How much does CircleCI cost per user in 2026?

CircleCI charges per active user, not per seat. An active user is anyone who commits code changes on a project building on CircleCI during the billing period. Performance Plan includes 5 active users free; each additional user costs $15/month ($15 = 25,000 credits at $0.0006/credit). Scale Plan: 40,000 credits/user/month custom pricing. Custom Plan: 25,000 credits/user/month custom pricing. For a team of 20 on Performance: 5 free + 15 paid × $15 = $225/month base + actual compute credit usage (CircleCI pricing, July 2026).

What is the CircleCI Free plan in 2026?

CircleCI Free is $0/month with 30,000 credits per month for personal usage (1GB network transfer + 2GB-months storage included). 5 active users included; concurrency up to 30x. Docker, Windows, Linux, Arm, macOS, self-hosted runners supported. Open source projects can access up to 400,000 credits/month free for Linux/Arm/Docker (equivalent to 80,000 build minutes). Open source macOS: 25,000 free credits/month (max 2 concurrent jobs). Free credits expire monthly; do not roll over (CircleCI pricing, July 2026).

What is the CircleCI Performance Plan?

The Performance Plan is CircleCI's flexible pay-as-you-go option. 30,000 credits included free monthly (same as Free); additional credits at $15 per 25,000 credits. 5 active users included free; each additional user costs $15/month ($0.0006 × 25,000 = $15). 1-month auto-refill at 25% of monthly amount when credits hit 0. Docker Layer Caching: 200 credits per job run. Paid credits roll over month-to-month and expire 12 months after purchase. Optional 8x5 support add-on. Billed month-to-month, no annual contract required (CircleCI, July 2026).

How does CircleCI's machine sizing work?

CircleCI uses credit consumption based on machine type and duration. Common Docker resource classes (credits/min): Small (1 CPU, 2GB) = 5; Medium (2 CPU, 4GB) = 10; Large (4 CPU, 8GB) = 20; X-large (8 CPU, 16GB) = 40; 2X-large (16 CPU, 32GB) = 80; 2X-large+ (20 CPU, 40GB) = 100. ARM Docker: 2-16 CPU classes from 13 to 104 credits/min. GPU instances: 160-1,000 credits/min depending on type. A typical medium Docker build running 10 minutes costs 100 credits ($0.06). The 2X-large resource is the typical machine for enterprise CI workloads (CircleCI, July 2026).

CircleCI Pricing 2026: CI/CD Cost Explained

Q: How do CircleCI credits work?

CircleCI uses a credit-based pricing model. 1 credit = $0.0006. Credits are sold in blocks of 25,000 credits for $15. Credits cover three things: (1) Monthly active users — billed as 25,000 credits per active user; (2) Compute time — credits consumed based on machine type and duration (e.g., Small Docker 1 CPU/2GB = 5 credits/min, Large 4 CPU/8GB = 20 credits/min, 2XL 16 CPU/32GB = 80 credits/min); (3) Add-on features — Docker Layer Caching 200 credits per job run (CircleCI pricing, July 2026).

Q: What is the CircleCI Scale Plan?

The Scale Plan is annual contract with custom pricing. 40,000 credits per user per month included; all active users billed. Concurrent runs scaled up (typically 80x+ vs 30x on Free). Larger resource classes, dedicated compute options, dedicated account team, premium support. No free tier or included free users — all active users billed according to the plan's credit rate from the start. Custom Plan: 25,000 credits/user/month included; everything else negotiated (CircleCI, July 2026).

Q: How much does CircleCI cost for an open source project?

CircleCI's open source credits are generous: up to 400,000 credits per month free for Linux, Arm, and Docker open source projects (equivalent to 80,000 build minutes). Plus 25,000 credits/month free for macOS open source builds (max 2 concurrent jobs). Open source Windows builds or private repositories can use the 30,000 credits offered in the regular free plan. To qualify: the project repository must be public on GitHub, GitLab, or Bitbucket with an OSI-approved license (CircleCI, July 2026).

Quick Answer

CircleCI pricing in 2026 uses a credit-based model where 1 credit = $0.0006 (USD). Free: 30,000 credits/month + 5 active users + 30x concurrency. Performance: 30,000 credits included monthly + 5 free users, then $15 per 25,000 credits and $15 per additional active user. Scale: 40,000 credits/user/month custom pricing. Custom: 25,000 credits/user/month. Open source projects: up to 400,000 credits/month free (CircleCI pricing, July 2026).

Last verified: Sep 16, 2026.

