honest-ci is a GitHub Action that reads each pull request's diff and notices when a test is deleted, skipped, loses assertions or has its expected value changed. It holds that pull request for a person, with a comment that names the test and says what happened to it.
Test changes are common: about one pull request in eleven changes what a test checks, from coding agents and from people alike, and nearly all of them have a reason. CI can't tell those from the rare one that doesn't, because the suite passes either way. On 2,717 pull requests in public repositories, a person decided the label of every flag, one at a time, and 93.6% of the flags were true statements about the diff.
- Decides from the diff alone, with deterministic code: no model, no Docker, no test setup.
- Knows Python, JavaScript and TypeScript, Java and Go test files.
- Also holds pull requests that touch sensitive paths, match a rule of your own, or leave a review thread unresolved.
- Free on public repositories and on your own private ones. A team's private repository needs a subscription after a 14-day trial. Source-available under the Fair Core License.
honest-ci is a GitHub Action that flags pull requests that pass by deleting, skipping, or altering tests.
- for
- teams using GitHub that want to guard test integrity in PRs
- pricing
- freemium · free trial
Key features
- Detect deleted tests — Flags PRs where a test file or case disappears without replacement.
- Skip/focus markers — Identifies new skip, xfail, todo or focus markers added to tests.
- Assertion count check — Alerts when a test file loses more assertions than it gains.
- Changed expectations — Catches literal expected-value changes in tests alongside code edits.
- Coverage threshold monitoring — Blocks PRs that lower or remove coverage thresholds or ignore tests.
- Sensitive path rules — Holds PRs that modify configured sensitive paths or exceed size limits.
Use cases
- Prevent CI from passing when a failing test is deleted or skipped
- Enforce review of test-only changes before merge
- Guard critical files like migrations or auth code with human approval
honest-ci pricing
- Free$0Public repositories · Private repos where only you open PRs · All honest-ci checks
- Small team$49/mo, billed yearlyUp to 3 people · One GitHub org or account · 14-day trial
- Team$149/mo, billed yearlyUp to 10 people · One GitHub org or account · 14-day trial
- Larger team$15/person/mo, billed yearlyUnlimited people · One GitHub org or account · 14-day trial
honest-ci vs alternatives
 honest-ci |  GitHub Actions |  CircleCI |  GitLab CI |  Qodo | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best for | Detecting test changes that hide failures | General CI/CD automation | Full-stack CI/CD pipelines | GitLab-centric CI/CD | AI-assisted code review |
| Pricing | Freemium | Subscription | Subscription | Subscription | Subscription |
| DevHunt upvotes | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Launched | Nov 2026 | — | — | — | — |
- honest-ci vs GitHub Actions: GitHub Actions is the CI platform; honest-ci is a specific action that adds test-integrity checks.
- honest-ci vs CircleCI: CircleCI provides full CI pipelines but lacks built-in test-integrity diff analysis that honest-ci offers.
- honest-ci vs GitLab CI: GitLab CI includes CI/CD inside GitLab but does not specifically detect test deletions or skips like honest-ci.
- honest-ci vs Qodo: Qodo adds AI-driven code review and test generation, whereas honest-ci focuses on deterministic diff-based test integrity without AI.
honest-ci FAQ
Does honest-ci require a model to work?+
No, the core detection runs deterministically from the diff without any model, Docker, or test setup.
How does honest-ci handle private repositories?+
It is free for personal private repos where only you open PRs; teams need a paid license after a 14-day trial.
What happens if a license key expires?+
The key continues working for 30 days after expiration; after that runs show an error until renewed.
Can I cancel or get a refund?+
You can cancel anytime; full refunds are available within 30 days of the first payment or a yearly renewal.
Does honest-ci send any data to the vendor?+
It runs on your runner, only talks to GitHub, and sends no telemetry; no usage data is reported.
Edited by the makers, based on honest-ci.dev · Oct 19, 2026. Details may change; check the official site.
