GitHub Actions and GitLab CI/CD run the same kind of pipeline: build, test, container image, deploy. They differ in included minutes, per-user pricing, your own runners, and whether you can host the whole platform on your own server in an EU datacentre.
| Criterion | GitHub Actions | GitLab CI/CD |
|---|---|---|
| Included minutes, free plan | 2,000 per month | 400 per month, up to 5 users |
| Included minutes, team plan | 3,000 per month (Team) | 10,000 per month (Premium) |
| Team plan pricing model | Per user per month, with an introductory list price shown for the first 12 months | Per user per month, billed annually |
| Runner on your own server | Yes, no minutes used | Yes, no minutes used |
| Platform on your own server | GitHub Enterprise Server, licence required | GitLab Free or paid, self-managed |
| Container registry | GitHub Packages (ghcr.io) | Built-in registry in every project |
| Reuse | Marketplace with thousands of actions | Templates, include and the CI/CD catalog |
| Secrets | Masked in logs, environments, OIDC | Masked and protected variables, OIDC |
| Configuration | YAML files in .github/workflows | A single .gitlab-ci.yml file |
GitHub Free includes 2,000 minutes per month for private repositories, and Pro and Team include 3,000. Beyond the quota, a standard 2-core Linux runner is billed per minute, at a rate GitHub lowered on 1 January 2026. GitHub had also announced a per-minute platform fee for self-hosted runners from 1 March 2026. It was postponed for re-evaluation, with no new date. GitLab Free includes 400 compute minutes on GitLab.com and Premium includes 10,000. On both platforms, jobs that run on your own runner do not use minutes. Check the vendors' pricing pages before you commit, because list prices change.
The cheapest way to scale CI on either platform is your own runner on a VPS or a dedicated server. The runner connects out to GitHub or GitLab, picks up jobs and runs them locally, with direct access to Docker and your private network. The next step is self-managed GitLab: you install the whole platform on your server. Code, logs and container images stay in a datacentre you choose, for example in the EU. GitHub has an equivalent, GitHub Enterprise Server, but only with an Enterprise licence. Self-managed also means updates, backups and monitoring become your job.
GitLab has a container registry built into every project, with automatic authentication from the pipeline. GitHub offers GitHub Packages and its ghcr.io registry, just as easy to use from a workflow. On secrets, both platforms mask values in logs and support OIDC, so you can avoid long-lived cloud keys. The big difference is reuse. GitHub has a marketplace with thousands of public actions: quick to adopt, but each action is third-party code running next to your secrets. GitLab leans on templates, the include keyword and a catalog of CI/CD components.
An agency that keeps all its client sites on GitHub uses Actions to build and deploy over SSH to a VPS. Heavy builds run on a self-hosted runner installed on the same VPS, so the minutes included in the plan are enough for the remaining jobs.
A company that ships software to clinics must show where its sources and artefacts live. It installs self-managed GitLab on a dedicated server in the EU, with runners on the same private network. The auditor gets a single location for code, pipelines and container images.
Yes. A self-hosted runner installed on your server picks up jobs from GitHub and runs them locally. The runner opens the connection to GitHub, and jobs that run on it do not use plan minutes. The deploy itself can happen on your local network.
The GitLab Free edition can be installed on your own server at no licence cost, with no minute limit, because you use your own runners. You pay for the server and for the time you spend administering it. Advanced features need a Premium or Ultimate licence, also per user.
GitHub had announced a per-minute fee for self-hosted runners from 1 March 2026. The company postponed it for re-evaluation and has not announced a new date. Public repositories and GitHub Enterprise Server were exempt from the original announcement.
If your code is on GitHub, Actions is the short road; GitLab CI/CD wins when the whole platform must run on your own server in the EU.
