Introduction

GitHub is the world's leading platform for software development collaboration, version control, and DevOps automation. Originally built around Git-based source control, GitHub has evolved into a comprehensive development ecosystem that includes code hosting, CI/CD pipelines, security scanning, project management, and AI-powered coding assistance through GitHub Copilot.

In 2026, GitHub offers multiple pricing tiers designed to serve individual developers, small teams, and large enterprises. Pricing is primarily seat-based, with additional costs for advanced features like GitHub Copilot, GitHub Advanced Security, and compute resources for Actions and Packages. Understanding the full cost structure—including per-seat fees, usage-based charges, and enterprise add-ons—is essential for accurate budgeting and effective negotiation.

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Evaluating GitHub or planning a purchase?

Vendr's pricing analysis agent uses anonymized contract data to show what similar companies typically pay and where negotiation leverage exists—whether you're estimating budget, comparing options, or reviewing a quote. Explore GitHub pricing with Vendr.

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This guide combines GitHub's published pricing with Vendr's dataset and analysis to break down GitHub pricing in 2026, including:

• Transparent pricing by tier (Free, Team, Enterprise Cloud, Enterprise Server)
• What buyers commonly pay across different company sizes and deployment models
• Hidden costs like Actions minutes, storage overages, and Advanced Security
• Negotiation levers that create meaningful savings
• How GitHub compares to GitLab, Bitbucket, and Azure DevOps on pricing

Whether you're evaluating GitHub for the first time or preparing for renewal, this guide is designed to help you budget accurately and negotiate with clearer market context.

How much does GitHub cost in 2026?

GitHub's pricing in 2026 is structured around per-seat subscriptions with usage-based charges for compute, storage, and premium features. The platform offers four primary tiers—Free, Team, Enterprise Cloud, and Enterprise Server—each with different feature sets, support levels, and cost drivers.

Core pricing components include:

• Per-seat license fees: Monthly or annual subscription costs per active user
• GitHub Copilot: AI-powered code completion available as an add-on ($10–$39 per seat per month depending on tier)
• GitHub Actions minutes: CI/CD compute time beyond included allowances
• GitHub Packages storage: Artifact and package hosting beyond free tiers
• GitHub Advanced Security (GHAS): Code scanning, secret scanning, and dependency review for Enterprise customers
• Support and professional services: Premium support tiers and implementation assistance

Based on Vendr transaction data, actual costs vary significantly based on seat count, contract term, usage patterns, and negotiation. Multi-year commitments, volume discounts, and competitive pressure commonly yield 15–35% below list pricing for Team and Enterprise tiers.

Benchmarking context: See what similar companies pay for GitHub to understand percentile-based pricing across different deployment sizes, contract structures, and feature combinations.

What does each GitHub tier cost?

How much does GitHub Free cost?

GitHub Free is available at no cost for unlimited public and private repositories with basic collaboration features.

Pricing Structure:

Free tier with no per-seat charges. Includes 2,000 Actions minutes per month and 500 MB of Packages storage.

Observed Outcomes:

GitHub Free serves individual developers, open-source projects, and small teams with basic version control needs. Organizations typically migrate to paid tiers when they require advanced security, compliance features, or higher usage limits.

Benchmarking context:

While GitHub Free has no direct costs, teams evaluating paid tiers can compare GitHub pricing options with Vendr to understand the cost implications of upgrading to Team or Enterprise.

How much does GitHub Team cost?

GitHub Team is designed for small to mid-sized development teams requiring collaboration tools, protected branches, and code review workflows.

Pricing Structure:

List pricing is $4 per user per month (billed annually) or $3.67 per user per month with annual prepayment. Includes 3,000 Actions minutes per month and 2 GB of Packages storage per organization.

Observed Outcomes:

In Vendr's dataset, buyers often achieve below-list pricing through annual commitments and volume negotiations. Teams with 25+ seats commonly secure discounts in the 10–20% range, particularly when bundling Copilot or committing to multi-year terms.

Benchmarking context: Get your custom GitHub Team price estimate to see how pricing varies by seat count, contract length, and add-on selection.

How much does GitHub Enterprise Cloud cost?

