Price checkUsage-based
FreeFreePay-as-you-go (Compute)Custom
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All Semaphore Plans & Pricing

Plan Monthly Annual Best For
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Free

  • $15 free compute credits per month (~2,000 Ubuntu x64 2-vCPU minutes)
  • 20 concurrent jobs
  • 20 GB/month egress
  • 100 GB/month storage

Pay-as-you-go (Compute)

  • Ubuntu x64 from $0.0075/min (2 vCPU)
  • Ubuntu ARM from $0.003/min (2 vCPU)
  • macOS from $0.09/min (4 vCPU)
  • Self-hosted $0.0025/min (any machine)
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Quick Answer
Last verified:
High confidence

Semaphore costs Free to Free per usage as of August 2026, with 2 plans available including a free tier. Plan: Free (free). Pricing depends on your chosen tier, contract length, and negotiated discounts.

Use the interactive pricing calculator to estimate your exact cost based on team size and requirements.

  • Free tier: Yes

Semaphore offers 2 pricing tiers: Free, Pay-as-you-go (Compute). The Pay-as-you-go (Compute) plan is teams that want to pay only for the compute minutes they use.

Compared to other developer tools software, Semaphore is positioned at the budget-friendly price point.

  • 8 documented hidden costs beyond list price
  • Contracts auto-renew — at least 30 days before the end of the current term
  • G2 rating: 4.7 out of 5 from 193 reviews (as of Jul 2026)
Last verified: | Sources: 1 pricing pages and reviews

How much does Semaphore cost?

Semaphore offers a free plan with 1 paid tiers from $Infinity to $0/usage. Plans include Free (free), Pay-as-you-go (Compute) (custom pricing).

Semaphore Pricing Overview

Semaphore has 2 pricing plans, including a free tier. Paid plans range from $0 to $0/usage. The Free plan is free and is best for small teams and open source getting started with hosted ci/cd. The Pay-as-you-go (Compute) plan requires contacting sales for a custom quote and is designed for teams that want to pay only for the compute minutes they use.

Semaphore contracts auto-renew, requiring at least 30 days before the end of the current term notice to cancel.

There are at least 8 documented hidden costs beyond Semaphore's list price, including implementation, training, and add-on fees.

This pricing was last verified in July 20, 2026 from 1 independent source.

Try Semaphore Free

Semaphore is a hosted CI/CD platform with usage-based compute pricing — you pay per build minute rather than per seat. The free tier includes compute credits worth $15 each month (about 2,000 Ubuntu 2-vCPU minutes) and 20 concurrent jobs. Beyond that, compute is billed per minute by machine class: from $0.0075/min on Ubuntu x64, cheaper on ARM and self-hosted, and higher on macOS. Optional monthly support and success add-ons are available for larger teams.

How Semaphore Pricing Compares

Compare Semaphore pricing against top alternatives in Developer Tools.

CircleCI $0-$15+/mo View pricing → GitHub Actions $0/mo (2,000 min) View pricing → GitLab CI/CD $0-99/user/mo View pricing →

Compare Semaphore vs Alternatives

Before committing to Semaphore, compare pricing with these 3 alternatives in the same category.

VSCircleCI
Free

Teams wanting a mature hosted CI/CD with per-credit and seat plans

Compare pricing
VSGitHub Actions
Free

Teams already on GitHub wanting native CI/CD

Compare pricing
VSGitLab CI/CD
Free

Teams wanting an all-in-one DevOps platform

Compare pricing

All Semaphore alternatives & migration guides

What Buyers Report Paying for Semaphore

Buyer-reported pricing
from $15/user/monthestimated range, 4 public sources

Semaphore is reported at around $15 per user per month, based on 4 public sources. This is an estimate, not an official quote. Pricing is flexible, including free tiers, per-user options, and primarily usage-based compute costs, with enterprise solutions custom-quoted.

What Companies Actually Pay for Semaphore

Review scores
G2 4.7out of 5 (193)
Third-party review aggregates, as of Jul 2026
Top pricing complaints
Difficult navigationPoor customer supportConfusing documentationOccasional slow performance

How Semaphore Pricing Compares

Software Starting Price Top Price
Semaphore Custom Custom
Amplitude Custom Custom
CircleCI Free $15/month
Clerk Free $300/month
Docker Free $24/user/month
Fly.io $29/month $2500/month

Browse all Developer Tools pricing →

8 Semaphore Hidden Costs Beyond the List Price

Beyond the listed price, Semaphore has at least 8 documented hidden costs that can significantly increase total cost of ownership.

