GitHub review: Dev & Infrastructure, pricing and who it's for
Where almost every startup keeps its code. The free plan is enough for most small teams; budget separately for Copilot and extra Actions minutes.
GitHub hosts Git repositories with pull requests, code review, issues, Actions for CI/CD and Packages. The free plan includes unlimited repositories and 2,000 Actions minutes a month. Team is $4 per user a month and Enterprise $21. Copilot, Codespaces and extra storage are billed on top of the plan.
Free plan; paid from $4 per user/month
Some links are affiliate links: we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. It never affects our verdicts.
Reviewed · Facts checked · Dev & Infrastructure
Good fit if
- Every startup that ships software.
Skip if
- You do not write code.
Use cases
Run your tests on every pull request
Free plan (2,000 Actions minutes a month)Small dev teams shipping without a CI server. 1) Add a workflow file under .github/workflows/ that runs your test command. 2) Trigger it on pull_request and push. 3) Require the check to pass in branch protection before merging.
Sources: docs.github.com/en/actions/get-started/qu…, github.com/pricing
Get pull requests that patch vulnerable dependencies
Free planTeams without a security engineer. 1) In Settings > Advanced Security, enable Dependabot alerts. 2) Turn on Dependabot security updates. 3) Review and merge the PRs it opens.
Deploy a docs or marketing site from your repo
Free for public repos; Team for privateDevelopers who want free hosting for a static site. 1) In Settings > Pages, set the source to GitHub Actions. 2) Add a deploy workflow using upload-pages-artifact and deploy-pages. 3) Push to main to publish.
Watch-outs
REST API: 5,000 requests an hour authenticated, 60 an hour unauthenticated.
Source: docs.github.com/en/rest/using-the-rest-ap… · checked
Copilot, extra storage and bandwidth (for example Git LFS data packs) and other features are add-ons on top of the plan price.
Source: github.com/pricing · checked
At a glance
Price
Free plan; paid from $4 per user/month
Source: github.com/pricing · checked
Free plan
Yes · Unlimited repos, 2,000 CI/CD minutes a month, 500 MB Packages
Source: github.com/pricing · checked
Key integrations
Source: github.com/github/github-mcp-server · checked
Pricing
| Plan | Monthly | Annual | What's included |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | MonthlyFree | Annual— | What's includedUnlimited repos and 2,000 Actions minutes a month. |
| Teamper user/month | Monthly$4 | Annual— | What's includedPaid team plan. |
| Enterpriseper user/month | Monthly$21 | Annual— | What's includedEnterprise plan. |
Pricing checked on · GitHub pricing page
Trust & security
SOC 2 Type II · Type II
Source: github.com/pricing · checked
ISO 27001 certified
Source: github.com/pricing · checked
CautionTrains on your data by default · Copilot Free, Pro and Pro+; opt out in settings
Source: github.com/pricing · checked
AI & integrations
Official MCP server · Official GitHub MCP server
Server URL:
https://github.com/github/github-mcp-serverSource: github.com/github/github-mcp-server · checked
Public API · API docs
Source: docs.github.com/en/rest/using-the-rest-ap… · checked
Some links are affiliate links: we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. It never affects our verdicts.
FAQs
How much does GitHub cost?
Free is $0 with unlimited repositories. Team is $4 per user a month and Enterprise is $21. Copilot and extra storage cost extra.
Source: github.com/pricing
Is GitHub Copilot included?
No. Copilot is priced separately from the GitHub plan.
Source: github.com/pricing
Does GitHub have an MCP server?
Yes. GitHub publishes an official MCP server.
Ready to try GitHub?
Where almost every startup keeps its code. The free plan is enough for most small teams; budget separately for Copilot and extra Actions minutes.
Some links are affiliate links: we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. It never affects our verdicts.
Alternatives to GitHub
GitLab: GitLab bundles code hosting with a broader DevOps suite and self-hosting. GitHub has the largest developer community.
Linear: Linear is issue tracking that links to GitHub pull requests. GitHub hosts the code itself.
Bitbucket: Bitbucket is Atlassian code hosting that ties into Jira. GitHub has a larger ecosystem.
Other Dev & Infrastructure tools
ApifyReady-made scrapers and browser automations for pulling web data into your workflows, with a free plan to start. Best for teams comfortable with a little setup.
Better StackUptime alerts, on-call, status pages and logs in one product, with a free tier that covers small projects. Responders from $29/month billed yearly.
CloudflareFree DNS, CDN and DDoS protection that almost every founder with a domain should use. The free plan has no SLA; pay for Pro when the site earns money.
Something wrong or out of date?
Private — not published. Every report is read.