CircleCI Pricing 2026
Complete pricing guide with plans, hidden costs, and negotiation tips
CircleCI pricing varies by team size and features, ranging from $0 to $15 per month in 2026. Your actual cost depends on the tier you choose, contract length, and negotiated discounts.
Use the interactive pricing calculator to estimate your exact cost based on team size and requirements.
- Free tier: Yes
- Billing: Monthly and annual (save 15-20%)
- Hidden costs: Add ~35% for implementation, support, and training
CircleCI offers 4 pricing tiers: Free, Performance, Scale, Enterprise. Standard paid plans include Free at $0/month, Performance at $15/month (starting). The Performance plan is professional teams.
Compared to other developer tools software, CircleCI is positioned at the budget-friendly price point.
CircleCI is a continuous integration and delivery (CI/CD) platform that automates software builds, tests, and deployments. It supports virtually any language or framework with customizable workflows and offers both cloud-hosted and self-hosted options.
CircleCI pricing starts with a Free plan including up to 6,000 build minutes/month and 5 active users. The Performance plan starts at $15/month with 30,000 credits and 5 users included. Scale and Enterprise plans offer custom pricing with advanced features like GPU access, unlimited concurrency, and dedicated support.
In this comprehensive guide, we break down CircleCI's pricing tiers, explain the credit system and resource class multipliers, reveal hidden costs like credit expiration, and help you calculate your true CI/CD costs.
All CircleCI Plans & Pricing
| Plan | Monthly | Annual | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free buildMinutes: 6,000/month (small Docker class)activeUsers: 5 | Free | Free 0 | Open source and side projects |
| Performance credits: 30,000/month includedactiveUsers: 5 included, +$15/user/month | $15 /month (starting) | $15 /month (starting) | Professional teams |
| Scale storage: 200 GBnetwork: 50 GB | Contact | Contact | Scaling organizations |
| Enterprise | Contact | Contact | Large enterprises |
View all features by plan
Free
- Up to 6,000 build minutes/month (using small Docker resource class)
- Up to 5 active users/month
- 30x concurrency (Docker/Linux/Arm/Windows)
- 1x concurrency for macOS
- 2 GB storage included
- 1 GB network included
- Community support only
Performance
- 30,000 credits included monthly
- 5 active users included (additional users $15/month each)
- 80x concurrency across most environments
- Access to larger resource classes (X-large, 2X-large)
- Docker Layer Caching available
- 2 GB storage, 5 GB network included
- Ticket-based global support (8x5 and 12x5 SLA options)
- Additional credits: $15 for every 25,000 credits
Scale
- Customizable enterprise-level plans
- Unlimited concurrency options
- Access to GPU resources
- 200 GB storage, 50 GB network included
- Enterprise controls and single sign-on
- Self-hosted runners
- 24x5 and 24x7 SLA options available
Enterprise
- All Scale features
- SAML SSO
- 24/7 dedicated support
- Dedicated success manager
- SLA guarantee
- Custom security and compliance
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Frequently Asked Questions
01 How much does CircleCI cost?
CircleCI Free includes up to 6,000 build minutes/month and 5 active users. Performance starts at $15/month with 30,000 credits and 5 users included. Scale is billed annually with custom pricing.
02 Does CircleCI have a free plan?
Yes, CircleCI Free includes up to 6,000 build minutes per month (using small Docker resource class), up to 5 active users, 30x concurrency for Docker/Linux/Arm/Windows, 2 GB storage, and community support.
03 What hidden costs should I expect?
Credit consumption varies significantly by resource class (1x to 25x multipliers). macOS builds use credits faster than Linux. Free plan credits don't roll over monthly, and paid plan credits expire after 12 months.
04 Can I negotiate CircleCI pricing?
Yes, Scale and Enterprise tiers have negotiable pricing. Annual commitments and high credit volumes provide leverage.
05 Is annual billing cheaper?
CircleCI offers annual credit packages with volume discounts for predictable usage.
06 CircleCI vs GitHub Actions: Which is cheaper?
GitHub Actions is often cheaper with 2,000 free minutes for private repos. CircleCI offers more parallelism (30x vs 20) and faster builds at higher tiers with 80x concurrency on Performance.
07 What is included in CircleCI Performance?
Performance includes 30,000 credits/month, 5 active users, 80x concurrency, access to larger resource classes (X-large, 2X-large), Docker Layer Caching, 2 GB storage, 5 GB network, and ticket-based support.
08 Does CircleCI offer startup discounts?
Yes, CircleCI offers a startup program with discounted credits for qualifying early-stage companies.