Watch for 8 hidden costs
  • Support Add-ons $50 to $750 per month
    medium 1 source
    vendor "Support: Basic $50, Priority Response $250, SLA Standard $500, SLA Premium $750 (per month)"
  • Success Add-ons $125 to $2,000 per month
    low 1 source
    vendor "Success: Visibility $125, Performance $300, Scale $1,000, Alliance $2,000 (per month); Engineering Access 3h $900 / 5h $1,250 / 10h $2,000"
  • Developer Productivity Loss
    critical 1 source
    industry "Beyond these direct costs, buyers should consider broader implementation and operational expenses common to CI/CD platforms: * Developer Productivity Loss: Inefficient CI/CD pipelines can lead to significant lost hours due to slow feedback cycles,..."
  • Maintenance Overhead
    high 1 source
    industry "Maintenance Overhead: Managing self-hosted agents, applying security patches, monitoring systems, and troubleshooting can incur substantial internal labor costs."
  • Migration Costs
    high 1 source
    industry "Migration Costs: Switching CI/CD platforms, especially from complex existing setups, can involve significant engineering hours and a temporary "productivity slump" as teams adapt to new workflows."
  • Complexity of Integration
    medium 1 source
    industry "Complexity of Integration: Integrating CI/CD tools with existing security tools, code repositories, and other systems can be challenging and lead to inefficiencies."
  • Advanced Support Plans $50/month
    low 1 source
    industry "Basic email support is included, with advanced CI troubleshooting available through paid support plans, starting at $50/month."
  • Additional Storage and Egress
    low 1 source
    industry "Additional usage is charged at $0.35/GB for egress and $0.07/GB for storage."
Tip

Ask your Semaphore sales rep about these costs upfront. Getting them in writing before signing can save you from surprise charges later.

Full hidden costs breakdown →

Intelligence sourced from 3 independent sources
vendor industry G2 B2B reviews
Key claims include inline source attribution. Data verified against multiple independent sources. 12 source citations total.

Semaphore Contract Terms

Semaphore contracts auto-renew. Changes require at least 30 days before the end of the current term. These terms are sourced from verified buyer experiences.

Contract Terms
Auto-Renewal Yes
Cancellation Notice at least 30 days before the end of the current term
Minimum Commitment annual plans available with discounts; enterprise plans are custom
Price Escalation subject to change at Semaphore's discretion
Based on 1 verified source

How to Negotiate Semaphore Pricing

Semaphore contracts are negotiable. These 3 tactics are sourced from real buyer experiences and procurement specialists.

Negotiation Playbook 3 tactics
Leverage Cost Savings Guarantees high success

Semaphore offers to analyze current CI/CD spend and usage patterns for new enterprise prospects, guaranteeing a 50% lower per-seat quote compared to their current setup, or matching any competitive quote.

https://semaphore.io
Benchmark and Compare high success

Buyers should test representative workloads and compare Semaphore's performance and cost against alternatives like GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, and Buildkite.

https://semaphore.io
Focus on Value and TCO medium success

Buyers should emphasize the overall value Semaphore brings, including faster build times and reduced developer waiting time, which can translate to significant indirect cost savings.

https://semaphore.io
High success Medium Low / difficult

Full negotiation guide →

Semaphore Pricing FAQ

01 Does Semaphore have a free plan?

Yes. Semaphore's free tier includes compute credits worth $15 each month (about 2,000 Ubuntu x64 2-vCPU minutes) plus 20 concurrent jobs.

02 How does Semaphore pricing work?

Semaphore is usage-based: you pay per build minute by machine class, not per user. Ubuntu x64 starts at $0.0075/min, Ubuntu ARM from $0.003/min, macOS at $0.09/min, and self-hosted at $0.0025/min.

03 How is Semaphore different from CircleCI?

Both are hosted CI/CD platforms, but Semaphore prices purely on the compute minutes you use with no per-seat fee, which can be cheaper for teams with bursty or lower build volume.

Is this pricing incorrect? — we'll verify and update it.