How I Run 24/7 Automations for FREE Using GitHub Actions (No Servers Needed)

Source: Dev.to

Introduction

I was tired of paying for servers just to run simple scheduled scripts. A VPS cron job can cost $5–20 /month, and AWS Lambda adds complexity and occasional surprise bills. GitHub Actions provides 2,000 free minutes per month on the free tier—enough to run a script every 2 hours, 24/7, for $0.

GitHub Actions workflow

Create the file .github/workflows/automation.yml in your repository:

name: 24/7 Automation
on:
  schedule:
    - cron: '0 */2 * * *'  # Every 2 hours
  workflow_dispatch:        # Manual trigger

jobs:
  run:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - uses: actions/setup-python@v5
        with:
          python-version: '3.11'
      - run: pip install requests
      - run: python your_script.py
        env:
          API_KEY: ${{ secrets.API_KEY }}

Common use cases

• Price monitoring – Track competitor prices and receive alerts.
• Content aggregation – Pull data from APIs and compile reports.
• Health checks – Ping services and alert on failures.
• Data backups – Export from one service and push to another.

Limits on the free tier

Push notifications with ntfy.sh

You can send free push notifications to your phone using ntfy.sh:

import requests

def alert(message):
    requests.post(
        "https://ntfy.sh/your-topic",
        data=message,
        headers={"Priority": "high"}
    )

Now you’ll receive mobile alerts whenever your automations detect something important.

Workflow templates

• FREE starter – 1 workflow + guide:
• Full pack – $79 for 3 workflows + Python scripts:

The free version is enough to get started. Grab it, modify it, and ship it.

Questions

If you have any questions, drop them in the comments. I’ve been running this setup for months and am happy to help troubleshoot.