Compare GitHub Actions and GitLab CI free tiers side by side. Pricing, limits, change history, and risk assessment for developers.

GitHub Actions vs GitLab CI

Side-by-side free tier comparison. Catalogue dates here run to 2026-09-21.

36 other ci/cd options →

Verdict

Both GitHub Actions and GitLab CI offer free tiers. GitHub Actions provides "Free" while GitLab CI offers "Free".

A verdict here is not a fixed property of the vendor. A one-off pricing event demotes a vendor while its recorded date falls in the last 180 days and then lapses on its own, with nothing about the vendor having changed; a standing condition — a free tier withdrawn, a product retired — does not lapse with time. A badge carrying a date states the record it rests on; a badge with no date rests on no record in force.

GitHub Actions

Riskstable
CategoryCI/CD
TierFree
Verified2026-08-14
Last read2026-09-16
Changes1 recorded
Free CI/CD for public repos (unlimited minutes). Private repos: 2,000 min/mo GitHub-hosted runners, 500 MB artifact storage, 10 GB cache/repo. Self-hosted runners remain free — planned $0.002/min charge was postponed indefinitely after community backlash (March 2026). Hosted runner prices reduced 39% (Jan 2026)

GitLab CI

Riskstable
CategoryCI/CD
TierFree
Verified2026-09-21
Last read2026-09-21
Changes0 recorded
400 compute minutes/month, 10 GiB storage, 5 users. New accounts limited to 3 top-level groups

Pricing Change History

GitHub Actions

postponed effective 2026-01-01 low impact
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 ↗

GitLab CI

No recorded pricing changes for GitLab CI.

Watch Both Vendors for Pricing Changes

We do not push notifications. Every change we record is readable the moment it lands, and the JSON answer carries an ETag — send it back as If-None-Match and an unchanged answer costs one 304.

curl https://agentdeals.dev/api/changes?vendor=GitHub%20Actions curl https://agentdeals.dev/pricing-changes/feed.xml?vendor=GitHub%20Actions curl https://agentdeals.dev/api/changes?vendor=GitLab%20CI curl https://agentdeals.dev/pricing-changes/feed.xml?vendor=GitLab%20CI

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