Side-by-side comparison of 10+ CI/CD free tiers in 2026. Compare GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, CircleCI, Buildkite, Bitrise, Codemagic, Drone CI, and more — build minutes, concurrency, runners, and hidden costs.
Published 2026-03-31 · Not yet reviewed · Data verified from our index of 1,547 developer tools · 37 CI/CD services compared
Quick verdict: GitHub Actions dominates for open source projects with unlimited free minutes on public repos. GitLab CI is the strongest all-in-one DevOps platform with 400 compute minutes/month and built-in container registry. CircleCI offers the most generous credit-based free tier (30,000 credits/month) with powerful parallelism. Buildkite is the developer favorite for fast, scalable pipelines with unlimited self-hosted agents on the free plan.
The CI/CD landscape in 2026: GitHub Actions remains the default choice for most developers, but its planned self-hosted runner charge was postponed indefinitely after community backlash. GitLab CI continues to tighten limits (down from 400 to 400 compute minutes). Self-hosted options like Drone CI and Woodpecker CI offer truly unlimited free CI/CD. Mobile CI/CD is a distinct niche where Bitrise and Codemagic compete on iOS/Android build minutes.
Side-by-side comparison of the top 10 CI/CD free tiers.
| CI/CD | Free Minutes / Credits | Concurrent Jobs | Artifact / Cache | Runner Specs | Public vs Private | Self-Hosted | Always Free? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GitHub Actions BEST OSS CHANGED SEP 2 Source ↗ | 2,000 min/mo (private) Unlimited (public) |
20 concurrent (public) 20 concurrent (private) |
500 MB artifacts, 10 GB cache/repo | 2 vCPU, 7 GB RAM (Linux) | Public: unlimited | Free (charge postponed) | Yes |
| GitLab CI BEST ALL-IN-ONE Source ↗ | 400 compute min/mo | Varies by runner | 5 GB project storage (incl. artifacts + registry) | 1 vCPU, 3.75 GB RAM (shared) | Same limits for all repos | Free (unlimited) | Yes |
| CircleCI MOST CREDITS CHANGED SEP 3 Source ↗ | 30,000 credits/mo | 30 jobs (Linux) | Included in credits | Medium: 2 vCPU, 4 GB RAM | Same limits for all repos | Free (unlimited) | Yes |
| Buildkite CHANGED SEP 5 Source ↗ | Unlimited (self-hosted) Hosted: usage-based |
Unlimited (self-hosted) | Bring-your-own storage | Your hardware (self-hosted) | Same limits for all repos | Free (self-hosted) | Yes (personal) |
| Bitbucket Pipelines Source ↗ | 50 min/mo | 1 concurrent | 1 GB artifacts | 4 GB RAM (2x pipeline) | Same limits for all repos | No | Yes |
| Harness CI CHANGED AUG 28 Source ↗ | 2,000 build credits/mo | Varies | Included in credits | Cloud-hosted runners | Same limits for all repos | Free | Yes |
| Google Cloud Build Source ↗ | 120 min/day (e2-standard) | 10 concurrent | GCS storage (separate) | e2-standard-2 (2 vCPU, 8 GB) | Same limits for all repos | No (GCE-based) | Always Free |
| Bitrise CHANGED AUG 28 Source ↗ | 300 credits/mo | 1 concurrent | 10-min build time limit | Standard runners | Same limits for all repos | No | Yes (Hobby) |
| Codemagic CHANGED SEP 3 Source ↗ | 500 min/mo | 1 concurrent | Build artifacts available | macOS M2 runners (Flutter) | Same limits for all repos | No | Yes |
| Drone CI BEST SELF-HOSTED Unsourced | Unlimited (self-hosted) | Unlimited | Unlimited (your storage) | Your hardware | Same (self-hosted) | Fully self-hosted | Yes (Community) |
The big four CI/CD platforms that handle most workloads — from simple test-and-deploy to complex multi-stage pipelines.
