GitHub Actions Introduces $0.002 Per-Minute Platform Fee, Ending Free Control Plane
By
adityajp
A good honest bake. Not flashy, but you'll finish the whole bagel.
Summary
GitHub is introducing a $0.002 per-minute platform fee for all GitHub Actions usage, eliminating the previously free control plane. This change means users will now pay for both compute costs and platform fees, with the new pricing taking effect on March 1, 2026. The article discusses the implications of this pricing change for developers and organizations using GitHub Actions with self-hosted runners or third-party services like Blacksmith.
Key quotes
· 4 pulledPreviously, GitHub Actions had a free control plane. That meant if you used GitHub Actions but ran jobs outside of GitHub-hosted runners, whether that's on Blacksmith, on your own machines, or in your own AWS account, you paid nothing to GitHub for those minutes; you only paid for the compute.
With this change, GitHub is introducing a $0.002 per-minute platform fee for all GitHub Actions usage.
In practice, this means CI costs now have two components:
These changes go into effect on March 1st, 2026.
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