# GitHub Actions vs Semaphore

| Attribute | GitHub Actions | Semaphore |
|---|---|---|
| **Vioscale score** | 71.7 (74% (medium)) | 68.4 (71% (medium)) |
| adoption.stackoverflow_questions | 42,000 | - |
| content.faq | `[{"answer":"GitHub Actions is a CI/CD and workflow automation platform integrated directly into GitHub repositories. It allows teams to automate their software development lifecycle by running tests, building code, and deploying applications in response to events like code pushes or pull requests, without needing to maintain separate external tools or infrastructure.","source":"https://github.com/features/actions","question":"What is GitHub Actions and what problem does it solve?","confidence":0.95},{"answer":"GitHub Actions is free for public repositories. For private repositories, each GitHub plan includes free monthly minutes; additional usage incurs charges based on runner type (standard runners cost less than GPU or dedicated runners). Exact per-minute rates vary by runner and are subject to change.","source":"https://docs.github.com/en/actions","question":"What does GitHub Actions cost?","confidence":0.92},{"answer":"GitHub Actions supports Node.js, Python, Java, Ruby, PHP, Go, Rust, .NET, Swift, and PowerShell natively, along with any language that can run in a container or shell environment. This broad support means most projects can use GitHub Actions regardless of their technology stack.","source":"https://docs.github.com/en/actions","question":"What programming languages does GitHub Actions support?","confidence":0.94},{"answer":"Yes. GitHub Actions supports self-hosted runners, allowing you to run workflows on machines you own or manage in your own data center or cloud environment. This option is useful for organizations with specific security, compliance, or performance requirements that GitHub-hosted runners cannot meet.","source":"https://github.com/features/actions","question":"Can I run GitHub Actions workflows on my own servers instead of GitHub's infrastructure?","confidence":0.93},{"answer":"Workflows are defined using YAML configuration files stored in the `.github/workflows/` directory of your repository. Each workflow file specifies the events that trigger it (such as code pushes or pull requests), the jobs to run, the steps within each job, and the specific actions or commands to execute.","source":"https://docs.github.com/en/actions","question":"How do I define workflows in GitHub Actions?","confidence":0.96},{"answer":"Yes. GitHub Actions includes a marketplace with thousands of reusable, community-maintained actions for common tasks like running tests, publishing packages, deploying applications, and integrating with external services. You can also create and share custom actions tailored to your workflow.","source":"https://github.com/features/actions","question":"Does GitHub Actions offer pre-built actions or templates to avoid writing everything from scratch?","confidence":0.94},{"answer":"GitHub Actions offers GitHub-hosted runners for Linux, macOS, and Windows, plus support for ARM architecture and GPU runners. It also supports running workflows in containerized environments, allowing you to test and deploy across diverse platforms without managing the underlying infrastructure.","source":"https://github.com/features/actions","question":"What platforms and operating systems does GitHub Actions support for running workflows?","confidence":0.93}]` | - |
| deployment.options | `{"cloud":true,"hybrid":true,"on_prem":true,"self_hosted":true}` | `{"cloud":true,"self_hosted":true}` |
