Every software team needs CI/CD, but build minutes add up fast. GitHub Actions is the default choice with 2,000 free minutes/month for private repos and unlimited for public, and self-hosted runners stay free after GitHub postponed a planned $0.002/min charge. GitLab CI cut its free tier to 400 minutes/month. CircleCI offers 30K credits/month (~6K minutes) but requires a credit card for some features.
This page compares every free CI/CD option in our index — 38 tools across general-purpose platforms, container-native pipelines, mobile CI/CD, and infrastructure automation. Whether you need cloud-hosted runners or self-hosted pipelines, we have the comparison with exact free tier limits.
Recent CI/CD Pricing Changes
GitHub Actions: Self-hosted runner per-minute fee ($0.002/min) announced for March 2026 was postponed indefinitely after community ba... Source ↗
CircleCI: CircleCI's plan table began listing the (x86) Docker (Gen 2) Small, Medium, Medium+ and Large resource classes as ava... Source ↗
Buildkite: Between the Internet Archive's captures of 2026-06-14 and 2026-09-01, Buildkite replaced its $0 Personal plan (1 user... Source ↗
Full-featured CI/CD platforms with cloud-hosted runners, pipeline configuration, and integrations. These cover most use cases — from simple test-and-deploy to complex multi-stage pipelines.
The Free plan includes 30,000 credits/month, 5 active users, and options for different resource classes (Docker, Windows, Linux, Arm, macOS) with varying concurrency levels (30x for Docker, Linux, Arm, Windows VM, and macOS VM).
The Free Plan offers up to 5 users, up to 10 concurrent jobs, up to 2,000 Linux vCPU minutes per month, up to 250k test executions per month, 30 days build retention, and 50GB/month artifact storage.
CI/CD platform — Free Plan is available for individual developers and small teams. It includes up to 60 concurrent pipeline executions, 250GB storage, up to 1 organization, up to 500 maximum users, up to 5 custom dashboards, unlimited templates, up to 5 custom roles, and policy as code.
CD service for Windows, free for Open SourceThe page we cite for this offer states no amount, tier or rate we can read when we last looked, on 2026-09-02, so we cannot confirm these terms today.
Free for public GitHub repositoriesWe could not read the page we cite for this offer when we last looked, on 2026-09-28, so we cannot confirm these terms today.
Docker-first and Kubernetes-native CI/CD tools. Built for containerized workflows, GitOps, and cloud-native deployments. Many are open source with self-hosted options.
Free OSS (Apache 2.0). Community fork of Drone CI. Container-native CI/CD with YAML pipelines, multi-platform support, Gitea/Forgejo/GitHub/GitLab integrationThe page we cite for this offer states no amount, tier or rate we can read when we last looked, on 2026-09-02, so we cannot confirm these terms today.
Container-native CI/CD (now part of Harness) — free open-source edition (self-hosted): unlimited users and concurrency, YAML pipelines, Docker-based builds. Cloud available free for open-source projectsThe page we cite for this offer states no amount, tier or rate we can read when we last looked, on 2026-09-02, so we cannot confirm these terms today.
CI/CD and GitOps platform — free plan: 120 builds/month, 1 concurrent pipeline. Docker-native build engine with built-in Docker registryThe page we cite for this offer does not name it when we last looked, on 2026-09-05, so we cannot confirm these terms today.
Specialized CI/CD for iOS, Android, Flutter, and React Native apps. Handle code signing, device testing, and app store distribution that general-purpose tools struggle with.
Mobile CI/CD platform — Single-user plan with unlimited number of applications and 500 free build minutes refilled every month. 30 days build history & artifact storage, 10GB per build cache storage.
Mobile CI/CD and distribution — free Starter plan: 20 builds/month, 1 concurrent build, 30-minute max build time, unlimited apps, 1,000 CodePush updates/month, 100 testing distribution downloads/month
Deploy your app on AWS/GCP/Azure in under 30 minutes. Setup standardised app environments on any cloud, which come with in-built continuous deployment automation and advanced observability. The free plan allows 3 users, 2 environments, 2 cloud connections, 5 services per environment, and 200 build-deploy minutes per month.
workflow automation and merge queue for GitHub — Free for public GitHub repositoriesWhen we last read the page we cite for this offer, on 2026-09-12, we could read no amount, tier or rate on the page, so we cannot confirm these terms today.
