Testing & QA · head to head
GitHub Actions vs CircleCI
The short version
- Each has a real cost: 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; CircleCI the free plan covers 6,000 build minutes and 5 active users a month
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which GitHub Actions and CircleCI actually diverge.
| Attribute | GitHub Actions | CircleCI |
|---|---|---|
| Founded | 2008 | 2011 |
Identical on both: starting price (Free), pricing model (freemium), free tier (Yes), platforms (Web), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Testing & QA).
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
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
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
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
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
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
Pricing, plan by plan
GitHub Actions
FreeNo published plan breakdown. See the GitHub Actions review.
CircleCI
FreeNo published plan breakdown. See the CircleCI review.
Which should you pick?
Questions people ask
- Is GitHub Actions or CircleCI better?
- Neither clearly leads. GitHub Actions starts at Free and CircleCI at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, GitHub Actions or CircleCI?
- GitHub Actions starts at Free and CircleCI at Free.
- Does GitHub Actions or CircleCI run on more platforms?
- Both run on Web, so platform support will not decide this one for you.
- Can I use GitHub Actions for free?
- Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
- What is GitHub Actions best used for?
- GitHub Actions is most often used for running ci builds and tests on pushes and pull requests, automating releases, container image builds and deployments from a repository, scheduled maintenance jobs and repository automation. Of those, running ci builds and tests on pushes and pull requests and automating releases, container image builds and deployments from a repository are not what CircleCI is typically brought in for.