GitHub Actions
GitHub Actions is Microsoft/GitHub's built-in CI/CD platform (announced 2018, generally available Nov 2019), the default CI for most GitHub-hosted repos. Workflows are YAML files in .github/workflows/, triggered by push/pull_request/schedule/workflow_dispatch, executing in ephemeral VMs with matrix-build parallelization. On Jan 1, 2026 GitHub cut hosted-runner prices up to 39%: Linux 2-core $0.008->$0.006/min, Windows 2-core $0.016->$0.010/min, macOS $0.080->$0.062/min (macOS still burns quota at 10x the Linux rate). Free tier: unlimited on public repos; private repos get 2,000 min/mo (Free), 3,000 (Team, $4/user/mo), 50,000 (Enterprise, $21/user/mo). A planned $0.002/min self-hosted-runner platform fee was postponed indefinitely in Dec 2025 after community backlash. Current version/status: SaaS, no version number; latest pricing overhaul Jan 2026 (self-hosted-runner fee postponed Dec 2025). License: Proprietary SaaS (the actions/runner agent itself is MIT-licensed open source). Pricing: Public repos unlimited-free; private repos get 2,000 Linux min/mo free (Team $4/user/mo: 3,000 min, Enterprise $21/user/mo: 50,000 min), then $0.006/min Linux 2-core, $0.010/min Windows 2-core, $0.062/min macOS (post Jan-2026 cut), plus $0.25/GB/mo storage over the included allowance. Maintained by Microsoft (GitHub subsidiary).
Pick GitHub Actions when your code already lives on GitHub and you want zero-setup CI: the free tier (2,000-3,000 min/mo) covers most small teams and public repos run unlimited-free forever. Don't pick it for heavy self-hosted fleets or >100k min/mo -- Buildkite's bring-your-own-agent model has no per-minute meter and wins on cost at that scale, and CircleCI's flat per-user pricing beats GitHub's macOS surcharge (still 10x the Linux rate) for mac-heavy mobile shops. GitHub itself admitted it 'missed the mark' on the Jan 2026 pricing overhaul, yanking the self-hosted-runner fee within 48 hours of backlash. Known weakness: GitHub itself admitted it "missed the mark" communicating the January 2026 pricing overhaul, forcing an indefinite postponement of the planned self-hosted-runner platform fee after a community revolt within about 48 hours of the announcement.
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