Assessing Cost Trade‑offs Between GitHub‑Hosted and Self‑Hosted Runners for Low‑Traffic Workflows

Context

A private repository with low traffic currently uses GitHub Actions. The free tier provides 2,000 minutes per month. Workflows occasionally exceed this limit, incurring per‑minute charges for GitHub‑hosted runners. An alternative is to deploy a self‑hosted runner, which avoids GitHub‑side billing but introduces hardware, power, bandwidth, and maintenance costs.

Unresolved Decision

Which runner strategy yields the lowest total cost for a low‑traffic project that may occasionally surpass the free minute quota, considering both direct billing and indirect operational expenses?

Specific Questions

• What is the precise cost per minute for GitHub‑hosted runners once the free 2,000 minutes are exceeded, and how does that scale with increased usage?
• What are the typical indirect costs (hardware depreciation, power, network, and maintenance) associated with running a self‑hosted runner for a low‑traffic workload?
• How might future changes to GitHub’s pricing or free‑minute allocation affect the cost‑benefit analysis between the two runner types?