| description.long | GitHub Actions enables developers to automatically build, test, and deploy code from their repositories. It supports parallel matrix builds across multiple environments, integrates with thousands of community-contributed actions, and can be extended with custom workflows written in declarative YAML. | An all-in-one continuous integration and delivery system that enables teams to automate testing and deployment workflows. It supports containerized and cloud-native architectures and can be deployed as a managed cloud service or self-hosted. |
| features.capabilities | `{"caching":true,"hosting":"both","marketplace":true,"matrix_builds":true,"yaml_pipelines":true,"container_native":true,"secrets_management":true,"deploy_environments":true,"self_hosted_runners":true}` | `{"matrix_builds":true,"yaml_pipelines":true,"container_native":true,"self_hosted_runners":true}` |
| hosting.model | cloud | - |
| integrations.count | 17 | 1 |
| integrations.list | `[{"name":"Jira"},{"name":"npm"},{"name":"Docker"},{"name":"GitHub Packages"},{"name":"GitHub Pages"},{"name":"CodeQL"},{"name":"Slack"},{"name":"AWS"},{"name":"Azure"},{"name":"Google Cloud"},{"name":"Kubernetes"},{"name":"TruffleHog"},{"name":"Prowler"},{"name":"Gosec"},{"name":"Super-Linter"},{"name":"Claude"},{"name":"OpenCommit"}]` | `[{"name":"Flowdock"}]` |
| market.availability | `{"primaryMarkets":[],"availabilityScope":"global","availableCountries":[],"notAvailableCountries":[]}` | - |
| platform.support | `{"cli":true,"web":true}` | `{"web":true}` |
| pricing | `{"type":"subscription","plans":[{"free":true,"name":"Free","summary":"Free forever","features":["Unlimited public/private repositories","Dependabot security and version updates","2,000 CI/CD minutes/month","500MB Packages storage","Issues & Projects","Community support"],"components":[{"kind":"fixed","amount":0,"period":"month","currency":"USD"}],"contactSales":false,"includedLimits":{"ci_cd_minutes":"2000/month (public repos)","packages_storage":"500MB (public repos)"}},{"free":false,"name":"Team","summary":"$4/user/month","features":["Everything in Free","GitHub Codespaces access","Repository rules and branch protection","Multiple reviewers in pull requests","Draft pull requests","Code owners","Required reviewers","Pages and Wikis","Environment deployment branches and secrets","3,000 CI/CD minutes/month","2GB Packages storage","Web-based support"],"commitment":"monthly","components":[{"kind":"per_unit","unit":"seat","amount":4,"period":"month","currency":"USD"}],"contactSales":false,"includedLimits":{"ci_cd_minutes":"3000/month","packages_storage":"2GB"}},{"free":false,"name":"Enterprise","summary":"From $21/user/month","features":["Everything in Team","Advanced security and compliance features","Flexible deployment options"],"commitment":"monthly","components":[{"kind":"per_unit","unit":"seat","amount":21,"period":"month","currency":"USD"}],"contactSales":true}],"addOns":[{"name":"GitHub Codespaces","components":[{"per":{"qty":1,"unit":"hour"},"kind":"metered","amount":0.18,"currency":"USD"},{"per":{"qty":1,"unit":"GB/month"},"kind":"metered","amount":0.07,"currency":"USD"}]}],"summary":"Free tier available. Paid plans from $4/user/month.","currency":"USD","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://github.com/pricing","retrievedAt":"2026-08-14T15:25:38.810Z","freeTrialDays":30,"startingPrice":{"amount":4,"period":"month","currency":"USD"},"billingPeriods":["month"]}` | `{"type":"usage","plans":[{"free":false,"name":"Compute - Ubuntu ARM","summary":"$0.003–$0.012/min depending on vCPU","components":[{"per":{"qty":1,"unit":"minute"},"kind":"metered","amount":0.003,"currency":"USD","specification":"2vCPU"},{"per":{"qty":1,"unit":"minute"},"kind":"metered","amount":0.006,"currency":"USD","specification":"4vCPU"},{"per":{"qty":1,"unit":"minute"},"kind":"metered","amount":0.012,"currency":"USD","specification":"8vCPU"}],"contactSales":false,"includedLimits":{"concurrent_jobs":"20 