GitHub Actions vs Jenkins
GitHub Actions is the build service inside GitHub, billed in included minutes and then per minute by runner type. Jenkins is an MIT-licensed automation server you install and run yourself, so the software costs nothing and the servers and upkeep fall to you. Actions wins on setup and upkeep, Jenkins on independence from one code host.
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Choose GitHub Actions ifyou already keep code on GitHub, want hosted runners with published per-minute prices, and do not want to patch a build server yourself.
Choose Jenkins ifyou must run builds on your own hardware regardless of code host, want a licence that cannot change price on you, and have someone to own updates.
GitHub Actions and Jenkins side by side
| GitHub Actions | Jenkins | |
|---|---|---|
| Our CI/CD tool rank | #11 of 13 | #8 of 13 |
| Established in | United States | Not stated by the vendor |
| Pricing | Included minutes per plan, then per-minute billing by runner type, published; free for public repositories | Free and open source; cost is servers and maintenance time |
| List price, 19 October 2026 | Free 2,000 min/month; Pro and Team 3,000; Enterprise Cloud 50,000; Linux 2-core x64 $0.006/min after that | No licence fee (MIT); you pay for your own servers |
| Free tier | — | Yes |
| Open source | — | Yes |
| Self-hostable | Yes | Yes |
| Built for | Teams that already host code on GitHub and want CI with no extra vendor | Organisations with existing Jenkins skills that want no licence cost |
| Not for | Teams whose source code lives on a platform other than GitHub | Teams with nobody to maintain a build server |
Both are reviewed in full in our CI/CD tool ranking: GitHub Actions and Jenkins.
Where they differ
GitHub Actions 1 · Jenkins 1 · open 3- 01
What you pay
GitHub publishes the meter: the Free plan includes 2,000 minutes a month, Pro and Team 3,000, Enterprise Cloud 50,000. Beyond that a 2-core Linux x64 runner costs $0.006 a minute, Windows $0.010 and macOS $0.062. Standard hosted runners are free in public repositories, and self-hosted runners cost nothing in minutes. Jenkins has no licence fee, so its bill is the machines.
Depends on the buyer
- 02
Setup and upkeep
With hosted runners, Actions needs a workflow file and no server. On self-hosted runners GitHub says you are responsible for updating the operating system and all other software. Jenkins always means that work: the Jenkins advisories page lists nine security advisories in 2026 between February and September, seven of them touching plugins.
Edge: GitHub Actions
- 03
Independence and exit
Jenkins is MIT licensed, runs as a standalone Java application, and keeps pipelines in a Jenkinsfile you can commit with the code. Actions workflows are tied to GitHub events and repositories, so leaving GitHub means rewriting them. A self-hosted Actions runner still takes jobs from GitHub.
Edge: Jenkins
- 04
Limits you will hit
GitHub-hosted jobs stop after 6 hours, a workflow run after 35 days, a matrix creates at most 256 jobs, and the Free plan runs 20 jobs at once with 5 on macOS. Self-hosted jobs can run 5 days. The Jenkins pages we read state no job or concurrency cap, so your hardware sets the limit.
Depends on the buyer
- 05
Extensions
Jenkins lists more than 2,300 community plugins, and every one is a thing to patch. GitHub describes a marketplace of actions that connects your tools but gives no count on the page we read. Neither side gets a point here without a number from the other.
Depends on the buyer
When neither fits
If you want hosted builds without being tied to GitHub, CircleCI sells credits spent per machine-minute. For teams that want a self-run, per-user priced build system, Buildkite is the other model to look at.
GitHub Actions or Jenkins: questions
4 answersIs Jenkins really free?
The software is: the project states it is licensed under the MIT License. You still pay for the servers that run builds and for the time spent keeping Jenkins and its plugins up to date.
Is GitHub Actions free?
Standard GitHub-hosted runners are free in public repositories. Private repositories get included minutes by plan (2,000 on Free), then per-minute billing by runner type. Self-hosted runners are free in minutes.
Can I run GitHub Actions on my own servers?
Yes, through self-hosted runners, which can be physical, virtual, containerised, on-premises or cloud. You pay for those machines and maintain them, and the jobs are still queued by GitHub.
Which one has a bigger plugin ecosystem?
Jenkins states more than 2,300 community plugins. The GitHub Actions page we read names a marketplace but no count, so we do not rank them.
Sources
Checked 19 October 2026- About billing for GitHub Actions: included minutes by plan, per-minute runner rates, free for public repos and self-hosted.
- GitHub Actions limits: 6 hour job, 35 day run, 256 matrix jobs, concurrent jobs, self-hosted 5 days.
- About self-hosted runners: you maintain OS and software and pay for machines.
- GitHub Actions product page: free for public repositories, own or hosted runners, marketplace.
- Jenkins home page: open source automation server, 2300+ plugins, community-driven.
- Jenkins repository: MIT License, WAR, Docker, packages, weekly and LTS releases.
- Jenkins security advisories: nine 2026 advisories, seven touching plugins.
- Jenkins Pipeline book: Jenkinsfile kept in source control.