CircleCI Pricing (2026)
It's credit-based usage pricing, so you're paying for compute time and concurrency on your CI/CD pipelines, not per-seat access. The $15/mo entry point on Performance just buys you a base allotment of credits, and you top up as your build volume grows.
- Free
- $0/mo
- Performance
- $15/mo
- Scale
- Contact Sales
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Free
- Up to 6,000 build minutes
- Up to 5 active users/month
- Docker, Windows, Linux, Arm, macOS, self hosted runners
- 30x concurrency
Performance
- 30,000 credits included free
- 5 active users included free
- Larger resources
- 80x concurrency
- Optional 8x5 support add-on
Scale
- Customizable plans
- Enterprise controls
- Largest resource classes
- All environments, even GPU
- Optional 24/7 support add-on
Does CircleCI have a free plan?
Yes: the Free plan is free forever, not a time-limited trial. When you outgrow it, paid plans start at $15/mo.
What the free plan includes
- Up to 6,000 build minutes
- Up to 5 active users/month
- Docker, Windows, Linux, Arm, macOS, self hosted runners
- 30x concurrency
AI Pricing Analysis
Pricing Model
It's credit-based usage pricing, so you're paying for compute time and concurrency on your CI/CD pipelines, not per-seat access. The $15/mo entry point on Performance just buys you a base allotment of credits, and you top up as your build volume grows.
Tier Strategy
Free is for solo devs and small projects kicking the tires on CI/CD without commitment. Performance is where actual teams live once they need more concurrent jobs and faster builds, and the jump to Scale happens when compliance, custom contracts, or enterprise-grade support (and annual billing) become non-negotiable.
Competitive Positioning
Sitting in the middle of the CI/CD pack, undercutting some enterprise-first competitors on entry price while still using usage-based mechanics that can get expensive at scale. They're clearly fishing for teams that started on GitHub Actions or Jenkins and now need something more purpose-built without jumping straight to enterprise pricing.
Growth Lever
Build minutes and concurrency are the real paywall — the more parallel jobs and compute-heavy pipelines you run, the faster you burn credits and need to buy more. There's no free trial to soften that transition, so the free plan itself has to do the convincing before teams feel the usage pinch.
Want the strategist's read on the live page? Read the AI teardown of CircleCI's pricing page →
CircleCI Pricing FAQ
- How much does CircleCI cost?
- Paid plans start at $15/mo. There's also an Enterprise tier with custom pricing. You can get started on the free plan before committing.
- Is there a free plan?
- Yes. The "Free" plan is free forever, not just a trial. You get up to 6,000 build minutes, up to 5 active users/month, docker, windows, linux, arm, macos, self hosted runners — plus 1 more features. It's enough to evaluate the product before upgrading.
- Can I try it before paying?
- There's no trial per se, but the free plan lets you use the product indefinitely with some limits.
- How does the pricing work?
- It's credit-based usage pricing, so you're paying for compute time and concurrency on your CI/CD pipelines, not per-seat access. The $15/mo entry point on Performance just buys you a base allotment of credits, and you top up as your build volume grows.
- Which plan makes sense for me?
- Free is for solo devs and small projects kicking the tires on CI/CD without commitment. Performance is where actual teams live once they need more concurrent jobs and faster builds, and the jump to Scale happens when compliance, custom contracts, or enterprise-grade support (and annual billing) become non-negotiable.
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Comparing CircleCI to something specific? Try CircleCI vs GitHub, CircleCI vs GitLab, or CircleCI vs Buildkite. Or see the best CircleCI alternatives, ranked.
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