GitHub Actions: lower hosted prices, a self-hosted runner charge, then a postponement

2025-12-16 · Publisher : GitHub · Domain : Cloud & DevOps

On 16 December 2025, GitHub announces up to 39% lower prices for hosted runners and a $0.002 per minute charge on self-hosted runners from March 2026. After criticism, the charge is postponed.

### Background On 16 December 2025, GitHub announces an overhaul of GitHub Actions pricing. Two measures: a price cut for GitHub-hosted runners, up to 39% depending on machine type, effective 1 January 2026; and a new "GitHub Actions cloud platform charge" of $0.002 per minute applying to self-hosted runners in private repositories from 1 March 2026. ### Key facts - Existing free usage quotas are unchanged; the self-hosted runner charge would consume the free minutes included in plans. - Runner usage in public repositories stays free. - GitHub says 96% of customers would see no change in their bill, and that affected customers would mostly see decreases. - After community criticism, GitHub announces, in an update to the same post, a postponement of the self-hosted runner billing change while it re-evaluates its approach. - The hosted-runner price cut on 1 January 2026 is maintained. ### Why it matters Self-hosted runners are the usual choice of organizations that want to control the cost, network and compliance of their CI. The charge, even postponed, shows that the cost of a hosted CI orchestrator can change without the customer controlling the infrastructure. For consulting firms, the lesson is to measure dependence on a single CI vendor and to study workflow portability. The hosted-runner price cut of 1 January 2026 remains in force: it may reduce the bill of teams that do not use self-hosted runners. ### Takeaway A charge announced then suspended: the cost of a CI platform is a contractual risk to track.

Tags : CI/CD, DevOps, FinOps, Licence