GitHub Enterprise Cloud is a fully managed SaaS solution for larger organizations requiring advanced security, compliance, and administrative controls.

Pricing Structure:

List pricing is $21 per user per month (billed annually). Includes 50,000 Actions minutes per month, 50 GB of Packages storage, and access to GitHub Advanced Security (GHAS) as an add-on. SAML single sign-on, audit logs, and enterprise-grade support are included.

Observed Outcomes:

Vendr data shows Enterprise Cloud pricing is highly negotiable. Buyers with 100+ seats often achieve 20–35% discounts through multi-year commitments, competitive positioning, and volume-based pricing. Usage-based charges (Actions, Packages, GHAS) can add 15–40% to total contract value depending on CI/CD intensity and security requirements.

Benchmarking context: Explore GitHub Enterprise Cloud benchmarks to understand typical discount ranges, usage patterns, and total cost of ownership across different deployment sizes.

How much does GitHub Enterprise Server cost?

GitHub Enterprise Server is a self-hosted deployment option for organizations with strict data residency, air-gapped environments, or on-premises infrastructure requirements.

Pricing Structure:

List pricing is $21 per user per year for the software license, with separate costs for infrastructure, maintenance, and support. Minimum seat commitments typically start at 25–50 users. GitHub Advanced Security is available as an add-on.

Observed Outcomes:

Based on Vendr transaction data, Enterprise Server pricing involves both software licensing and infrastructure costs (compute, storage, networking, backup). Buyers commonly negotiate volume discounts and multi-year pricing, with total costs varying widely based on deployment architecture and internal IT overhead.

Benchmarking context: See GitHub Enterprise Server pricing with Vendr for both license costs and observed infrastructure spend for self-hosted deployments.

How much does GitHub Copilot cost?

GitHub Copilot is an AI-powered code completion tool available as an add-on across GitHub tiers.

Pricing Structure:

• Copilot Individual: $10 per user per month or $100 per user per year
• Copilot Business: $19 per user per month (requires GitHub Team or Enterprise)
• Copilot Enterprise: $39 per user per month (requires GitHub Enterprise Cloud, includes chat, pull request summaries, and custom models)

Observed Outcomes:

In Vendr's dataset, Copilot adoption varies widely by team. Some organizations deploy it to all developers, while others pilot with 10–30% of seats. Volume discounts are uncommon at list pricing, but buyers bundling Copilot with Enterprise Cloud renewals often achieve 10–20% combined savings.

Benchmarking context: Compare GitHub Copilot pricing to see adoption patterns, per-seat costs, and bundling strategies across different organization sizes.

What actually drives GitHub costs?

GitHub's total cost is determined by a combination of per-seat licensing, usage-based consumption, and premium feature add-ons. Understanding these drivers is essential for accurate budgeting and cost control.

Seat count and user licensing

The primary cost driver is the number of licensed seats. GitHub charges per active user per month, with pricing varying by tier (Team, Enterprise Cloud, Enterprise Server). Organizations must license all users with write access to private repositories, though read-only access may be available at lower or no cost depending on configuration.

Cost impact:

A 200-seat Enterprise Cloud deployment at list pricing ($21/user/month) totals $50,400 annually before usage charges or discounts.

GitHub Actions minutes

GitHub Actions provides CI/CD automation with included compute minutes per tier. Overages are billed at $0.008 per minute for Linux runners, with higher rates for Windows ($0.016/min) and macOS ($0.08/min) environments.

Cost impact:

Teams running intensive CI/CD pipelines can easily exceed included minutes. A development team running 500,000 additional Linux minutes per month incurs $4,000 monthly in overage charges ($48,000 annually).

GitHub Packages storage

GitHub Packages hosts container images, npm packages, and other artifacts. Storage beyond included allowances is billed at $0.008 per GB per day (approximately $0.25 per GB per month), with data transfer charges of $0.50 per GB.

Cost impact:

Organizations storing 1 TB of artifacts pay roughly $250/month in storage fees plus transfer costs, adding $3,000+ annually.

GitHub Advanced Security (GHAS)

GHAS provides code scanning, secret scanning, dependency review, and security advisories. It is available only for Enterprise Cloud and Enterprise Server customers and is priced per active committer (users who commit code in a 90-day period).

