GitHub Copilot is moving to usage-based billing

Hello GitHub Community,

Today we announced we are transitioning to a usage-based billing model for GitHub Copilot, effective June 1 📆 Please refer to the blog post for the full announcement link to blog, and you’ll find an FAQ below.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why is GitHub changing the Copilot billing model now?

We’re making this change now because GitHub Copilot simply is not the same product it was a year ago—it now powers far more complex, agentic workflows that consume far more compute. This change is designed to deliver a more sustainable and reliable product experience by aligning pricing to actual usage and costs.

Isn’t this just a price increase disguised as a billing change?

The per seat subscription cost of GitHub Copilot is not increasing, and code completions and Next Edit Suggestions remain unchanged. Users with intense agentic usage will likely see an increase in costs because those features consume more compute. With pooled entitlements, organizations that use Copilot Business or Copilot Enterprise may see their total charges reduced as entitlement pooling balances more active users with less active.

This just wiped GitHub’s value moat – why should I stay?

We believe GitHub Copilot remains the best value and experience for agentic coding. Usage-based billing aligns cost more closely to actual usage and value, while continuing to offer developers the freedom to choose the models and agents that work best for them.

Will there be any free models anymore with this shift?

With the shift to usage-based billing, free models are no longer part of our offering.

If we run out of AI credits mid-month, does Copilot stop working?

If your entitlement and set overage budget is fully consumed, you can continue to use Copilot for code completions and Next Edit Suggestions but will have to wait for your entitlements to reset, purchase additional usage, or upgrade your plan to use other features. We’ve built usage surfaces that show your consumption as a percentage of your budget and in dollar terms so you can track usage as you go and plan accordingly.

For Copilot Business and Copilot Enterprise users, notification at various consumption levels will be sent to your GitHub admins as your entitlements are drawn down. With pooled entitlements, all included credits are pooled across your business. This means power users can draw more when they need it, and lighter users offset the balance.

How can I forecast our AI spend if the bill changes monthly?

We’re rolling out a preview bill experience in the coming weeks to show all users how their costs may shift under the new billing model. This will be available to users via their Billing Overview page when they log in to GitHub.com.

We currently use PRUs for some features, how does this change that?

With usage-based billing, we’re replacing PRUs with a new unit called GitHub AI Credits, which are based on the tokens your interactions consume and priced according to the listed API rates per model. All features aside from code completions and Next Edit Suggestions, which remain unlimited, will be measured and billed in GitHub AI Credits.

Will Actions minutes consume my AI Credits?

No. Actions minutes will not consume AI Credits; however, your monthly bill will include both the total cost of your token usage and Actions minutes consumption. Additionally, Copilot code review recently moved to an agentic architecture that runs on GitHub Actions, and starting June 1, 2026, reviewing a pull request with Copilot will count against your included Actions minutes at the same per-minute rates as any other Actions workflow.

I’m on an annual plan, how does this affect my billing?

We’re retiring annual plans. If you’re currently on an annual plan, you’ll continue to use PRUs until your subscription expires. After it expires, you’ll be moved to a Copilot Free plan unless you sign up for a new monthly paid subscription.

While you can keep using your annual plan until it ends, we’ll be updating model multipliers for PRUs when our new billing model goes live on June 1. We recommend switching to a usage-based monthly plan on June 1, and we’ll provide credits that reflect the prorated amount left on your annual plan subscription.

How are you determining what to charge me and how does that change depending on which model I’m using?

Usage-based billing means you are charged based on the tokens your interactions consume, priced according to the listed API rates per model. We’ve built usage surfaces that show your consumption as a percentage of your budget and in monetary terms. These show up in your editor, on GitHub.com, and in admin dashboards.

Will you resume Copilot trials now that you’ve implemented token-based billing?

Our focus has always been on lowering the barriers to entry for anyone who wants to code and that’s why we continue to offer Copilot Free as a no-cost option. Unfortunately, we’ve observed a high volume of abuse through trials and paused them while we investigate. We are actively working on improved safeguards to prevent misuse of the trial system and will share an update when we have one.

Will we continue to see increased usage limiting?

