Core Viewpoint - GitHub announced a pricing adjustment for self-hosted runners under GitHub Actions, introducing a fee of $0.002 per minute starting March 1, 2026, which sparked significant backlash from the developer community [1][2][10]. Summary by Sections GitHub Actions Overview - GitHub Actions, launched in October 2018, is an automation platform primarily used for CI/CD, allowing developers to automate tasks related to their code repositories [4][6]. - The "runner" is a program that executes tasks defined in workflows, and GitHub provides two types: self-hosted runners and GitHub-hosted runners [7][15]. Pricing Changes - The new pricing policy will charge $0.002 per minute for self-hosted runners executing tasks in private repositories, while public repository usage remains free [8][9]. - GitHub will reduce the pricing for GitHub-hosted runners by 20% to 39% starting January 1, 2026, as part of a "simplified pricing and improved user experience" initiative [8]. Developer Reactions - Many developers expressed strong dissatisfaction with the new fee structure, feeling it unfair to pay for using their own hardware [10][17]. - Some developers calculated that their monthly costs could increase significantly, with one user estimating an additional $3,500 per month [17]. GitHub's Justification - GitHub stated that the costs of maintaining and improving the infrastructure for self-hosted runners were previously subsidized by the pricing of GitHub-hosted runners [12]. - The company emphasized the need for a pricing model that aligns costs with actual usage and the value provided to users [12][13]. Response to Backlash - In response to the backlash, GitHub decided to postpone the implementation of the self-hosted runner fee, while still proceeding with the planned price reduction for GitHub-hosted runners [20][21]. - GitHub acknowledged a failure to gather community feedback before announcing the changes and committed to better engagement with the developer community moving forward [22].