Pricing:

Based on Vendr transaction data, GHAS is typically quoted as an add-on with pricing negotiated based on active committer count. List pricing is not publicly disclosed but commonly ranges from $30–$60 per active committer per month depending on volume and contract structure.

Cost impact:

A 500-seat Enterprise Cloud deployment with 200 active committers may add $72,000–$144,000 annually for GHAS.

Support and professional services

GitHub offers tiered support:

• Standard support: Included with Enterprise tiers
• Premium support: Faster response times, dedicated support engineers, and proactive guidance (pricing negotiated separately)
• Professional services: Implementation, migration assistance, and training (project-based pricing)

Cost impact:

Premium support and professional services can add 10–25% to total contract value for complex deployments or migrations.

Contract term and payment structure

GitHub pricing varies by contract length and payment terms:

• Monthly billing: Higher per-seat rates with flexibility
• Annual prepayment: 10–15% discount versus monthly billing
• Multi-year commitments: Additional 10–20% discount for 2–3 year terms

Cost impact:

A 100-seat Enterprise Cloud deployment moving from monthly ($25,200/year at $21/seat/month) to a 3-year prepaid contract can reduce annual costs to $18,000–$21,000 through negotiated discounts.

Benchmarking context: Analyze GitHub cost drivers with Vendr to see how usage patterns and contract structure impact total cost of ownership by deployment size.

What hidden costs and fees should you plan for?

Beyond per-seat licensing, GitHub deployments often incur additional costs that are not immediately apparent during initial evaluation. Planning for these expenses ensures accurate budgeting and avoids surprises.

Actions and Packages overages

While GitHub includes baseline Actions minutes and Packages storage, development teams with active CI/CD pipelines and artifact management workflows frequently exceed these limits. Overage charges accumulate quickly, particularly for macOS runners ($0.08/min) and high-frequency builds.

Planning guidance:

Review historical CI/CD usage and artifact storage patterns. For teams running 1M+ Actions minutes monthly, consider negotiating higher included allowances or exploring self-hosted runners to reduce costs.

GitHub Advanced Security (GHAS) expansion

GHAS is priced per active committer, not per total seat. As development activity grows, the number of active committers may increase, triggering additional licensing costs. Organizations often underestimate this growth when budgeting initial GHAS deployments.

Planning guidance:

Model GHAS costs based on projected active committer counts, not total developer headcount. Build in 15–25% growth allowance for expanding teams.

Self-hosted runner infrastructure

While self-hosted GitHub Actions runners eliminate per-minute charges, they introduce infrastructure costs (compute instances, storage, networking) and operational overhead (maintenance, security patching, monitoring).

Planning guidance:

Compare the cost of GitHub-hosted runners versus self-hosted infrastructure. Self-hosted runners typically become cost-effective at 500,000+ minutes per month, but require dedicated DevOps resources.

Migration and onboarding services

Migrating from legacy version control systems (SVN, Perforce, on-premises Git) or competing platforms (GitLab, Bitbucket) often requires professional services for repository migration, workflow redesign, and user training.

Planning guidance:

Budget $10,000–$50,000+ for migration services depending on repository count, complexity, and internal resources. GitHub offers both self-service migration tools and paid professional services.

Compliance and audit tooling

Enterprise customers in regulated industries (finance, healthcare, government) may require additional tooling for audit logging, compliance reporting, and data retention beyond GitHub's native capabilities.

Planning guidance:

Evaluate whether GitHub's built-in audit logs and compliance features meet regulatory requirements, or if third-party integrations (e.g., SIEM, GRC platforms) are necessary.

Training and change management

Developer adoption of GitHub workflows, Actions, and Copilot often requires training programs, documentation, and change management support—particularly for teams migrating from different platforms.

Planning guidance:

Allocate 5–10% of total contract value for training and enablement, especially for large-scale Enterprise deployments.

Benchmarking context: Review GitHub total cost of ownership with Vendr to see observed add-on costs, usage patterns, and complete cost breakdowns across different deployment scenarios.

What do companies typically pay for GitHub?

