See exactly when your free minutes will run out, how much overage will cost, and which runner type is consuming the most quota.
GitHub Plan
Free
2,000 min
$0/mo
Pro
3,000 min
$4/mo
Team
3,000 min
$4/user/mo
Enterprise
50,000 min
$21/user/mo
Repository Type
Public
Always free
Private
Uses quota
Runner Type
🐧
Ubuntu / Linux
$0.006/min — multiplier 1x
Cheapest
🪟
Windows
$0.010/min — multiplier 2x
2x minutes
🍎
macOS
$0.048/min — multiplier 10x
10x minutes
Workflow Configuration
3
15101520
8 min
1min15min30min45min60min
10x/day
1255075100
22 days
Runs in your browser. No data stored.
Public Repository — Free Forever
Standard GitHub-hosted runner usage in public repositories is completely free and unlimited. No quotas. No overage charges. This applies to all plans.
Note: Larger runners (non-standard) still incur charges even in public repos.
Monthly Free Minutes Usage
Safe
0 usedof 3,000 free0%
Billed Min/Month
0
Days Until Empty
30+
Overage Minutes
0
Overage Cost
$0.00
Within free tier
Your workflows fit within the free quota this month.
macOS 10x Minute Multiplier Active
macOS runners count as 10 minutes of quota for every 1 actual minute of execution. Your 0 actual minutes = 0 billed minutes. Unless you specifically need macOS (e.g., building iOS apps), switch to Ubuntu to save 90% of your quota.
Minute Breakdown
Raw execution minutes0 min
After multiplier (1x)0 min
Free tier used0 min
Overage minutes0 min
Daily consumption
0 min/day
Monthly raw minutes
0 min
Multiplier applied
1x (Linux)
Workflows x runs/day
0 runs/day
Runner Comparison — Same Workflow
Runner
Multiplier
Billed Min
Days Until Empty
Overage Cost
Comparison assumes same workflow config on different runners.
Switch to Linux and Save
Current
$0
macOS
Ubuntu Linux
$0
Save $0
Reduce Minute Consumption
Use Ubuntu instead of macOSSave 90% quota
macOS counts 10x against your free quota. Unless you specifically need Xcode or iOS builds, switch to ubuntu-latest.
runs-on: ubuntu-latest # was macos-latest
Enable dependency cachingSave 30-60% time
Cache npm, pip, Maven dependencies so they don't re-download every run. Caching alone can cut workflow time by more than half.
Rates effective January 1, 2026 — reduced up to 39% from 2025 rates. Free quota unchanged. Public repos remain free.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes. Free minutes reset to the full amount at the start of each billing cycle — typically the first of the month. Any unused minutes do not carry over to the next month. Minutes usage is charged to the repository owner, not the person who triggered the workflow run.
GitHub applies minute multipliers to reflect the higher cost of running macOS infrastructure. Apple hardware licensing and operational costs are significantly more expensive than Linux. A 10-minute workflow on macOS counts as 100 minutes against your free quota, while the same workflow on Ubuntu counts as only 10 minutes. Always use Ubuntu unless you specifically need macOS for iOS or macOS-specific builds.
When your free minutes are exhausted, GitHub will charge you per minute based on the overage rate for your runner type — $0.006/min for Linux, $0.010/min for Windows, $0.048/min for macOS. You can set a spending limit in GitHub Settings to prevent unexpected charges. If your spending limit is set to $0, workflows will stop running once the free quota is reached.
Yes — standard GitHub-hosted runner usage in public repositories is completely free with no quota limits. This applies to all plans. However, larger runners (non-standard sizes) are not free even in public repos. Self-hosted runners in public repos also remain free.
On January 1, 2026, GitHub reduced GitHub-hosted runner prices by up to 39%. Linux went from $0.008 to $0.006 per minute, Windows from $0.016 to $0.010 per minute, and macOS from $0.080 to approximately $0.048 per minute. The free minute quotas remain unchanged. A self-hosted runner charge of $0.002/min was announced for March 2026 but subsequently postponed for re-evaluation.