Nx Cloud speeds up your monorepos on CI with features such as remote caching, distribution of tasks across machines and even automated splitting of your e2e test runs. Its free Hobby plan includes 50,000 credits a month, 5 complimentary contributors and 10 concurrent CI connections.
Terramate is an orchestration and management platform for Infrastructure as Code (IaC) tools such as Terraform, OpenTofu, and Terragrunt. Free up to 2 users including all features.The page we cite for this offer states no amount, tier or rate we can read when we last looked, on 2026-09-02, so we cannot confirm these terms today.
Version control + build automation — 25 GB storage (5x increase Mar 2026), 100 GB egress (new Mar 2026), no seat charges (removed Mar 2026). Build: 200 Windows + 100 Mac minutes/month. Includes Plastic SCM for version control. No egress charges through April 2026We could not read the page we cite for this offer when we last looked, on 2026-09-10, so we cannot confirm these terms today.
Free for public GitHub repositoriesWhen we read the page we cite for this offer on 2026-09-10, we found no earlier figure of ours for the page to have narrowed, and we have read it again since, on 2026-09-28, without confirming the terms above, so we cannot confirm these terms today.
Automated deployment platform — free plan: 1 project, 3 deployments per day, 5 servers, 1 concurrent deployment, 30 build minutes, 1 user. Unlimited deployments and 3 projects start at $9/mo (Solo). Open-source projects can ask for a free account with unlimited deployments. Git-based workflow with support for FTP/SFTP/SSH deployment targets
Now RunJob — runmyjob.io redirects to runjob.eu, which serves the same product. Cloud runners for GitHub Actions and GitLab CI. Free plan is EUR 0/month: 1 integration with a GitLab or GitHub organisation, 10 concurrent jobs, 12 vCPU and 32 GB of memory per job, 400 vCPU-minutes and 800 GB-minutes included monthly, usage-priced above that. GitHub runners work with organisation accounts only.The page we cite for this offer does not name it when we last looked, on 2026-09-14, so we cannot confirm these terms today.
There is no free tier: squash.io no longer serves the product. Checked 2026-09-28, the page reads "Squash is no longer operational" and says Squash Labs has shut down the Squash service. The former offer was a preview environment for each branch, with a $40 free credit.
GitHub Actions dominates with unlimited public repo minutes and the largest marketplace of reusable actions. CircleCI offers the most free credits among hosted platforms. Google Cloud Build has the most generous hosted minutes (2,500/mo). Drone CI and Woodpecker CI are unlimited when self-hosted. Catalogue dates April to September 2026.
Which Free CI/CD Tool Should I Use?
Building on GitHub with public repos?
GitHub Actions — unlimited free minutes for public repos, 4,000+ marketplace actions, native GitHub integration. The obvious default choice.
Need more minutes for private repos?
CircleCI (30K credits/mo, ~6K minutes) or Google Cloud Build (2,500 min/mo) both exceed GitHub Actions' 2,000 min/mo private repo limit.
Want an all-in-one DevOps platform?
GitLab CI — SCM, CI/CD, container registry, deployments, and security scanning in one platform. Only 400 min/mo free, but everything is integrated.
Running container/Kubernetes workloads?
Codefresh for managed GitOps with Argo CD. Drone CI or Woodpecker CI for self-hosted, Docker-native pipelines with unlimited builds.
Building mobile apps (iOS/Android/Flutter)?
Codemagic (500 macOS M2 min/mo) is the Flutter favorite. Bitrise covers iOS + Android with built-in code signing. Appcircle adds OTA distribution.
Need unlimited builds, self-hosted?
Drone CI (Apache 2.0) or Woodpecker CI (community fork) — both are container-native, lightweight, and free with no build limits. Semaphore CI also has a free self-hosted edition.
Managing Infrastructure as Code?
Terramate and Terrateam specialize in Terraform/OpenTofu CI/CD with PR-driven workflows. Nx Cloud accelerates monorepo builds with remote caching.
Windows-only builds?
AppVeyor specializes in Windows CI/CD, free for open-source projects. GitHub Actions also supports Windows runners.
Freshping Alternatives— Freshping shut down March 6, 2026 — 13 free uptime monitoring alternatives
Heroku Alternatives— Heroku removed free tier Nov 2022, entered sustaining mode Feb 2026 — 8 free PaaS options
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Get CI/CD recommendations from your AI assistant. Compare build minutes, track pricing changes, and find the right pipeline tool for your stack — directly in your editor.
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