GitHub pricing varies significantly based on tier, seat count, contract structure, and usage patterns. While GitHub publishes list pricing for Team and Enterprise tiers, Vendr data shows actual costs reflect negotiated discounts, volume pricing, and usage-based charges.

Team tier pricing

GitHub Team list pricing is $4 per user per month (annual billing) or $3.67 per user per month with annual prepayment. Based on Vendr transaction data, small teams (10–25 seats) typically pay close to list pricing, while larger Team deployments (50+ seats) often achieve 10–20% discounts through annual or multi-year commitments.

Observed outcomes:

Buyers commonly secure below-list pricing when bundling Copilot, committing to longer terms, or demonstrating competitive alternatives.

Benchmarking context: See GitHub Team pricing benchmarks for percentile-based pricing across different seat counts and contract structures.

Enterprise Cloud pricing

GitHub Enterprise Cloud list pricing is $21 per user per month (annual billing). In Vendr's dataset, actual pricing varies widely based on seat count, contract term, and add-ons:

• 100–250 seats: Buyers often achieve 15–25% discounts through annual commitments and competitive positioning
• 250–500 seats: Volume discounts and multi-year terms commonly yield 20–30% below list
• 500+ seats: Large deployments with multi-year commitments and GHAS add-ons frequently secure 25–35% discounts

Usage-based charges (Actions, Packages, GHAS) can add 15–40% to total contract value depending on CI/CD intensity and security requirements.

Observed outcomes:

Based on Vendr data, a 300-seat Enterprise Cloud deployment with moderate Actions usage and GHAS for 150 active committers might total $75,000–$95,000 annually after negotiation, compared to $75,600 in base list pricing alone.

Benchmarking context: Get percentile-based GitHub Enterprise Cloud pricing to understand typical discount ranges and total cost of ownership for your deployment size.

Enterprise Server pricing

GitHub Enterprise Server list pricing is $21 per user per year for software licensing, with separate infrastructure costs. Total cost of ownership includes:

• Software licenses (negotiable, often 15–30% below list for volume and multi-year deals)
• Infrastructure (compute, storage, networking, backup)
• Operational overhead (IT staff, maintenance, upgrades)

Observed outcomes:

In Vendr's dataset, a 500-seat Enterprise Server deployment might incur $80,000–$120,000 annually in combined software licensing and infrastructure costs, depending on deployment architecture and internal IT resources.

Benchmarking context: Explore GitHub Enterprise Server benchmarks for both license costs and observed infrastructure spend for self-hosted deployments.

GitHub Copilot adoption

Copilot pricing ranges from $10/user/month (Individual) to $39/user/month (Enterprise). Based on Vendr data, adoption patterns vary:

• Pilot deployments: 10–30% of developer seats
• Broad rollouts: 50–80% of developer seats
• Full deployment: 100% of developer seats

Observed outcomes:

Organizations piloting Copilot Business for 50 developers pay approximately $11,400 annually ($19/user/month). Full deployment to 200 developers totals $45,600 annually before any bundling discounts.

Benchmarking context: Compare GitHub Copilot pricing to see adoption rates and per-seat costs across different organization sizes.

How do you negotiate GitHub pricing?

GitHub pricing is negotiable, particularly for Enterprise Cloud and Enterprise Server deployments. Based on Vendr transaction data, buyers who prepare carefully, understand market benchmarks, and apply proven negotiation strategies often achieve 20–35% savings compared to initial quotes.

1. Engage early and establish timeline

GitHub sales cycles typically run 30–90 days for new Enterprise purchases and 45–60 days for renewals. Engaging 90+ days before your target start date or renewal deadline provides maximum negotiation leverage and allows time for competitive evaluation, internal approvals, and contract review.

Timing leverage:

GitHub operates on a fiscal year ending January 31. Quarter-end (April 30, July 31, October 31, January 31) and year-end (January 31) create natural pressure points for sales teams to close deals. Buyers with flexibility can use these windows to secure additional concessions.

Benchmarking context: See how timing impacts GitHub pricing across different deal sizes and contract structures.

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2. Anchor to budget and market benchmarks

GitHub sales teams often anchor initial quotes to list pricing. Buyers should counter-anchor to realistic budget constraints and market benchmarks based on comparable deals.