Unfortunately, users will continue to see increased usage limiting until usage-based billing is implemented on June 1. We know it’s frustrating, and moving to usage-based billing allows us to reduce it. By aligning usage with costs, we can provide a Copilot experience that's predictable and reliable for all users.

Why not implement usage-based billing now? Why continue with painful changes like more usage limiting?

Usage-based billing requires standing up a new billing and metering infrastructure, which won’t be operational until June 1. In the meantime, we need to implement additional changes to ensure a predictable, reliable experience for all users. These are short-term safeguards, and we expect to lift restrictions once our new billing model is in effect.

Why are you only offering promotional pricing for existing Copilot Business and Copilot Enterprise users, and nothing for existing Pro and Pro+ users?

While we're not offering promotional pricing for individual paid plans, we’re offering the same 1:1 ratio of plan price to monthly entitlements as we offer for Business and Enterprise. We believe Pro and Pro+ plans remain competitive offerings that deliver high value for individual users.

Will my unused AI credits roll over from month to month?

No. Your unused AI credits do not roll over from month to month. They will reset at the start of each monthly billing cycle.

[CodePengu1n]

Okay, with this change, will you at least bring back Opus since we're all paying for this again?

[m3trik]

4.7 only on pro+ and both 4.7 and 4.6 now both at 27x (yikes)

[M4XEURS]

4.7 only on pro+ and both 4.7 and 4.6 now both at 27x (yikes)

So, can the Pro version still use 4.6?

[lusp75]

I’d say 20,000x. They’d be better off just writing ‘don’t use it, or give Uncle Elon a call’

[PsychicX720]

This whole change is some class A dumpster fire crap.

[Captain-RedArcher]

All I am seeing is, fund our research.
You have yet to come out with an actual reliable product that has been hyped as the miracle cure.

I was led to believe that an AI assistant would help code, and all I got from Claude Sonnet was a runaround in circles till my tokens were up and I had to wait again. I get the same thing from the watered-down versions that fake the breakdown then run the upsell spam.

[monotaskdevelopers]

At least bring back Opus 4.6? 4.5?

[thmsbernard]

It's included in the table: https://docs.github.com/en/copilot/reference/copilot-billing/models-and-pricing#anthropic

[RichMercer]

They're priced at the same as Opus 4.7 though, so there's no point.

[M4XEURS]

They're priced at the same as Opus 4.7 though, so there's no point.

So, can the Pro version still use 4.6?

[imm]

They're priced at the same as Opus 4.7 though, so there's no point.

People online say that Opus 4.7 uses more tokens per request on average than 4.6, so it's not quite obvious what is better.

[joel-surfthing]

Can I request a refund for the remainder of my annual plan? I've stopped using Microsoft GitHub Copilot altogether.

@joel-surfthing, yes you can. Here are instructions for requesting a refund for an individual plan:

To request a refund, go to Settings → Billing and licensing → Licensing, select Manage subscription, then choose Cancel and refund "subscription". (The phrasing varies slightly depending on your subscription ). This option will be available until May 20.

For more information, visit our docs: About billing for individual GitHub Copilot plans

[Shah-Nisarg]

is a refund available to google play subscribers?

Hi @Shah-Nisarg, yes a refurn is available for Google Play subscribers, but I believe it needs to be processed via GitHub Support and is not self-serve. We're looking into this and will comment here again with specific guidance

[Thomas1M89]

so after 28th May? If I still wanna cancel the subscription, what should I do? I can't use it.

[thmsbernard]

Is there a benefit of using the Copilot Pro+ at 39$/month instead of using the Copilot Pro at 10$/month and paying for extra usage?

[wrayste]

Seems like Opus model will be only for Pro+ plan https://github.blog/news-insights/company-news/changes-to-github-copilot-individual-plans/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=github&utm_campaign=FY26APR-WW-LCM-BLA-ProPP-IND-Dev-TX-USGCHGMTH

Opus models are no longer available in Pro plans. Opus 4.7 remains available in Pro+ plans. As we announced in our changelog, Opus 4.5 and Opus 4.6 will be removed from Pro+.

I think that is stale, given on the new pricing you're paying for usage anyway, there doesn't seem to be a reason to hide high end models behind a higher tier which you're getting equivalent credits for anyway.

