Alternatives
Best GitHub Actions alternatives in 2026
Data compiled by Toolradar Updated How we rate
Cite this list: Toolradar, best GitHub Actions alternatives 2026, toolradar.com/alternatives/github-actions
6 direct alternatives to GitHub Actions, compared on pricing, features, and best-for use cases. Pick the right replacement without the marketing fluff.
Quick answer
- CircleCI is the top alternative to GitHub Actions on our list, followed by GitLab CI and Jenkins.
- 5 of the 6 alternatives have a free plan, starting with CircleCI.
- Highest rated: Buildkite, 4.7 out of 5 from 34 ratings, Sep 2026.
- 6 alternatives
- 5 with a free plan
Top 3 alternatives to GitHub Actions
CircleCI
#1 Top pickContinuous integration and delivery
Starting price
From $15 /mo
Cheapest paid plan, monthly, as of November 2026
4.5 /5 across G2 and Capterra · 602 ratings, Sep 2026
Our take
Best overall
GitLab CI
#2Accelerate delivery with orchestrated CI/CD automation for secure software development.
Starting price
From $29 /mo
Cheapest paid plan, monthly, as of November 2026
4.4 /5 across G2 and SourceForge · 690 ratings, Mar 2026
Jenkins
#3Automate builds, deployments, and software projects
Pricing
Free
4.5 /5 across G2 and Capterra · 1,147 ratings, Sep 2026
GitHub Actions vs 6 alternatives
| Tool | Starting price (Nov 2026) | Free plan | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Price: Free + paid | Free plan: Yes | n/a |
| Price: $15/mo | Free plan: Yes | 4.5 out of 5, from 602 ratings across G2 and Capterra (602) |
| Price: $29/mo | Free plan: Yes | 4.4 out of 5, from 690 ratings across G2 and SourceForge (690) |
| Price: Free | Free plan: Yes | 4.5 out of 5, from 1,147 ratings across G2 and Capterra (1,147) |
 | Price: Free + paid | Free plan: Yes | 4.4 out of 5, from 118 ratings across SourceForge and Capterra (118) |
 | Price: $78/mo | Free plan: No | 4.3 out of 5, from 221 ratings across G2 and Capterra (221) |
 | Price: $30/mo | Free plan: Yes | 4.7 out of 5, from 34 ratings across G2 and Capterra (34) |
Why people consider alternatives to GitHub Actions
GitHub Actions automates workflows directly in your GitHub repository. CI/CD pipelines build, test, and deploy on every push. Marketplace offers thousands of pre-built actions. Matrix builds test across multiple versions and platforms.
Here are the real cost and limitation gotchas that push teams to look elsewhere:
- macOS runner minutes cost 10x more than Linux ($0.062/min vs $0.006/min).
- Windows runners cost $0.010/minute, 67% more than Linux. Teams with .NET or Windows-native builds pay significantly more than the headline Linux rates suggest
- Artifact and cache storage is shared with GitHub Packages. Heavy Docker image publishing or large build artifacts eat into your storage quota, triggering $0.07/GB/month overage charges
- Included minutes are shared across the entire organization, not per-user. A single developer with a misconfigured workflow can burn through the team's entire monthly allocation in hours
The 6 alternatives below cover the same core job (DevOps) with different trade-offs.
GitHub Actions by the numbers
Toolradar data: Its head-to-head comparison pages had 86 visits in the last 30 days, ranking #12 of 127 tools with 20+ compare-page visits in Hosting & Deployment. As of Nov 2026.
- #3 (joint) most-listed alternative in Hosting & Deployment, out of 321 tools in Hosting & Deployment. Source: Toolradar data, Nov 2026.
- #4 (joint) most-listed alternative in Testing & QA, out of 393 tools in Testing & QA. Source: Toolradar data, Nov 2026.
- #5 (joint) most-listed alternative in DevOps, out of 453 tools in DevOps. Source: Toolradar data, Nov 2026.
| Metric | GitHub Actions | Peer median | Position (1 is best) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free plan | Yes | 74% have one | n/a |
| Listed as an alternative to | 45 tools | 2 | #3 of 321 (joint) |
| Integrations listed | 4 | 2 | #1 of 46 (joint) tools with at least one integration recorded |
| Media mentions, last 30 days | 4 articles | 2 | #4 of 16 tools mentioned in the last 30 days |
| Compare-page visits, last 30 days | 86 visits | 34 | #12 of 127 tools with 20+ compare-page visits |
Listed as an alternative to: #3 on 2026-10-16 to #3 on 2026-11-02 (rank among 321 tools, 1 is best).