Effective framing: "Our budget for this deployment is $X annually, which aligns with what we're seeing in the market for similar seat counts and usage patterns. We need to stay within that range to move forward."

Competitive benchmarks: Compare GitHub pricing with alternatives to understand how GitHub's pricing stacks up against GitLab, Bitbucket, and Azure DevOps for your specific requirements.

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3. Leverage competitive alternatives

GitHub faces direct competition from GitLab, Bitbucket, Azure DevOps, and emerging platforms. Demonstrating active evaluation of alternatives creates pricing pressure and unlocks discounts.

Effective alternatives:

• GitLab: Comparable DevOps platform with integrated CI/CD and security features
• Bitbucket: Atlassian's Git solution, often bundled with Jira and Confluence
• Azure DevOps: Microsoft's integrated development platform, particularly relevant for Azure-centric organizations

Negotiation framing: "We're evaluating GitLab and Azure DevOps alongside GitHub. Both are offering competitive pricing and feature parity for our use case. We prefer GitHub, but need pricing that reflects the competitive landscape."

Competitive context: See how GitHub compares to alternatives on pricing and where competitive pressure creates leverage.

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4. Negotiate multi-year commitments strategically

GitHub offers discounts for multi-year contracts (typically 2–3 years), but buyers should balance savings against flexibility and future pricing risk.

Multi-year considerations:

• Discount potential: 10–20% additional savings versus annual contracts
• Flexibility trade-off: Limited ability to adjust seat counts or migrate platforms mid-contract
• Price protection: Lock in pricing against future increases, but may miss future market price compression

Negotiation approach: "We're open to a multi-year commitment if pricing reflects the reduced flexibility and long-term commitment. We'd need a 25–30% discount versus list to justify locking in for three years."

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5. Optimize usage-based charges

Actions minutes, Packages storage, and GHAS pricing are often negotiable, particularly for high-volume users or multi-year deals.

Negotiation strategies:

• Negotiate higher included allowances: Request increased Actions minutes or Packages storage as part of base pricing
• Secure discounted overage rates: Negotiate lower per-minute or per-GB rates for usage beyond included limits
• Bundle GHAS strategically: Negotiate GHAS pricing based on projected active committer counts, not total seats

Effective framing: "Our CI/CD usage will significantly exceed included Actions minutes. We need either higher included allowances or discounted overage rates to make this work within budget."

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6. Clarify support and professional services

GitHub's standard support is included with Enterprise tiers, but premium support and professional services are negotiable add-ons.

Negotiation approach:

• Premium support: Request inclusion or discounted pricing as part of multi-year deals
• Migration services: Negotiate fixed-price migration packages or request credits toward professional services
• Training and enablement: Request included training sessions or documentation as part of contract

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7. Review contract terms carefully

GitHub Enterprise contracts include terms around auto-renewal, seat true-ups, usage overages, and termination rights. Buyers should negotiate favorable terms alongside pricing.

Key contract provisions:

• Auto-renewal clauses: Negotiate 90–120 day renewal notice periods to allow adequate time for competitive evaluation
• Seat true-up terms: Clarify how mid-contract seat additions are priced and billed
• Usage caps or alerts: Request contractual usage alerts or caps to avoid surprise overage charges
• Termination rights: Negotiate termination-for-convenience clauses or performance-based exit rights

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Negotiation Intelligence

These insights are based on anonymized GitHub deals in Vendr's dataset across a wide range of company sizes and contract structures. Buyers can explore these insights directly using Vendr's free pricing and negotiation tools:

• Pricing benchmarks: Get percentile-based GitHub pricing data — target price ranges, percentiles, and comparable deals for your seat count and usage profile.
• Competitive context: Compare GitHub to alternatives — see how GitHub pricing stacks up against GitLab, Bitbucket, and Azure DevOps for similar requirements.
• Negotiation guidance: Access GitHub-specific playbooks — supplier-specific tactics, timing leverage, and framing strategies by deal type (new purchase vs. renewal).

 

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How does GitHub compare to competitors?

GitHub competes primarily with GitLab, Bitbucket, and Azure DevOps in the DevOps platform and version control market. While feature sets overlap significantly, pricing structures and total cost of ownership vary based on deployment model, usage patterns, and contract terms.