[Slix-M-Lestragg]

Seems like Opus model will be only for Pro+ plan https://github.blog/news-insights/company-news/changes-to-github-copilot-individual-plans/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=github&utm_campaign=FY26APR-WW-LCM-BLA-ProPP-IND-Dev-TX-USGCHGMTH
Opus models are no longer available in Pro plans. Opus 4.7 remains available in Pro+ plans. As we announced in our changelog, Opus 4.5 and Opus 4.6 will be removed from Pro+.

I think that is stale, given on the new pricing you're paying for usage anyway, there doesn't seem to be a reason to hide high end models behind a higher tier which you're getting equivalent credits for anyway.

I fully agree, seeing the move they did by replacing opus 4.5 and 4.6 with 4.7 only and at 7.5x, I'm not surprised

[MJM-R-and-D]

What happens when after 10 or more iterations of asking the same question, with results in bad or worse code than where we started, how is that accounted for?

[brandon-fryslie]

What happens when after 10 or more iterations of asking the same question, with results in bad or worse code than where we started, how is that accounted for?

I would recommend asking a different question in that case.

[lmf-git]

That's reasonable. From a usability point of view, your perceived value you get needs to meet or exceed the value of the money you spent to get it. I'm not concerned so much about the change they're making at this point, I just don't fully understand what these changes mean. If I'm going to get better value for my money, I'm fine with that. If, however, what I'm doing is going to end up costing more than what I'm spending right now, I'm going to have issues with it.

But before I decide what to do, I need to fully understand what's happening.

You think a corporation is going to move in the direction of charging you less for what you use? What a naive comment.

[science64]

how much would be the cost of the tokens? now premium request is 0.04 USD, is it going to be same or 1 million token will be around 10-20 USD and will we have any information how much token agents are using?

[science64]

it says here https://docs.github.com/en/copilot/reference/copilot-billing/models-and-pricing#anthropic but it might use 10 million token in a session i dont know

[Tpeterson37]

I know for simple VSC usage, I can use anywhere from 8-10 million tokens working on a project. This is interesting, and I worry for the software guys that use this much more than I do..

[science64]

yes same, I do not know what to do next. Maybe having multiple subscription will be needed to optimize cheapest more valuable options.

[ShepAlderson]

I expect that there will be granularity down to the penny for billing. So, let’s say Pro at $10/mo gets 1000 AI credits. You ask a question that uses $3 of API billing, so it charges down your AI credits by 300, so you’re left with 700.

For some context, a single session with something like Opus or GPT-5.5 while doing a plan and implement can easily run into the realm of $30-40. For context, I did a plan of a pretty substantial feature today using API billing and Opus and it cost about $35 for that single chat session. (This was in Claude Code, not Copilot.)

With the pricing change, unless you use a ton of autocomplete suggestion stuff in your editor and that’s your main surface for interacting with Copilot, or if you have no other option at your work but to use Copilot, you’re better off with almost any other plan. If you like GPT models, that means going to OpenAI directly, or if you like Claude models, Anthropic.

I’m sad this change is happening, but I am not surprised in the slightest. I can only imagine that agentic workflows have GitHub hemorrhaging money, and while Microsoft did invest a lot in OpenAI, they are still apparently dealing with API pricing for the models GitHub serves? I think the only way a company can be competitive and offer a substantial value to compete against “Just to pay for the API yourself” is to train and serve their own models. We’ve seen that happen with Cursor, and I expect we’ll see more. (I thought that was the intention of Raptor Mini, but who knows what happens with that now.)

Also, the fact that the “AI Credits” expire at the end of the month means you’re almost certainly better off just going to the API providers directly and just paying there. If you use less than $10 or $39 in inference with your AI Credits in a month, you’d bet better off just paying à la carte API prices.

Now is a good time to start experimenting with agentic harnesses that aren’t connected to a specific provider’s service. (Things like opencode, for example.) Luckily the open weight models are getting better and better with each release, and hopefully we’ll continue to see reasonably priced API access for those continue.

[eric-rolph]

I installed Claude Code and Codex VS Code extensions. Much better experience consumer wise.

