a $0.002/min platform charge folded into the hosted rates, and a new $0.002/min charge on self-hosted runner usage in private repos, set to start 1 March 2026.
17 Dec 2025
Self-hosted fee postponed
After community backlash, GitHub posts that it is postponing the self-hosted billing change to re-evaluate its approach. The hosted-runner rate cuts are confirmed to proceed as planned.
1 Jan 2026
Rate cuts take effect
The lower hosted-runner meter rates go live. Any minute billed from this date is metered at the new rate automatically, with nothing to opt into.
Aug 2026
Self-hosted still free
The self-hosted runner charge has not been reintroduced. GitHub called it a postponement, not a cancellation, so it could return in a revised form.
What it means for your bill
If you pay for overage on hosted runners, your bill fell on 1 January 2026 with no action required. The same workload that cost $0.008 per Linux 2-core minute in 2025 now costs $0.006, a 25% reduction on the metered portion. Windows pipelines benefit most among the standard runners, since the Windows rate fell furthest of the three. macOS came down too, but at $0.062 per minute it remains roughly ten times the Linux rate, so iOS teams still have the strongest case for self-hosting a Mac.
The rate cut also nudges the self-hosting decision. Cheaper hosted minutes push the break-even point higher: you now need more monthly volume before a self-hosted runner pays back its setup and maintenance time. And because the proposed self-hosted charge was shelved, self-hosted runners are still free at the platform level, which keeps self-hosting attractive for high-volume Linux workloads. The one caveat is that GitHub framed the reversal as a postponement, so a self-hosted charge could resurface in a different shape later.
What changed about GitHub Actions pricing in 2026?>
Two things. First, on 1 January 2026 GitHub cut hosted-runner rates by up to 39%: the Linux 2-core rate dropped from $0.008 to $0.006 per minute, Windows 2-core from $0.016 to $0.010, and macOS from $0.080 to $0.062. Second, a separate $0.002-per-minute charge for self-hosted runners in private repos, originally announced for 1 March 2026, was postponed after community backlash and has not taken effect. The free allowances (2,000 Linux minutes and 500 MB storage on the Free plan) were not changed.
How much did GitHub Actions rates actually drop?>
The reduction is up to 39% depending on the runner. The three standard 2-core runners fell like this: Linux $0.008 to $0.006 (down 25%), Windows $0.016 to $0.010 (down about 38%), and macOS $0.080 to $0.062 (down about 23%). The larger and Arm-based runners saw the biggest reductions, which is where the headline 39% figure comes from. All of the new rates already include a $0.002-per-minute Actions cloud platform charge, so there is no separate platform line on your bill.
What was the self-hosted runner fee, and is it happening?>
In its 15 December 2025 announcement GitHub said self-hosted runners in private repositories would begin consuming a $0.002-per-minute charge from 1 March 2026. Self-hosted runners had always been free at the platform level, so the change was unpopular. Within about two days GitHub posted that it was postponing the self-hosted billing change to re-evaluate its approach. As of August 2026 self-hosted runners remain free. GitHub framed this as a postponement rather than a cancellation, so it may return in a different form.
Do the 2026 changes affect the free tier?>
No. The included allowances are unchanged: the Free plan still gives private repositories 2,000 Linux minutes and 500 MB of artifact storage per month, Team still gives 3,000 minutes, and Enterprise 50,000. Public-repository workflows remain free and unlimited. The 2026 changes only touched the overage meter rates, which went down, not the free allowances.
Does the January 2026 rate cut lower my bill automatically?>
Yes, if you pay for overage minutes on hosted runners. There is nothing to opt into: any minute billed on or after 1 January 2026 is metered at the new lower rate. A team that was paying $0.008 per Linux 2-core minute now pays $0.006 for the identical workload, a 25% cut on the overage portion of the bill. Windows-heavy pipelines benefit most among the standard runners because Windows fell furthest of the three 2-core types.
Should the rate cut change my self-hosting decision?>
It raises the break-even point. Cheaper hosted minutes mean you need more monthly volume before self-hosting pays back its setup and maintenance time. On Linux the crossover for most teams now sits higher than it did in 2025 (roughly 80,000+ hosted minutes a month rather than the old threshold). macOS is the exception: at $0.062 per minute, iOS teams still hit the self-hosted-Mac break-even quickly. Use the calculator to compare hosted overage against a self-hosted runner at your real volume.
Where can I confirm these rates?>
The current per-minute rates and included allowances are on the GitHub billing documentation (docs.github.com, about billing for GitHub Actions). The change itself was announced on the GitHub Changelog on 15 December 2025 and discussed in the GitHub community thread on the 2026 pricing updates, where GitHub posted the postponement of the self-hosted charge. All figures on this page were verified against those sources in August 2026.