Each position is counted among the tools that have data for that row, as noted under it. All Hosting & Deployment data · How we compute this. Advertising and placement fees are not inputs to any position. Visit counts include visits from every source.
Cite this: Toolradar, “GitHub Actions by the numbers”, Nov 2026.
DevOps leaderboards from Toolradar data
Toolradar ranks DevOps tools on one measure at a time, only where at least 8 tools have data. As of Nov 2026.
Lowest entry price, plans with no stated unit
Cheapest standard paid plan per month (annual prices divided by 12), read on vendor pages and compared only with tools priced on the same basis.
Counted among 124 tools with no stated price unit, verified price.
| # | Tool | Entry plan |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | HashiCorp Vault | $0.50/mo, billed monthly |
| 1 | Route 53 | $0.50/mo, billed monthly |
| 3 | Coroot | $1/mo, billed monthly |
| 4 | LogDNA | $1.50/mo, billed monthly |
| 5 | Kubiya | $2/mo, billed monthly |
Lowest entry price, per-user plans
Cheapest standard paid plan per month (annual prices divided by 12), read on vendor pages and compared only with tools priced on the same basis.
Counted among 27 tools priced per user, verified price.
| # | Tool | Entry plan |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Passwork | $3/user/mo, billed monthly |
| 2 | Bodhiorchard | $4/user/mo, billed monthly |
| 3 | NetBird | $5/user/mo, billed monthly |
| 3 | VictorOps | $5/user/mo, billed monthly |
| 5 | Azure DevOps | $6/user/mo, billed monthly |
Most media coverage, last 30 days
Number of distinct articles published in the last 30 days by independent press, blogs and newsletters that mention the tool. A story carried by several outlets counts once; the vendor's own blog, review sites, forums and republishing sites do not count.
Counted among 11 tools mentioned in the last 30 days.
| # | Tool | Articles |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | GitLab | 13 articles |
| 2 | GitHub Actions | 4 articles |
| 3 | Docker Hub | 3 articles |
| 4 | OpenTelemetry | 2 articles |
| 5 | Buildkite | 1 article |
A position exists only when at least 8 tools have data for that metric. 151 of 453 DevOps tools have a verified price; the others publish none we could read (often "contact sales"). Advertising and placement fees are not inputs to any position. Visit counts include visits from every source. How we compute this. Cite this: Toolradar, “DevOps leaderboards”, Nov 2026. Data licensed CC BY 4.0. All DevOps statistics.
6 alternatives to GitHub Actions
Ranked by G2 and Capterra ratings, media mentions, and editor review, plus how directly they replace GitHub Actions.
- 1
CircleCI
Free planContinuous integration and delivery
4.5 /5 across G2 and Capterra · 602 ratings, Sep 2026
From $15/mo; free plan available
- 2
GitLab CI
Free planAccelerate delivery with orchestrated CI/CD automation for secure software development.
4.4 /5 across G2 and SourceForge · 690 ratings, Mar 2026
From $29/user/mo, billed yearly; free plan available
- 3
Jenkins
100% free Battle-tested at scaleAutomate builds, deployments, and software projects
4.5 /5 across G2 and Capterra · 1,147 ratings, Sep 2026
Free
- 4
TeamCity
Free planCI/CD with IDE-maker polish and deep integrations
4.4 /5 across SourceForge and Capterra · 118 ratings, Oct 2026
Free plan available; paid prices not published
- 5
Travis CI
Free planCI/CD platform for Linux, Windows, FreeBSD, and GPU
4.3 /5 across G2 and Capterra · 221 ratings, Sep 2026
From $78/mo; free plan available
- 6
Buildkite
Free planCI/CD platform running builds on your infrastructure
4.7 /5 across G2 and Capterra · 34 ratings, Sep 2026
From $30/mo; free plan available
Frequently asked questions
What is the best alternative to GitHub Actions?
Based on real-signal scoring (G2 and Capterra ratings, media mentions, and editorial review), the top alternatives to GitHub Actions are CircleCI, GitLab CI, Jenkins. Each solves the same core job with different trade-offs on pricing, features, and integrations.
Is there a free alternative to GitHub Actions?
Yes. Jenkins is 100% free (no paid upgrade path) (Automate builds, deployments, and software projects). Freemium tools on this list offer a free tier with paid upgrades; they are not the same as fully free.
Why do people look for GitHub Actions alternatives?
Common reasons teams switch away from GitHub Actions: pricing that scales aggressively, missing integrations with the rest of their stack, performance or scale limits, or a specific feature gap in devops. The alternatives on this page solve the same core problem with different trade-offs.
Side-by-side comparisons
In-depth comparison pages for GitHub Actions versus each alternative.
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