Is GitHub Actions still free?
Yes Yes. GitHub Actions had a free tier on the vendor's public page on 2026-10-05.
Actions is free for public repositories and self-hosted runners, and GitHub Free accounts get 2,000 minutes per month for private repositories.
Free tier limits and listed figures
| Item | Value on the vendor page |
|---|---|
| Minutes (GitHub Free) | 2,000 per month |
| Artifact storage (GitHub Free) | 500 MB |
| Cache storage (GitHub Free) | 10 GB |
| Minutes (GitHub Pro) | 3,000 per month |
| Public repositories | free |
| Self-hosted runners | free |
Card and commercial use
- Credit card required
- not stated by the vendor
- Commercial use allowed
- not stated by the vendor
Gotchas
- Docs: "If your account does not have a valid payment method on file, usage is blocked once you use up your quota."
- With a payment method on file, usage beyond the quota is billed per minute
- Deleting artifacts lowers current storage but does not remove charges already recorded
Recent change
GitHub-hosted runner prices were reduced by up to 39% on January 1, 2026 with free minute quotas unchanged; the $0.002 per minute charge for self-hosted runners announced for March 1, 2026 was postponed (https://github.blog/changelog/2025-12-16-coming-soon-simpler-pricing-and-a-better-experience-for-github-actions/).
Alternatives to compare
More in this category: CI/CD.
Source
Vendor page read by software on 2026-10-05, written out as text so you can copy it into your browser:
https://docs.github.com/en/billing/concepts/product-billing/github-actions