GitHub Actions Tutorial — Pricing & Limits
Pricing & Limits
GitHub Actions pricing is generous, especially for open-source projects. Understanding the limits helps you avoid unexpected charges and optimize your workflow runs.
Free Tier
Every GitHub account gets free GitHub Actions minutes:
| Plan | Monthly Minutes (Private Repos) | Storage |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub Free | 2,000 minutes | 500 MB |
| GitHub Pro | 3,000 minutes | 1 GB |
| GitHub Team | 3,000 minutes | 2 GB |
| GitHub Enterprise | 50,000 minutes | 50 GB |
Public repositories: All plans get unlimited free minutes for public repos. This makes GitHub Actions ideal for open-source projects.
Per-Minute Costs by Runner OS
When you exceed your free tier, GitHub charges per-minute rates:
| Runner OS | Minute Multiplier | Effective Cost (Free plan rate) |
|---|---|---|
| Linux | 1× | $0.008/min |
| Windows | 2× | $0.016/min |
| macOS | 10× | $0.080/min |
Example: A workflow that runs for 10 minutes on macOS uses 100 of your free minutes (10 × 10 multiplier).
What Counts Toward Minutes
| Counts | Doesn’t Count |
|---|---|
| Jobs running on GitHub-hosted runners | Jobs running on self-hosted runners |
| Time spent executing steps | Time waiting in a queue |
| Container setup time | Workflow file parsing |
Usage Limits
| Limit | Value |
|---|---|
| Concurrent jobs (Free) | 20 |
| Concurrent jobs (Team/Enterprise) | 60 / 180 |
| Job execution time | 6 hours max per job |
| Workflow run time | 35 days max |
| API requests | 1,000 per hour per repo |
| Workflow file size | 512 KB max |
| Matrix combinations | 256 max per workflow |
| Artifacts retention | 90 days (default) |
| Cache size | 10 GB per repo |
Cost Optimization Tips
1. Use Linux Runners When Possible
Linux runners are 1×, Windows is 2×, macOS is 10×. If your tests can run on Linux, you’ll save significant minutes.
2. Cancel Redundant Runs
Use concurrency groups to cancel in-progress runs when a new push arrives:
concurrency:
group: ${{ github.workflow }}-${{ github.ref }}
cancel-in-progress: true
3. Cache Dependencies
Caching node_modules, pip packages, or Maven dependencies avoids re-downloading on every run:
- uses: actions/cache@v4
with:
path: node_modules
key: node-${{ hashFiles('package-lock.json') }}
4. Use Path Filters
Don’t run CI on every push — filter to relevant paths:
on:
push:
paths:
- 'src/**'
- 'package.json'
5. Use Self-Hosted Runners for Heavy Workloads
Self-hosted runners don’t consume GitHub-hosted minutes. If you have high-volume pipelines, self-hosted runners can reduce costs dramatically.
Monitoring Usage
Check your usage at: Settings → Billing → Actions
You can also set spending limits to prevent overages:
- Default: $0 (no paid overage)
- You must explicitly increase the limit to allow paid minutes
Quick Reference
| Item | Free (Private) | Public Repos |
|---|---|---|
| Minutes | 2,000/month | Unlimited |
| Storage | 500 MB | 500 MB |
| Linux multiplier | 1× | 1× |
| macOS multiplier | 10× | 10× |
| Job timeout | 6 hours | 6 hours |
| Self-hosted cost | Free (no minutes) | Free (no minutes) |
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