GitHub Actions runner pricing changes
GitHub reduced hosted runner prices by up to 39% for various machine types and operating systems. Additionally, the company postponed a controversial $0.002 per-minute charge for self-hosted runner usage following intense developer criticism.
Reduced costs for hosted runners
GitHub reduced prices for GitHub-hosted runners by up to 39% on January 1, 2026. This price reduction applies to various machine types and operating systems. The new rates include the $0.002 per-minute "Actions cloud platform charge" for all workflows. Smaller runners receive a smaller relative price reduction than larger runners. For instance, the Linux 2-core (x64) runner costs $0.006 per minute. The Linux 64-core runner costs $0.162 per minute. The Windows 64-core runner costs $0.322 per minute. The macOS 12-core runner costs $0.077 per minute.
GitHub lowered hosted runner prices.
The reduction makes high-performance compute cheaper for CI workloads and agent jobs. GitHub positions the reduction as a way to make high-performance compute more accessible for both traditional CI/CD workloads and emerging agentic AI workflows. The new rates apply to many configurations. The Linux 16-core (x64) runner costs $0.042 per minute. The Linux 32-core (x64) runner costs $0.082 per minute. The Linux 96-core (x64) runner costs $0.252 per minute. Windows 32-core (x64) runners cost $0.162 per minute. Windows 96-core (x64) runners cost $0.552 per minute. macOS 5-core (M2 Pro) runners cost $0.102 per minute. For Linux arm64 users, the 64-core runner costs $0.098 per minute. Windows 64-core arm64 runners cost $0.194 per minute. The Linux 4-core (x64) runner costs $0.012 per minute. The Windows 4-core (x64) runner costs $0.022 per minute.
| Operating System | Billing SKU | Per-minute rate (USD) |
|---|---|---|
| Linux 2-core (x64) | actions_linux_slim | $0.002 |
| Linux 16-core (x64) | linux_16_core | $0.042 |
| Linux 64-core (x64) | linux_64_core | $0.162 |
| Windows 4-core (x64) | windows_4_core | $0.022 |
| Windows 32-core (x64) | windows_32_core | $0.162 |
| macOS 12-core | macos_l | $0.077 |
The postponed self-hosted fee
GitHub postponed the $0.002 per-minute charge for self-hosted runner usage. This charge was originally scheduled for March 1, 2026, and applied to private repositories. Developers reacted to the announcement with intense criticism. One developer called the change "absolutely bananas". A developer on a community discussion thread calculated that their monthly bill would increase to over $140 per month just for the privilege of running jobs on their own hardware. Other users pointed out that with a Ubicloud setup at one-tenth of GitHub-hosted runner prices, the new platform fee would mean paying GitHub 2.5 times more than their actual compute provider.
GitHub shelved the self-hosted fee.
GitHub decided to re-evaluate the approach after receiving feedback. The company wants to improve GitHub Actions by listening to developers, customers, and partners. GitHub said the cost of maintaining and evolving essential services was being subsidized by the prices set for GitHub-hosted runners. They increase investment in the self-hosted experience to provide autoscaling for scenarios beyond Linux containers. These investments include the GitHub Scale Set Client. They also plan to provide new platform support and Windows support. GitHub aims to earn user trust through consistent delivery across GitHub Actions and the entire platform.
Will the fee return?
Alternative runner options
Companies use several options for running workflows. You can stay on GitHub-hosted runners, keep self-hosted runners, or migrate to a platform like Northflank. Northflank provides CI/CD, deployments, and databases from a single platform. It supports GitHub, GitLab, and Bitbucket.
Alternatives provide speed.
WarpBuild offers runners that cost less than GitHub-hosted runners. Even with a hypothetical $0.002 per-minute platform fee, WarpBuild’s 6 vCPU macOS runner costs $0.08 per minute. This compares to $0.102 for the 5 vCPU GitHub-hosted macOS ARM64 runner. Bitrise Build Hub uses M4 Apple silicon machines for mobile teams. It avoids the macOS multiplier trap. On GitHub, macOS jobs consume included minutes at a 10x multiplier. Bitrise Build Hub uses an included dollar amount instead.
CircleCI provides CI/CD pipelines with support for Docker, Kubernetes, and VM execution environments. It offers autoscaling for self-hosted runner fleets. GitLab CI provides an all-in-one experience for teams already using GitLab. Buildkite provides a hybrid model where builds run on agents that teams deploy on their own infrastructure or on Buildkite-hosted agents. Semaphore provides agent-native CI/CD that is roughly 2x faster and cheaper than GitHub Actions. Harness provides deployment pipelines with approval gates, feature flags, and compliance tooling for enterprises. Travis CI provides YAML-based pipeline configuration with cloud-hosted and self-hosted runner options. Depot offers faster builds with managed runners using BuildKit builders.
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