GitHub self-hosted runners cost increase and alternatives (2026)

Starting March 2026, GitHub will implement a $0.002 per minute platform fee for self-hosted runners in private repositories, affecting teams who previously only paid for their infrastructure. Although public repositories and GitHub Enterprise Server customers are exempt from this fee, teams must decide whether to continue using GitHub-hosted runners with their reduced but still significant per-minute costs, maintain their self-hosted runners while absorbing the new charges, or migrate to alternative platforms like Northflank. Northflank offers an integrated solution for CI/CD, deployments, databases, and infrastructure without per-minute fees, appealing to teams seeking reduced operational overhead and combined management of their development processes. Other alternatives include CircleCI for complex pipelines, GitLab CI for projects already on GitLab, and Buildkite for infrastructure control, each providing different levels of customization, flexibility, and scalability. As teams assess these options, considerations around cost, performance, control, and operational management will guide their decision-making for the future of their CI/CD workflows.