GitHub pricing in 2026 — and what you're really paying per active seat.
GitHub lists Team at $4/seat/mo and Enterprise at $21/seat/mo — but you're billed per provisioned seat, not per active one. A 40-seat Team workspace with a 18% ghost-seat rate burns about $346/yr on GitHub accounts that never get used. On Enterprise that's $1,814/yr. Below: the real per-seat math, plus how to find and reclaim inactive GitHub seats.
GitHub pricing: what a seat actually costs
Public GitHub list pricing per seat, billed annually. Monthly billing is typically ~20% higher.
| Plan | Per seat / mo | Billing | 40 seats / yr |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | Free | free · Unlimited public repos, 2,000 Actions min/mo | — |
| Team | $4 | annual · Private repos, code review tools, 3,000 Actions min | $1,920 |
| Enterprise | $21 | annual · SAML SSO, audit log, advanced security | $10,080 |
How to find inactive GitHub seats
SeatMap.AI flags a GitHub seat as a ghost when any of these signals fire — and shows you the exact evidence before any seat is touched.
- No commits or PR activity in 90+ days
- Outside collaborators left in the org
- Personal accounts used as bots (should be GitHub Apps)
- Account deactivated in HRIS but still billing in GitHub
- Enterprise seat for read-only viewers
How to reclaim GitHub seats (the safe way)
- Audit first. Connect GitHub via read-only OAuth. SeatMap runs the first scan in under two minutes and ranks inactive seats by monthly cost.
- Review the queue. Every flagged account shows the rule that fired, last activity, and projected savings. Mark execs and on-call staff as Protected so they never enter the queue again.
- Send the warning. A 24-hour email goes to the affected user and their manager with a one-click bypass link. Active users self-rescue in seconds.
- Reclaim runs. After the bypass window closes, SeatMap unassigns or deactivates the seat — data preserved, access removed. Your next GitHub invoice drops.
- Undo if needed. Every reclaim is logged with the original permissions. One-click re-provision restores the account exactly as it was.
GitHub pricing FAQ
How much does a GitHub Enterprise license cost?
GitHub Enterprise is $21/user/month billed annually. Team is $4/user/month. Both bill per provisioned seat, not per active developer. A dormant Enterprise seat costs the same as one used every day.
Does GitHub charge for bots and GitHub Apps?
GitHub Apps are free — they don't count toward seats. But personal user accounts used as bots are billed. SeatMap.AI flags personal accounts behaving like bots so you can convert them to GitHub Apps and stop paying for them.
How are outside collaborators billed?
On Enterprise plans, outside collaborators count toward your seat total. SeatMap.AI lists them separately so you can audit access and revoke collaborators from finished projects.
How do I find inactive GitHub users?
GitHub's admin shows last login but doesn't surface seats with no commits, no PRs, and no reviews together. SeatMap.AI ranks every Enterprise seat by 90-day commit + PR activity, with one-click conversion to outside collaborator (free for public repos) or removal.
What's the difference between removing and converting a GitHub user?
Removing revokes the seat charge and the user loses access. Converting to outside collaborator keeps access on specific repos without the seat charge (Enterprise only). SeatMap.AI shows you which conversion path fits each user.
How much do dormant GitHub seats cost on Enterprise?
A team of 40 on Enterprise ($21/seat) with 18% inactivity burns about $1,810/year. The bigger problem on GitHub is usually outside collaborators left in the org after contracts end — those are free wins at every audit.
Can I downgrade an Enterprise team to GitHub Team?
Yes, but you lose SAML SSO, audit log, and advanced security. Usually a bad trade. Reclaim dormant seats first; downgrade only if you're sure the security/compliance features aren't needed.
Free GitHub audit · under 2 minutes · read-only
Connect GitHub, see your ghost seats and projected savings instantly. Keep the audit whether you sign up or not.