| Provider | Free Tier | Config Format | Marketplace | Container Registry | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GitHub Actions ECOSYSTEM LEADER CHANGED SEP 2 Source ↗ | 2,000 min/mo + unlimited public | YAML (workflows) | 17,000+ marketplace actions | GitHub Packages (500 MB free) | Open source, GitHub-native projects |
| GitLab CI BEST ALL-IN-ONE Source ↗ | 400 compute min/mo | YAML (.gitlab-ci.yml) | CI/CD catalog (growing) | Built-in (5 GB total) | All-in-one DevOps (code, CI, registry, deploy) |
| CircleCI CHANGED SEP 3 Source ↗ | 30,000 credits/mo | YAML + orbs | Orbs marketplace | No (external) | Complex workflows, parallelism, orbs |
| Bitbucket Pipelines Source ↗ | 50 min/mo | YAML (bitbucket-pipelines.yml) | Pipes (limited) | No (external) | Atlassian/Jira teams |
Newer platforms targeting developer experience, speed, and modern workflows. Often better self-hosted runner support.
| Provider | Free Tier | Self-Hosted Runners | Parallelism | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Buildkite CHANGED SEP 5 Source ↗ | Free for personal use (unlimited self-hosted agents) | Unlimited, first-class | Unlimited (your hardware) | Fast builds, own infrastructure |
| Semaphore CI CHANGED AUG 28 Source ↗ | Community plan (self-hosted, unlimited) | Unlimited | Configurable | Self-hosted, Ruby/Elixir communities |
| Buddy Source ↗ | 5 projects, 500 executions/mo | Paid only | Limited | Visual pipeline builder, simple deploys |
| Harness CI CHANGED AUG 28 Source ↗ | 2,000 build credits/mo | Free | Yes | Enterprise-grade CI with ML-powered insights |
Specialized for iOS/Android builds. Mobile CI/CD requires macOS runners for iOS and specific SDKs — general-purpose CI often struggles here.
| Provider | Free Tier | iOS Builds | Android Builds | Flutter | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bitrise CHANGED AUG 28 Source ↗ | 300 credits/mo, 1 concurrent | macOS runners | Linux runners | Supported | Broadest mobile platform support |
| Codemagic BEST FLUTTER CHANGED SEP 3 Source ↗ | 500 min/mo, 1 concurrent | macOS M2 runners | Linux runners | First-class (by Flutter team) | Flutter apps (built by Flutter team) |
| Appcircle Source ↗ | 25 min/build, limited builds | macOS runners | Linux runners | Supported | Enterprise mobile DevOps |
Niche CI/CD tools for specific use cases — monorepos, infrastructure-as-code, and cloud-native builds.
| Provider | Free Tier | Specialty | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nx Cloud CHANGED APR 12 Source ↗ | Hobby plan: free for small teams | Monorepo build orchestration | Nx/monorepo projects (remote caching, task distribution) |
| Google Cloud Build Source ↗ | 120 build-min/day (e2-standard) | GCP-native, container builds | GCP projects, container image builds |
| Codefresh Unsourced | 3 users, 1 concurrent, unlimited builds | GitOps + Argo CD native | Kubernetes deployments, GitOps workflows |
| Terramate Unsourced | Free for open source | IaC orchestration (Terraform, OpenTofu) | Infrastructure-as-code CI/CD |
| RunMyJob Unsourced | 400 vCPU-min, 800 GB-min, 10 concurrent | Smart scaling for GitHub Actions/GitLab CI | Cost optimization for existing CI pipelines |
Fully free, open-source CI/CD that runs on your own infrastructure. Zero build-minute limits, complete control, but you manage the servers.