At a glance

Free: 30,000 credits/month + 5 active users + 30x concurrency
Performance: $15 per 25,000 credits + 5 free users ($15/extra user)
Scale: 40,000 credits/user/month (custom)
Custom: 25,000 credits/user/month (custom)
1 credit value: $0.0006
25,000 credits block: $15
Open source: 400,000 credits/month free

How CircleCI's credit model works

CircleCI uses a credit-based pricing model where 1 credit = $0.0006 (USD). Credits are sold in blocks of 25,000 credits for $15. Credits cover three things: (1) Monthly active users — billed as 25,000 credits per active user; (2) Compute time — credits consumed based on machine type and duration; (3) Add-on features like Docker Layer Caching (200 credits per job run) (CircleCI pricing, July 2026).

The credit model is flexible — you only pay for what you use. Performance Plan users can purchase additional credits at $15 per 25,000 credits. Paid credits roll over month-to-month and expire 12 months after purchase. Free credits expire monthly and do not roll over.

Active user definition

CircleCI charges per active user, not per seat. An active user is anyone who commits code changes on a project building on CircleCI during the billing period. Unregistered users (those who don't commit code but may run workflows via API) also count. Read-only users and viewers do not count.

For a 30-developer team on Performance Plan: 5 free users + 25 paid users × $15 = $375/month base. Plus actual compute credits — a typical mid-market team running 500-1,000 build minutes per day on medium Docker resources would consume approximately 250,000-500,000 credits ($1,500-$3,000) per month. Total monthly: $1,875-$3,375 (CircleCI pricing, July 2026).

Compute resource classes

Resource class	CPU	RAM	Cost (credits/min)
Small	1	2 GB	5
Medium	2	4 GB	10
Large	4	8 GB	20
X-large	8	16 GB	40
2X-large	16	32 GB	80
2X-large+	20	40 GB	100
Small Multi GPU (4x T4)	4	15 GB	160
Medium GPU (T4)	8	30 GB	240
Medium Multi GPU (4x T4)	8	30 GB	240
Medium Multi GPU (8x T4)	16	60 GB	500
Medium GPU (A10G)	8	30 GB	1,000

The three paid plans

Performance Plan is the most common paid tier. 30,000 credits included monthly (same as Free, expiring monthly); additional credits at $15 per 25,000. 5 active users included free; each additional user costs $15/month. Optional 8x5 support add-on. Billed month-to-month, no annual contract required. Paid credits roll over month-to-month and expire 12 months after purchase (CircleCI, July 2026).

Scale Plan: annual contract, custom pricing, 40,000 credits/user/month included. Concurrent runs scaled up (typically 80x+). Larger resource classes, dedicated compute options, dedicated account team, premium support. Custom Plan: 25,000 credits/user/month included, everything else negotiated (CircleCI pricing, July 2026).

Docker Layer Caching economics

Docker Layer Caching (DLC) costs 200 credits per job run ($0.12 per run) on Free and Performance plans. DLC reduces build times on pipelines where Docker images are built by only rebuilding Docker layers that have changed. For pipelines with frequent Docker builds, DLC typically pays for itself in compute credits saved within 3-5 builds.

For teams running 50 Docker builds per day, DLC adds 50 × 200 = 10,000 credits/day = 300,000 credits/month = $180/month at Performance Plan rates. For teams running 100+ builds per day, DLC at $360/month is worth it. DLC is included free on Scale and Custom plans (CircleCI, July 2026).

Open source credits

CircleCI's open source credits are the most generous in the CI/CD market. Up to 400,000 credits per month free for Linux, Arm, and Docker open source projects (equivalent to 80,000 build minutes). Plus 25,000 credits/month free for macOS open source builds (max 2 concurrent jobs). Open source Windows builds or private repositories can use the 30,000 credits offered in the regular free plan.

To qualify, the project repository must be public on GitHub, GitLab, or Bitbucket with an OSI-approved license. For open source maintainers, CircleCI's free tier covers the vast majority of CI needs (CircleCI, July 2026).

What enterprise buyers should do next

Three actions for organizations evaluating CircleCI in 2026.

Model compute credits separately. The base user fee is small ($15/user) — compute is the main cost driver. Run a 30-day pilot on Performance Plan to measure actual credit consumption before committing to Scale.
Evaluate Docker Layer Caching ROI. For teams running frequent Docker builds, DLC typically pays for itself. For 50 builds/day at $0.12 each = $180/month = $2,160/year saved in compute credits.
Get a GitHub Actions quote. For teams already on GitHub Enterprise Cloud, GitHub Actions (50,000 minutes included) is significantly cheaper than CircleCI. Have both quotes ready.

What to watch next

Three near-term datapoints. First, CircleCI's annual pricing update — Performance Plan pricing has been stable; expect a 2027 revision. Second, the competitive landscape with GitHub Actions — GitHub is bundling Actions more aggressively with GitHub Enterprise Cloud. Third, GPU instance pricing evolution — for ML/CI workloads, GPU resource classes are the differentiator and pricing may evolve as demand grows (CircleCI pricing, July 2026).