GitHub sharply slashes plan pricing, offers core features for free to all

GitHub's octocat. (credit: GitHub)

Software hosting and version-control platform GitHub has made some sweeping changes to its plans and offerings, extending free service to far more teams and users than before while slashing prices for access to some key features by half.

Arguably the most important change is that unlimited repositories and collaborators are now offered as part of the free tier, even if the project is private. Previously, GitHub offered unlimited repositories for free only to public projects or with a small number of users, which precluded use of the free tier by several different types of teams, organizations, and companies. Now the key differences between the free tier and the lowest-cost paid tier are the latter's addition of code owners and required reviewers-admittedly still critical for many organizations. (It also expands the available storage and number of actions per month.)

Further, that entry-level paid tier now costs just $4 per user per month instead of $9 previously. GitHub still offers a more expensive tier ($21) with SAML sign-on and greatly expanded storage and actions, as well as the specialized GitHub One service with prices privately and individually negotiated by account managers with high-value customers.

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