GitHub vs. GitLab

GitLab is GitHub's primary competitor, offering an integrated DevOps platform with version control, CI/CD, security scanning, and project management in a single application.

Pricing comparison

 

Pricing notes

• GitHub's list pricing is significantly lower than GitLab's, particularly at the Enterprise tier. However, GitLab bundles advanced security and AI features that GitHub charges separately.
• In Vendr transaction data, both vendors commonly negotiate 20–35% below list for multi-year commitments and volume deals.
• Total cost of ownership depends heavily on feature requirements. Organizations needing only version control and basic CI/CD often find GitHub more cost-effective, while those requiring comprehensive DevOps tooling may find GitLab's bundled approach competitive.
• Based on Vendr data, GitHub's usage-based charges (Actions minutes, Packages storage) can add 15–40% to total costs, while GitLab includes higher CI/CD minutes in base pricing.

Benchmarking context: Compare GitHub and GitLab pricing with Vendr to see how total cost of ownership varies based on your specific feature requirements and usage patterns.

GitHub vs. Bitbucket

Bitbucket is Atlassian's Git-based version control platform, often bundled with Jira and Confluence for integrated project management and collaboration.

Pricing comparison

 

Pricing notes

• Bitbucket's list pricing is lower than GitHub's, particularly for teams already using Atlassian products (Jira, Confluence). Atlassian often bundles Bitbucket with other tools at discounted rates.
• GitHub offers significantly more CI/CD minutes in Enterprise tiers (50,000/month vs. 3,500/month), reducing overage costs for high-volume pipelines.
• Bitbucket's security features are less mature than GitHub's GHAS, which may require third-party integrations for comprehensive security scanning.
• In Vendr's dataset, Bitbucket pricing is often negotiated as part of broader Atlassian suite deals, making direct comparison complex.

Benchmarking context: See Bitbucket vs. GitHub pricing to understand how bundling with Atlassian products impacts total cost and feature trade-offs.

GitHub vs. Azure DevOps

Azure DevOps is Microsoft's integrated development platform, offering version control (Azure Repos), CI/CD (Azure Pipelines), project management (Azure Boards), and artifact management (Azure Artifacts).

Pricing comparison

 

Pricing notes

• Azure DevOps pricing is competitive with GitHub for basic version control and CI/CD, but total costs vary based on Azure Pipelines usage (pay-per-use model).
• Organizations already using Azure cloud infrastructure often receive bundled pricing or credits for Azure DevOps, making it cost-effective within the Microsoft ecosystem.
• GitHub's integration with Microsoft (both owned by Microsoft) creates some feature overlap, but GitHub remains the preferred platform for open-source and cross-platform development.
• Based on Vendr data, Azure DevOps pricing is often negotiated as part of broader Microsoft Enterprise Agreements, with discounts tied to Azure consumption commitments.

Benchmarking context: Compare GitHub and Azure DevOps pricing to understand how Microsoft ecosystem integration and Azure credits impact total cost of ownership.

GitHub pricing FAQs

Finance & Procurement FAQs

What discounts are available for GitHub Enterprise?

Based on anonymized GitHub transactions in Vendr's database over the past 12 months:

• 15–25% off list for annual commitments with 100–250 seats
• 20–30% off list for multi-year deals (2–3 years) with 250–500 seats
• 25–35% off list for large deployments (500+ seats) with multi-year terms and competitive alternatives

Vendr data shows discounts are most accessible during GitHub's fiscal quarter-end (April 30, July 31, October 31, January 31) and year-end (January 31) periods. Buyers demonstrating active evaluation of GitLab, Bitbucket, or Azure DevOps often unlock additional concessions.

Negotiation guidance: Vendr's GitHub negotiation playbooks provide supplier-specific tactics, timing leverage, and framing strategies to maximize discounts.

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How much does GitHub Advanced Security (GHAS) cost?

GitHub Advanced Security pricing is not publicly disclosed and is negotiated separately based on active committer count (users who commit code in a 90-day period).