by default"}},{"free":false,"name":"Compute - Ubuntu x64","summary":"$0.0075–$0.015/min depending on vCPU","components":[{"per":{"qty":1,"unit":"minute"},"kind":"metered","amount":0.0075,"currency":"USD","specification":"2vCPU"},{"per":{"qty":1,"unit":"minute"},"kind":"metered","amount":0.015,"currency":"USD","specification":"4vCPU"}],"contactSales":false,"includedLimits":{"concurrent_jobs":"20 by default"}},{"free":false,"name":"Compute - MacOS","summary":"$0.09/min","components":[{"per":{"qty":1,"unit":"minute"},"kind":"metered","amount":0.09,"currency":"USD","specification":"4vCPU"}],"contactSales":false,"includedLimits":{"concurrent_jobs":"20 by default"}},{"free":false,"name":"Compute - Self-Hosted","summary":"$0.0025/min","components":[{"per":{"qty":1,"unit":"minute"},"kind":"metered","amount":0.0025,"currency":"USD"}],"contactSales":false,"includedLimits":{"concurrent_jobs":"contact for limits"}}],"addOns":[{"name":"Dedicated Cache Server","components":[{"kind":"fixed","amount":400,"period":"month","currency":"USD"}]},{"name":"Private Docker Registry","components":[{"kind":"fixed","amount":400,"period":"month","currency":"USD"}]},{"name":"Support - Basic","components":[{"kind":"fixed","amount":50,"period":"month","currency":"USD"}]},{"name":"Support - Priority Response","components":[{"kind":"fixed","amount":250,"period":"month","currency":"USD"}]},{"name":"Support - SLA Standard","components":[{"kind":"fixed","amount":500,"period":"month","currency":"USD"}]},{"name":"Support - SLA Premium","components":[{"kind":"fixed","amount":750,"period":"month","currency":"USD"}]},{"name":"Success - Visibility","components":[{"kind":"fixed","amount":125,"period":"month","currency":"USD"}]},{"name":"Success - Performance","components":[{"kind":"fixed","amount":300,"period":"month","currency":"USD"}]},{"name":"Success - Scale","components":[{"kind":"fixed","amount":1000,"period":"month","currency":"USD"}]},{"name":"Success - Alliance","components":[{"kind":"fixed","amount":2000,"period":"month","currency":"USD"}]},{"name":"Engineering Access","components":[{"kind":"one_time","amount":900,"currency":"USD"},{"kind":"one_time","amount":1250,"currency":"USD"},{"kind":"one_time","amount":2000,"currency":"USD"}]}],"summary":"Pay-per-minute metered compute: $0.0025/min (self-hosted) to $0.09/min (MacOS). Includes 20 concurrent jobs, $15/month free credits, 9.6 GB cache, and free support. Optional modular support and success services.","currency":"USD","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://semaphore.io/","retrievedAt":"2026-08-03T20:21:00.253Z","startingPrice":{"amount":0.0025,"period":"month","currency":"USD"},"billingPeriods":["month","year"]}` |
| pricing.free_tier | yes | yes |
| pricing.model | freemium | freemium |
| pricing.price_level | low | low |
| pricing.transparent | yes | yes |
| reliability.status_page | yes | yes |
| security.disclosure_policy | yes | - |
| security.gdpr | yes | - |
| security.iso27001 | yes | yes |
| security.pci | - | yes |
| security.soc2 | yes | yes |

## Capabilities (CI/CD Tools)

| Capability | GitHub Actions | Semaphore |
|---|:--:|:--:|
| **Deployment** |  |  |
| Hosting | Cloud + self-hosted | - |
| Self-hosted runners | ✓ | ✓ |
| **Core** |  |  |
| Config-as-code pipelines | ✓ | ✓ |
| Matrix / parallel builds | ✓ | ✓ |
| **Build** |  |  |
| Container-native builds | ✓ | ✓ |
| **Performance** |  |  |
| Build caching | ✓ | - |
| **Security** |  |  |
| Secrets management | ✓ | - |
| **Delivery** |  |  |
| Deployment environments & approvals | ✓ | - |
| **Ecosystem** |  |  |
| Reusable actions / marketplace | ✓ | - |

*Source: Vioscale. Generated 2026-09-01T14:45:21.034Z. "-" = undocumented, not absent.*