Software · head to head
CircleCI vs GitHub Actions
The short version
- Each has a real cost: CircleCI the free plan covers 6,000 build minutes and 5 active users a month; GitHub Actions private repository usage is capped at 2,000 minutes per month on GitHub Free and 3,000 on Pro and Team, with anything beyond billed
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which CircleCI and GitHub Actions actually diverge.
| Attribute | CircleCI | GitHub Actions |
|---|---|---|
| Founded | 2011 | 2008 |
Identical on both: starting price (Free), pricing model (freemium), free tier (Yes), platforms (Web), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Unknown).
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
CircleCI
- Continuous integration pipelines for application codenot GitHub Actions
- Parallel test execution across containersnot GitHub Actions
- Docker-based builds with layer cachingnot GitHub Actions
- Deployment pipelines with approval gatesnot GitHub Actions
- Self-hosted runners for private infrastructurenot GitHub Actions
GitHub Actions
- Running CI builds and tests on pushes and pull requestsnot CircleCI
- Automating releases, container image builds and deployments from a repositorynot CircleCI
- Scheduled maintenance jobs and repository automationnot CircleCI
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
CircleCI
- The free plan covers 6,000 build minutes and 5 active users a month
- Active users are billed at $15 each beyond the included five, and an active user is anyone who commits to a project
- Everything runs on credits, so compute, Docker layer caching at 200 credits a job and IP ranges at 450 credits per GB all draw from the same pool
- Network and storage overage costs 420 credits per GB
- Free credits expire monthly with no rollover, and paid credits expire after a year
- Scale is annual billing only
GitHub Actions
- Private repository usage is capped at 2,000 minutes per month on GitHub Free and 3,000 on Pro and Team, with anything beyond billed
- Artifact storage is only 500 MB on GitHub Free and 2 GB on Team, and it is shared with GitHub Packages storage
- Larger runners are always charged for, even on public repositories and even when plan quota remains
- Windows runners cost $0.010 per minute against $0.006 for a 2-core Linux runner, so the same workflow costs more per platform
- macOS runners are charged at a higher per-minute rate than Linux runners
- Failed runs consume minutes, so a job that fails after 5 minutes and is re-run for 10 uses 15 minutes of quota
- Storage is billed on hourly accrual in GB-Hours, so deleting artifacts stops future charges but does not remove charges already accrued in the cycle
- Cache storage is a separate 10 GB per repository allowance and peak hourly usage above it is charged
- Minutes are charged to the repository owner, not the person who triggered the run, and anyone with write access can trigger runs
- Without a valid payment method on file, workflows are blocked as soon as the quota is exhausted
Pricing, plan by plan
CircleCI
FreeNo published plan breakdown. See the CircleCI review.
GitHub Actions
FreeNo published plan breakdown. See the GitHub Actions review.
Which should you pick?
Questions people ask
- Is CircleCI or GitHub Actions better?
- Neither clearly leads. CircleCI starts at Free and GitHub Actions at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, CircleCI or GitHub Actions?
- CircleCI starts at Free and GitHub Actions at Free.
- Does CircleCI or GitHub Actions run on more platforms?
- Both run on Web, so platform support will not decide this one for you.
- Can I use CircleCI for free?
- Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
- What is CircleCI best used for?
- CircleCI is most often used for continuous integration pipelines for application code, parallel test execution across containers, docker-based builds with layer caching, deployment pipelines with approval gates. Of those, continuous integration pipelines for application code and parallel test execution across containers are not what GitHub Actions is typically brought in for.