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GitHub Actions
Automate your software workflows
As of 29 August 2026, GitHub Actions is free to use. GitHub Actions makes it easy to automate all your software workflows, now with world-class CI/CD. Softwr lists it under Testing. GitHub Actions is made by GitHub Inc., launched in 2008.
Overview
What GitHub Actions does
GitHub Actions makes it easy to automate all your software workflows, now with world-class CI/CD. Build, test, and deploy your code right from GitHub. Make code reviews, branch management, and issue triaging work the way you want.
What people use it 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
The honest half
Where it falls short
Concrete and checkable, so you can decide whether any of them matter to you. This is the half of a review a vendor will not write about 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
Cross-shopped
What people choose instead of GitHub Actions
Each pairing was judged by two reviewers asking whether a buyer would genuinely weigh the two against each other. The ones that failed were deleted rather than published.
- GitHub ActionsvsBrowserStack
BrowserStack: Real device cloud for web and mobile testing
- GitHub ActionsvsBugHerd
BugHerd: Visual feedback and bug tracking for websites
- GitHub ActionsvsCircleCI
CircleCI: The leading CI/CD platform
Pricing
What GitHub Actions costs
Taken from the vendor's own pricing page. Prices move, so check before you buy.
Free
Free
- 2,000 CI/CD minutes per month
- Free for public repositories
Team
$4 /mo
- 3,000 CI/CD minutes per month
- Free for public repositories
- First 12 months at promotional rate
Enterprise
$21 /mo
- 50,000 CI/CD minutes per month
- Free for public repositories
- First 12 months at promotional rate
Answered, with sources
Questions people ask
Each answer names the page it came from, so you can check it rather than take our word for it.
How much does GitHub Actions cost?
GitHub Actions is free for public repositories. For private repositories, the Team plan costs $4 per user per month (first 12 months) with 3,000 CI/CD minutes, and the Enterprise plan costs $21 per user per month (first 12 months) with 50,000 CI/CD minutes.
SourceIs there a free version of GitHub Actions?
Yes, GitHub Actions is free for all public repositories. The Free plan for private repositories includes 2,000 CI/CD minutes per month. All tiers include free CI/CD minutes for public repository workflows.
SourceWhat does the Team plan add to GitHub Actions?
The Team plan provides 3,000 CI/CD minutes per month compared to 2,000 on the Free plan. It costs $4 per user per month for the first 12 months. Minutes apply only to private repository workflows.
SourceBehind it
Who makes GitHub Actions
- Company
- GitHub Inc.
- Based in
- San Francisco, California, USA
Keep looking
Where to go from GitHub Actions
- GitHub Actions alternativesEvery product people weigh against it
- GitHub Actions pricingPlans, floors and what the tiers exclude
- GitHub Actions badgesWhich rules it meets, and the figure behind each
- All Testing softwareThe full category
- Best Testing softwareThe shortlist, and how it was cut
Best Testing software for
Compare GitHub Actions with
- CircleCI
- Insomnia
- BrowserStack
- BugHerd
- TestRail
- k6
- Testsigma
- Appium
- Robot Framework
- Katalon
- GrowthBook
- mabl
- Tricentis Tosca
- Xray Test Management
- Zephyr Scale
- JUnit
- Qase
- WebdriverIO
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Open source11 researched notes
Softwr does not host reviews and shows no star rating for GitHub Actions, because a rating we did not collect is not ours to publish. What is here is the pricing and platform detail from the vendor’s own pages, limitations we could state concretely, and alternatives a reviewer confirmed people weigh against it. Tell us if any of it is wrong.
More on GitHub Actions
GitHub Actions alternatives
What people switch to, and what they give up
GitHub Actions pricing
Every tier, and where the cost actually lands
Compare GitHub Actions
Put it head to head with anything we hold
GitHub Actions badge
Its rating, and an embed for your own site
Best Testing software alternatives
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Open source end-to-end testing framework for React Native apps, built and maintained by Wix
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Open source, no licence fee