| Provider | License | Config | Container-Native | Kubernetes | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Drone CI MOST MATURE Unsourced | Community (Apache 2.0) | YAML (.drone.yml) | Docker-native | Kubernetes runner | Docker-native CI, simple YAML config |
| Woodpecker CI Unsourced | Apache 2.0 | YAML (.woodpecker.yml) | Docker-native | Kubernetes backend | Drone CI fork with active community |
Unlimited free minutes for public repos, 17,000+ marketplace actions, native GitHub integration. The default choice for every open source project. View GitHub Actions details →
GitLab CI: 400 min/mo + unlimited self-hosted runners + built-in container registry. CircleCI: 30,000 credits/mo with powerful parallelism. GitLab wins on all-in-one; CircleCI wins on raw compute. CI/CD alternatives guide →
30,000 credits/month, 30 concurrent Linux jobs, orbs for reusable configurations, and built-in test splitting. The best free tier for compute-heavy pipelines. View CircleCI details →
500 free minutes/month with macOS M2 runners. Built by the Flutter team with first-class Flutter, iOS, and Android support including code signing and App Store deployment. View Codemagic details →
Broadest integration ecosystem for native mobile development. 300 credits/month, macOS runners for iOS builds, pre-configured steps for common mobile workflows. View Bitrise details →
Remote caching and distributed task execution for Nx-based monorepos. Free hobby plan dramatically reduces CI times by skipping unchanged projects. Pairs with any CI provider (GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, etc.).
Truly free and unlimited CI/CD on your own infrastructure. Docker-native, simple YAML config, no build-minute limits. Drone CI is more mature; Woodpecker CI has a more active community fork.
Native Argo CD integration, GitOps-first workflows, Kubernetes dashboard. Free for 3 users with unlimited builds. The best free option for teams deploying to Kubernetes.
Free CI/CD tiers have several non-obvious limits that can catch you off guard. Here’s what to watch for.
GitHub Actions counts macOS minutes at 10x and Windows at 2x the Linux rate. Your 2,000 free minutes becomes just 200 macOS minutes or 1,000 Windows minutes. CircleCI similarly charges more credits for macOS and Windows runners. Always check the minute multiplier before running iOS builds on general-purpose CI.
GitHub Actions: 500 MB free artifact storage (shared with GitHub Packages). Artifacts auto-expire after 90 days (configurable). GitLab: Artifacts count toward the 5 GB project storage limit alongside the container registry. CircleCI: Artifacts stored for 30 days on free plan. Build caching across CI providers is often unlimited but only persists for 7-30 days.
Free tiers typically limit concurrent jobs: Bitbucket Pipelines allows only 1 concurrent build. Bitrise and Codemagic also limit to 1 concurrent. Even GitHub Actions can queue builds if you exceed 20 concurrent jobs. For teams with multiple developers pushing frequently, concurrent job limits matter more than total minutes.
Most CI providers don’t charge for data transfer on free tiers, but Google Cloud Build egress follows standard GCP pricing outside the Always Free bucket. GitLab counts data transfer toward project limits. If you’re pulling large Docker images or datasets in CI, check whether data transfer counts against your free allocation.
Self-hosted runners on GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, Buildkite, and CircleCI are free — you pay only for your own infrastructure. A $5/mo VPS can serve as a CI runner with unlimited minutes. For teams exceeding free tier limits, self-hosted runners are almost always cheaper than buying more cloud minutes.
Recent CI/CD pricing changes from our tracker. See the full timeline for all 554 tracked changes.
