--- title: Upcoming Changes to GitHub Actions Pricing and Features... description: GitHub will introduce a $0.002 per minute fee for self-hosted Actions runners starting March 1, 2026, ending the previous free model. After developer backlash,... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/upcoming-changes-to-github-actions-pricing-and-features-in-2026-93gii8l75 twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: Upcoming Changes to GitHub Actions Pricing and Features in 2026 | daily.dev og:description: GitHub will introduce a $0.002 per minute fee for self-hosted Actions runners starting March 1, 2026, ending the previous free model. After developer backlash,... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/upcoming-changes-to-github-actions-pricing-and-features-in-2026-93gii8l75 og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/93gii8L75.png og:image:alt: Upcoming Changes to GitHub Actions Pricing and Features in 2026 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Upcoming Changes to GitHub Actions Pricing and Features in 2026 **[Collections](https://daily.dev/sources/collections)** · 2 min read · 2 upvotes · 1 comments ## Summary GitHub will introduce a $0.002 per minute fee for self-hosted Actions runners starting March 1, 2026, ending the previous free model. After developer backlash, GitHub postponed this change while proceeding with a 39% price reduction for GitHub-hosted runners effective January 1, 2026. The company claims 96% of customers won't see billing changes, though some developers expect significant cost increases. GitHub is also implementing a platform fee for all Actions usage and promises investments in autoscaling, platform support, and Windows compatibility improvements. ## Content GitHub has announced significant pricing changes for GitHub Actions that will take effect in 2026. Notably, the company plans to introduce a $0.002 per minute fee for self-hosted Actions runners beginning March 1, 2026, a departure from the previous free model. This decision has caused consternation among developers, with reports of potential cost increases for enterprise clients. In response to feedback, GitHub postponed this change while maintaining the planned 39% price reduction for GitHub-hosted runners, effective January 1, 2026. GitHub claims the price adjustments align costs with actual infrastructure usage, pointing out that GitHub-hosted runner revenue has been subsidizing the free self-hosted model. The move has sparked debates within the developer community, fueled by concerns over increased expenses for projects utilizing private repositories and self-hosting solutions. While GitHub asserts that 96% of customers will not see billing changes, some developers anticipate significant monthly cost increases. Furthermore, GitHub is committed to enhancing the self-hosted Actions ecosystem, promising investments in better autoscaling, expanded platform support, improved Windows compatibility, and new features like a scale-set client and multi-label support. The broader adoption of a platform fee for all GitHub Actions usage from March 1, 2026, marks the end of free access to the Actions control plane, establishing a revenue framework where compute costs and GitHub's platform fees are inclusive in CI expenses. GitHub plans to engage more transparently with its community in future pricing decisions, ensuring that both open-source and enterprise users benefit from a fair and sustainable model that supports ongoing innovation and development. ## Community discussion Top comments from developers on daily.dev. **@nerdalytics** · 0 upvotes > GitHub charges in minutes even though the self hosted runner finished in few seconds. > > Just checking if anything needs to be build and then stopping the Action takes Blacksmith to finish in 4 seconds. GitHub will charge for the whole minute regardless. > > Microsoft's greed. --- Tags: [#devops](https://daily.dev/tags/devops), [#github](https://daily.dev/tags/github), [#cicd](https://daily.dev/tags/cicd), [#github-actions](https://daily.dev/tags/github-actions) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/upcoming-changes-to-github-actions-pricing-and-features-in-2026-93gii8l75) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"Upcoming Changes to GitHub Actions Pricing and Features in 2026","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/upcoming-changes-to-github-actions-pricing-and-features-in-2026-93gii8l75","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/upcoming-changes-to-github-actions-pricing-and-features-in-2026-93gii8l75"},"datePublished":"2025-12-17T08:11:00.007Z","dateModified":"2025-12-18T14:28:47.716Z","description":"GitHub will introduce a $0.002 per minute fee for self-hosted Actions runners starting March 1, 2026, ending the previous free model. After developer backlash,...","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/7e8577c6287118db52aacbd83e810ab9?_a=AQAEulh","thumbnailUrl":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/7e8577c6287118db52aacbd83e810ab9?_a=AQAEulh","isAccessibleForFree":true,"articleSection":"Collections","inLanguage":"en","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180}},"author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Collections","logo":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/s--fk_6ycEi--/f_auto,q_auto/v1780996001/logos/collections?_a=BAMAMiWQ0","url":"https://daily.dev/sources/collections"},"commentCount":1,"discussionUrl":"https://daily.dev/posts/upcoming-changes-to-github-actions-pricing-and-features-in-2026-93gii8l75","interactionStatistic":[{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":2},{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"CommentAction"},"userInteractionCount":1}],"keywords":"devops,github,cicd,github-actions","timeRequired":"PT2M"} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://daily.dev"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Collections","item":"https://daily.dev/sources/collections"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Upcoming Changes to GitHub Actions Pricing and Features in 2026"}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/upcoming-changes-to-github-actions-pricing-and-features-in-2026-93gii8l75","comment":[{"@type":"Comment","text":"GitHub charges in minutes even though the self hosted runner finished in few seconds.\nJust checking if anything needs to be build and then stopping the Action takes Blacksmith to finish in 4 seconds. GitHub will charge for the whole minute regardless.\nMicrosoft’s greed.","datePublished":"2025-12-18T05:25:55.573Z","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/93gii8L75#c-AvMJqk0li","author":{"@type":"Person","name":"nerdalytics","url":"https://daily.dev/nerdalytics","image":"https://avatars.githubusercontent.com/u/97166791?v=4"}}]} ```