Based on GitHub transactions in Vendr's database:

• $30–$60 per active committer per month depending on volume, contract term, and negotiation
• Volume discounts commonly apply for 200+ active committers
• Bundling with Enterprise Cloud renewals often yields 10–20% combined savings

GHAS is available only for Enterprise Cloud and Enterprise Server customers and includes code scanning, secret scanning, dependency review, and security advisories.

Benchmarking context: Explore GHAS pricing with Vendr to see percentile-based pricing for different active committer counts and contract structures.

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What are typical GitHub Actions overage costs?

GitHub includes baseline Actions minutes per tier (3,000/month for Team, 50,000/month for Enterprise Cloud). Overages are billed at:

• $0.008 per minute for Linux runners
• $0.016 per minute for Windows runners
• $0.08 per minute for macOS runners

Based on anonymized GitHub transactions in Vendr's platform:

• Teams running 500,000 additional Linux minutes per month incur approximately $4,000 monthly ($48,000 annually) in overage charges
• High-volume users (1M+ minutes/month) often negotiate higher included allowances or discounted overage rates (e.g., $0.006/min for Linux) as part of multi-year contracts

Negotiation guidance: Vendr's GitHub cost optimization tools help buyers model usage patterns and negotiate favorable overage terms.

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How does GitHub pricing compare to GitLab?

GitHub's list pricing is significantly lower than GitLab's, but total cost of ownership depends on feature requirements and usage patterns.

Based on Vendr transaction data for 200-seat Enterprise deployments:

• GitHub Enterprise Cloud (negotiated): $50,400–$75,000 annually (including GHAS and moderate Actions usage)
• GitLab Ultimate SaaS (negotiated): $120,000–$180,000 annually (includes bundled security and AI features)

GitLab bundles advanced security and AI code assistance in its Ultimate tier, while GitHub charges separately for GHAS and Copilot. Organizations needing only version control and basic CI/CD often find GitHub more cost-effective, while those requiring comprehensive DevOps tooling may find GitLab's bundled approach competitive.

Competitive benchmarks: Compare GitHub and GitLab pricing with Vendr to see how total cost varies based on your specific requirements.

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Can I negotiate GitHub Copilot pricing?

GitHub Copilot pricing ($10–$39/user/month depending on tier) is generally non-negotiable at list rates for small deployments. However, buyers bundling Copilot with Enterprise Cloud renewals or deploying to 100+ seats often achieve 10–20% combined savings through multi-year commitments.

Based on Vendr's dataset:

• Pilot deployments (10–50 seats): Typically pay list pricing
• Broad rollouts (100+ seats): Often secure 10–15% discounts when bundled with Enterprise Cloud renewals
• Multi-year Copilot commitments: May unlock 15–20% savings for 200+ seats

Benchmarking context: Vendr's Copilot pricing analysis shows adoption patterns and negotiated pricing across different organization sizes.

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What are typical GitHub renewal price increases?

Based on anonymized GitHub renewal transactions in Vendr's database over the past 12 months:

• 5–10% annual increases are common for renewals without scope changes
• 15–25% increases may occur when adding GHAS, Copilot, or significantly expanding seat counts
• Flat renewals or decreases are achievable through competitive pressure, multi-year commitments, or demonstrating reduced usage

Vendr data shows buyers who engage 90+ days before renewal and demonstrate active evaluation of alternatives (GitLab, Bitbucket, Azure DevOps) often secure flat renewals or negotiate away proposed increases.

Negotiation guidance: Vendr's GitHub renewal playbooks provide tactics for managing price increases and securing favorable renewal terms.

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How should I budget for GitHub's total cost of ownership?

GitHub's total cost includes per-seat licensing, usage-based charges, and add-ons. Based on Vendr transaction data, buyers should budget:

• Base licensing: Negotiated per-seat pricing (15–35% below list for Enterprise tiers)
• Actions and Packages overages: 10–30% of base licensing for moderate CI/CD usage
• GitHub Advanced Security (GHAS): 30–60% of base licensing if deploying to 50%+ of active committers
• GitHub Copilot: 20–40% of base licensing if deploying to 50%+ of developers
• Support and professional services: 5–15% of total contract value for migrations and premium support

Example:

A 300-seat Enterprise Cloud deployment with GHAS (150 active committers) and Copilot (200 seats) might total $90,000–$130,000 annually after negotiation, compared to $75,600 in base list pricing alone.