| Date | Provider | Change | Impact |
|---|---|---|---|
| discovered Sep 5, 2026 · effective date unknown | Buildkite | The free plan now offers 2,000 Linux vCPU minutes/month and 250k test executions, up from 500 minutes and 50k executions. The free plan also includes 30 days build retention instead of 90. The open-source specific mention is gone. Source ↗ | MEDIUM |
| discovered Sep 3, 2026 · effective date unknown | Codemagic | The free tier now has 30 days of build history instead of 60, and 10GB cache per build instead of 3GB. Source ↗ | MEDIUM |
| discovered Sep 3, 2026 · effective date unknown | CircleCI | The free tier still exists. The details have been expanded. The free tier now includes options for different resource classes and concurrency levels. Previously about 30K credits/month (up to 6,000 build minutes on small Docker), 5 users, and 30x concurrency is still accurate as a baseline. The free tier now offers more options. Source ↗ | MEDIUM |
| discovered Sep 2, 2026 · effective date unknown | GitHub Actions | The free tier for private repositories includes 2,000 minutes, 500MB artifact storage, and 10GB cache storage. The pricing page details specific per-minute costs for different runner types (Linux, Windows, macOS) and storage costs ($0.25/GB/month for shared storage, $0.07/GB for Actions cache and custom image storage), indicating that usage beyond the free quota is paid. This is not reflected in the current pricing page text. Source ↗ | HIGH |
| discovered Aug 28, 2026 · effective date unknown | Harness CI | The free plan now has significantly reduced limits. Previously 2,000 build credits/month. The current page details limits for concurrent pipeline executions (up to 60), storage (250GB), and organizations (up to 1). Source ↗ | HIGH |
| discovered Aug 28, 2026 · effective date unknown | Semaphore CI | Retracted — this record was our error (2026-09-06). The pricing has been restructured. While a free tier with $15 credits (~2,000 Ubuntu x64 2-vCPU minutes) and 20 concurrent jobs still exists, the pricing for compute is now tiered based on CPU and OS (Ubuntu ARM, Ubuntu x64, MacOS) and starts at $0.003/min. Retracted 2026-09-06: the restructure is real and entirely on the paid side. semaphore.io/pricing, fetched 2026-09-06, still states every free figure our stored description carries — "Get $15 free credits per month (≈ 2,000 Ubuntu x64 2-vCPU minutes)", "Includes 20 concurrent jobs by default" and "Self-Hosted $0.0025 /min" — and lists "Ubuntu x64 $0.0075 /min 2vCPU", the cloud rate our description names. What moved is the paid compute table, which now prices by CPU and OS and opens at $0.003/min for Ubuntu ARM, below the rate it replaced. A change that leaves every free figure verbatim does not supersede the free terms. Source ↗ | MEDIUM |
| discovered Aug 28, 2026 · effective date unknown | Squash Labs | The free tier now offers a $40 credit. Source ↗ | HIGH |
| discovered Aug 28, 2026 · effective date unknown | Terrateam | Doesn't confirm the original unlimited usage claim. Source ↗ | MEDIUM |
| discovered Aug 28, 2026 · effective date unknown | Bitrise | The Hobby plan now has a build timeout of 210 minutes, up from 90. The Hobby plan also includes 2GB of dependency cache storage. The Hobby plan is now explicitly free forever. Source ↗ | LOW |
| effective Apr 12, 2026 | Nx Cloud | Credits reduced from 150,000 to 50,000/month, but contributor limit removed (now unlimited) Source ↗ | MEDIUM |
| effective Apr 12, 2026 | deployhq.com | Free tier expanded from 1 project with 10 daily deployments to 3 projects with unlimited deployments Source ↗ | LOW |
| effective Jan 1, 2026 | GitHub Actions | Self-hosted runner per-minute fee ($0.002/min) announced for March 2026 was postponed indefinitely after community backlash. Self-hosted runners remain free. Separately, hosted runner prices were reduced up to 39% (Jan 2026) Source ↗ | LOW |
A source check reads each cited page for that service's name and a price; the figures in the tables above are from our own records.
Compare CI/CD free tiers, track pricing changes, and plan your DevOps stack — all from your AI coding assistant.
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We publish no ranking of these. Nothing we record measures popularity or generosity, so naming a best or a top few would be our preference rather than our data. We hold 37 CI/CD services in our catalogue, each with the free tier terms and the date we last verified them. This page compares them on free tier limits, what each charges past them, and lock-in risk; the table above carries the figures side by side. Our ranking rule is published at /criteria.
Free tier generosity varies by use case. Some providers offer more storage, others more compute or API calls. Our comparison table above shows exact limits side-by-side so you can evaluate based on what matters most for your workload.
Each provider structures free tier limits differently — some cap storage, others cap requests or compute hours. Our comparison table provides exact numbers for each provider. Check the growth cost analysis section to understand what you'll pay when you exceed free tier limits.