GitHub cuts hosted runner prices by up to 39% in Jan 2026, adds $0.002/min fee for private repo self-hosted runners.

GitHub is updating its Actions pricing in January 2026, cutting hosted runner prices by up to 39% while introducing a $0.002 per minute fee for self-hosted runners in private repositories using GitHub’s orchestration layer. The charge applies only to customer-managed hardware, not public repos, and uses the same free minute quotas. Most users—96%—will see no bill increase, with 85% of the affected minority paying less. Individual developers may see small rises, but most will pay less or stay the same. Azure-linked Enterprise accounts can bill through Azure. The changes aim to better align costs with usage, support growing CI/CD and AI workloads, and fund expanded self-hosted features like autoscaling and Windows support.