Can You Host a Private Repository on GitHub for Free?

Understanding GitHub’s Free Plan for Private Repositories

GitHub offers a free plan that allows users to host unlimited private repositories. This is great news for developers who want to keep their source code private without incurring additional costs. The free plan includes features such as:

Unlimited private repositories
Unlimited collaborators
500 MB of GitHub Packages storage
2,000 GitHub Actions minutes per month

These features make it possible for individual developers and small teams to work on private projects without the need for a paid subscription.

Limitations of GitHub Pages with Private Repositories

While GitHub’s free plan allows for private repositories, there are some limitations when it comes to hosting GitHub Pages from these private repos. GitHub Pages is a static site hosting service that allows you to publish websites directly from your GitHub repository.

Unfortunately, GitHub Pages is only available for public repositories on the free plan. If you want to host a website from a private repository, you’ll need to upgrade to a paid plan such as GitHub Team or GitHub Enterprise.

A Workaround for Hosting Private Source Code

If you’re determined to keep your source code private while still hosting a public website, there’s a clever workaround you can use:

Create a private repository for your source code
Create a separate public repository for your compiled website files
Use GitHub Actions to automatically build and deploy your website to the public repository

This approach allows you to maintain the privacy of your source code while still taking advantage of GitHub Pages for free hosting. It does require a bit more setup, but it can be an effective solution for developers who want the best of both worlds.