Benchmarking context: Vendr's GitHub cost modeling tools help buyers estimate total cost of ownership based on specific usage patterns and feature requirements.

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Product FAQs

What's the difference between GitHub Team and GitHub Enterprise Cloud?

GitHub Team is designed for small to mid-sized development teams (typically 10–100 users) requiring basic collaboration, protected branches, and code review workflows. GitHub Enterprise Cloud is built for larger organizations (100+ users) requiring advanced security, compliance, administrative controls, and enterprise-grade support.

Key differences:

• Pricing: Team is $4/user/month; Enterprise Cloud is $21/user/month (list pricing)
• Security: Enterprise Cloud includes SAML SSO, audit logs, and access to GitHub Advanced Security (GHAS) as an add-on
• Support: Enterprise Cloud includes 24/7 support with faster response times
• Compliance: Enterprise Cloud offers advanced compliance features (SOC 2, FedRAMP, etc.)

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What's included in GitHub Advanced Security (GHAS)?

GitHub Advanced Security provides:

• Code scanning: Automated vulnerability detection in source code
• Secret scanning: Detection of exposed credentials and tokens
• Dependency review: Identification of vulnerable dependencies in pull requests
• Security advisories: Private vulnerability reporting and coordination

GHAS is available only for GitHub Enterprise Cloud and Enterprise Server customers and is priced per active committer.

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What are GitHub Actions and how are they priced?

GitHub Actions is a CI/CD automation platform that allows developers to build, test, and deploy code directly from GitHub repositories. Actions are priced based on compute minutes consumed by workflows, with included allowances per tier and overage charges for additional usage.

Included minutes:

• Free tier: 2,000 minutes/month
• Team tier: 3,000 minutes/month
• Enterprise Cloud: 50,000 minutes/month

Overage rates: $0.008/min (Linux), $0.016/min (Windows), $0.08/min (macOS).

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Can I use GitHub Enterprise Server on-premises?

Yes. GitHub Enterprise Server is a self-hosted deployment option for organizations with strict data residency, air-gapped environments, or on-premises infrastructure requirements. It includes the same features as Enterprise Cloud but requires internal infrastructure (compute, storage, networking) and operational overhead (maintenance, upgrades, security patching).

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What's the difference between GitHub Copilot Individual, Business, and Enterprise?

• Copilot Individual ($10/user/month): AI code completion for individual developers; no organizational controls
• Copilot Business ($19/user/month): Organizational licensing with admin controls, policy management, and usage analytics; requires GitHub Team or Enterprise
• Copilot Enterprise ($39/user/month): Includes Copilot Business features plus chat, pull request summaries, and custom model training; requires GitHub Enterprise Cloud

Summary Takeaways: GitHub Pricing in 2026

Based on analysis of anonymized GitHub deals in Vendr's dataset, buyers who prepare carefully and evaluate alternatives often secure meaningfully better pricing than initial quotes.

Key takeaways:

• GitHub's pricing is highly negotiable, particularly for Enterprise Cloud and Enterprise Server deployments with 100+ seats
• Total cost of ownership includes per-seat licensing, usage-based charges (Actions, Packages), and add-ons (GHAS, Copilot)
• Multi-year commitments, volume discounts, and competitive pressure commonly yield significant savings
• Timing matters—engaging 90+ days before renewal or purchase and leveraging GitHub's fiscal calendar creates negotiation leverage
• Usage-based charges can add 15–40% to total contract value; negotiate higher included allowances or discounted overage rates

Regardless of platform choice, the most important step is clearly defining requirements, understanding total cost drivers, and benchmarking pricing against comparable deals before committing.

 

Vendr's pricing and negotiation tools analyze anonymized transaction data to surface percentile-based benchmarks, competitive comparisons, and observed negotiation patterns, helping buyers assess how a given GitHub quote compares to recent market outcomes for similar scope.

 

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This guide is updated regularly to reflect recent GitHub pricing and negotiation trends. Consider revisiting it ahead of any new purchase or renewal to account for changing market conditions. Last updated: February 2026.