Coming soon: Simpler pricing and a better experience for GitHub Actions
Source: GitHub Actions Blog
Pricing updates
On January 1, 2026, GitHub will reduce the price of GitHub‑hosted runners by up to 39 % — depending on the machine type used (pricing details). The free usage‑minute quotas will remain the same.
On March 1, 2026, GitHub will introduce a new $0.002 per minute GitHub Actions cloud platform charge that will apply to self‑hosted runner usage. Any usage subject to this charge will count toward the minutes included in your plan, as explained in the GitHub Actions billing documentation.
Runner usage in public repositories will remain free. There will be no changes in price structure for GitHub Enterprise Server customers.
Deeper investment in the Actions self‑hosted experience
We are increasing our investment into the self‑hosted experience to ensure we can provide autoscaling for scenarios beyond just Linux containers. This will include new approaches to scaling, new platform support, Windows support, and more as we move through the next 12 months.
For more details about the product investments we’re making in Actions, please visit our Executive Insights page.
Recommended resources
- FAQ with answers to common questions about this change: see the post on GitHub’s Executive Insights page.
- New GitHub‑hosted runner rates effective January 1 2026: see the GitHub Actions runner pricing documentation.
- Upcoming GitHub Actions releases: see the GitHub public roadmap.
- Estimate your expected Actions usage cost with the updated Actions pricing calculator.
- Migrating existing self‑hosted runner usage to GitHub‑hosted runners: see the SHR to GHR migration guide.