GitHub Actions Pricing 2026: Complete Cost Guide
Updated after the January 2026 rate cuts. Prices verified against GitHub's published runner pricing, June 2026.
Is GitHub Actions free?
Yes for public repositories: every plan gets unlimited free minutes on GitHub-hosted runners. For private repositories, each plan includes a monthly free allowance, then you pay per minute:
- Free plan: 2,000 minutes/month + 500 MB storage
- Team ($4/user/mo): 3,000 minutes/month + 2 GB storage
- Enterprise: 50,000 minutes/month + 50 GB storage
Beyond the free allowance, Linux is $0.006/min, Windows $0.010/min, macOS $0.062/min (Jan 2026 rates). Minutes do not roll over month to month, and self-hosted runners carry no per-minute fee.
What changed in early 2026
January 2026: Hosted runner prices dropped by up to 39%. The $0.002/min platform fee announced for self-hosted runners (March 2026 start date) was postponed after community backlash and never took effect. Many comparison sites still describe the fee as live.
Current Pricing (January 2026 rates)
| Runner OS | Free Tier (Team) | Per minute | Old price | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Linux (Ubuntu) | 3,000 min/mo | $0.006 | $0.008 | -25% |
| Windows | 3,000 min/mo | $0.010 | $0.016 | -38% |
| macOS | 3,000 min/mo (shared) | $0.062 | $0.080 | -23% |
Note: Free plan = 2,000 min/mo, Team ($4/user/month) = 3,000 min/mo, Enterprise = custom. All minutes are for private repositories. Public repositories receive unlimited free minutes on all plans.
The Self-Hosted Platform Fee That Never Happened
Announced 16 December 2025, postponed within 48 hours
GitHub announced a $0.002/min platform charge for self-hosted runners on private repositories, to start 1 March 2026. Community backlash was immediate, and GitHub postponed the change two days later "to re-evaluate our approach". The charge never took effect: self-hosted runner usage remains free.
Postponed is not cancelled: GitHub has not ruled out a future monetisation model for self-hosted runners, but as of June 2026 there is no announced timeline or replacement. Self-hosted break-even math should use the full $0.006/min hosted Linux rate as the saving. For the full analysis, see our self-hosted vs cloud CI guide and the full 2026 pricing changes brief.
GitHub Actions Monthly Cost Calculator
January 2026 rates, verified against GitHub's published runner pricing June 2026.
No GitHub charge (you pay only your own infrastructure)
Estimates only. Does not include plan subscription costs, storage, or egress. Prices verified June 2026.
Worked Cost Examples
| Team scenario | Monthly minutes | OS mix | Estimated cost/month |
|---|---|---|---|
| Solo developer | 1,000 min | 100% Linux | Free (within 2,000 min) |
| 5-person SaaS team (Team plan) | 15,000 min | 90% Linux, 10% Windows | ~$77/mo |
| 10-person app team (Team plan) | 30,000 min | 70% Linux, 20% Windows, 10% macOS | ~$335/mo |
| 50-person engineering org (Team plan) | 150,000 min | 80% Linux, 15% Windows, 5% macOS | ~$1,382/mo |
macOS Cost Warning: iOS Teams Pay a Premium
macOS at $0.062/min adds up fast
A 15-minute iOS build costs $0.93. At 200 builds/month: $186. At 500: $465. A mobile app team with daily CI on GitHub-hosted macOS runners can easily spend $200-500/month just on macOS compute.
Compare: that same team on a Linux runner would pay $0.090/build (15 min x $0.006), not $0.93. macOS costs roughly 10x more per minute vs Linux.
Recommendation for high-volume iOS teams: consider Apple Xcode Cloud (which includes CI as part of the developer program) or a self-hosted Arm Mac mini (amortised cost: $40-80/month, unlimited minutes).
Free Tier Details
| Plan | Monthly minutes (private) | Public repos | Storage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | 2,000 min/mo | Unlimited | 500 MB |
| Team ($4/user/mo) | 3,000 min/mo | Unlimited | 2 GB |
| Enterprise | Custom | Unlimited | Custom |
Minutes do not roll over. Storage overage: $0.008/GB/day. Concurrency: 20 jobs (Free), scalable on paid plans.