How to Cancel GitHub Pro in 2026 (Your Private Repos Are Safe)

GitHub Pro costs $4/month and the number one concern when canceling is: "What happens to my private repos?" Short answer: nothing. They stay private. Here's the full picture.

How to Downgrade to Free (1 Minute)

1. Go to github.com/settings/billing/plans
2. Under your current plan, click Downgrade or Change plan
3. Select GitHub Free
4. Confirm the downgrade

That's it. No retention screens, no phone calls, no "are you sure?" spam. GitHub is refreshingly straightforward about cancellation.

What Stays the Same (Free)

• Unlimited private repos — this is the big one. GitHub made private repos free in 2019. They don't get deleted or made public.
• Unlimited public repos
• 2,000 CI/CD minutes per month (GitHub Actions, for public repos)
• 500MB GitHub Packages storage
• Community support
• Dependabot alerts
• GitHub Copilot — if on a separate subscription, unaffected by Pro downgrade

What You Actually Lose

• 3,000 → 2,000 GitHub Actions minutes (for private repos)
• 2GB → 500MB Packages storage
• Protected branches with required reviewers on private repos — this is the most impactful loss for teams
• Multiple PR reviewers on private repos
• Code owners on private repos
• GitHub Pages from private repos — won't work on free
• Wikis on private repos
• Repository insights (traffic, clones, popular content)

GitHub Pro vs Copilot — Different Subscriptions

Common confusion: GitHub Pro ($4/month) and GitHub Copilot ($10/month) are separate subscriptions.

• GitHub Pro: Enhanced repo features, more Actions minutes, Pages from private repos
• GitHub Copilot Individual: AI code completion in your editor
• You can have Copilot without Pro, Pro without Copilot, both, or neither
• Canceling Pro does NOT cancel Copilot

Should You Cancel? The $4/Month Decision

At $48/year, GitHub Pro is one of the cheapest developer subscriptions. Here's the honest assessment:

• Solo developer, personal projects: Cancel. Free GitHub is excellent for individual use. Private repos are free.
• Small team on private repos: Consider keeping it for protected branches and required reviews — these matter for code quality
• Open source contributor: Cancel. Everything important for open source is free.
• Using GitHub Pages from private repos: Keep it, or make the repo public if the Pages site isn't sensitive

If You Want to Delete Your Account Entirely

Downgrading keeps your account. If you want to completely delete:

1. Go to github.com/settings/admin
2. Scroll to Delete account
3. This is permanent and irreversible — all repos, issues, PRs, and contributions are deleted
4. If you own organizations, you must transfer or delete them first

Free for Students and Open Source

Before canceling, check if you qualify for free Pro:

• Students: GitHub Student Developer Pack — free Pro + $200 in credits from various tools
• Open source maintainers: GitHub may offer free Pro if you maintain popular open source projects
• Startups: GitHub for Startups program includes free Team plan for a year