[Omar5962]

tengo una suscripción Copilot Pro o Pro+ y organizacionalmente cuento con todos los servicios Microsoft Copilot 365, como aplica esto para mi.

Machine translation:

I have a Copilot Pro or Pro+ subscription and organizationally I have all the Microsoft Copilot 365 services, how does this apply to me.

@Omar5962, these changes aply to GitHub Copilot and not to Microsoft Copilot 365 services.

Machine translation:

estos cambios se aplican a GitHub Copilot y no a los servicios de Microsoft Copilot 365.

[scbritton]

I'm a bit confused by this. I currently have CoPilot Pro which gets me a set number of Premium Requests. Under the new system, that gives me US$39 a month in AI Credits.

How is this different? Is this a shift to some kind of time-based system where requests that take longer cost more? What does this mean in plain language?

[TriggeredBanana]

You will essentially start paying WAY more than you used to with the monthly billing. Assuming you have the exact same usage as the plan you pay for. You pay basically the same as if you just used OpenAI or Anthropics own API's or services just... through github.

[scbritton]

I'm starting to notice that - because the amount charged will be based on token usage rather than requests as it is right now. Fortunately, the project I have been working on is nearly complete, so I was starting to consider downgrading to a lower (or free) tier anyway.

I'm not very happy about the change, but since this is part of Microsoft, I can't really say I'm that surprised by it.

[ramezio]

The difference could sober up an alcoholic from mere shock. You will get less, but pay the same price.

Usage-based = each request is dynamically priced depending on 1. amount of input (prompt, mcp tools, files, etc.) provided to the model, 2. the model used, and 3. the amount of output produced by the model (intermediary steps like tool calls, thinking, response, etc.). In other words: end-to-end token consumption for a given request.

Previously, one request (prompt) was calculated as one - regardless of the details involved in producing the result.

In essence, the irony is that your "Usage-based billing" will make it significantly harder for you to predict your.. usage. How much you will need or use is dynamic, heavily context-dependent, and non-deterministic.

[fastupmedia]

I have a pro+ plan, I used 4.6 opus before it got removed, now trying out gpt codex 5.3. If I use let's say 90% current premium request during a month, how much would this cost me extra? Anyone know any estimates or will premium request still be included so I still get my 1500 request ?

[rayrite]

Opus 4.6 will soon cost 27x after June 1. So you'll get roughly about 140 or so requests a month of opus if my math is correct (3900 AI credits/mo. ÷ 27)?

[fastupmedia]

But if we pay as we go, with a large project will that not cost shit load of $$. I can use gpt 5.3 codex aswell but worried that pay as you go will cost thousands of $ vs 1500 premium request

[lmf-git]

But if we pay as we go, with a large project will that not cost shit load of $$. I can use gpt 5.3 codex aswell but worried that pay as you go will cost thousands of $ vs 1500 premium request

Yes.

[ShepAlderson]

But if we pay as we go, with a large project will that not cost shit load of $$. I can use gpt 5.3 codex aswell but worried that pay as you go will cost thousands of $ vs 1500 premium request

Yeah… I think folks are going to be in for a shock when the “usage cost preview” lands in May. If you’re doing agentic coding, where you set an agent on a task with a checklist or plan and then let it run for 10-15 minutes, something like 5.3-codex can easily burn through $10-15 in API credit costs, or if using 5.5 or Opus, think $30-40. Literally a single prompt could eat your entire allotment of “AI Credits”. I’m curious to see how they will handle it if a task isn’t complete. Will they do like Anthropic and stop the agent cold, just failing halfway through, or will they allow the agent to at least finish?

[rglidden]

Will there be changes to allow a single GitHub account to have both an Individual Pro/Pro+ subscription as well as a seat assigned by one or more Businesses or Enterprises? Or do individuals still need to create a separate GitHub account for each to prevent the wrong Business being charged, or being charged for personal use?

Hi there 👋

Copilot Pro or Pro+ cannot currently be used on the same GitHub account that also has a Copilot Business or Copilot Enterprise seat assigned.

For now we recommend using separate GitHub accounts to keep personal and work usage clearly separated and to help avoid any unintended billing confusion.

[rglidden]

That's not what the documentation recommends.

GitHub recommends that you use one personal account for all your work on GitHub.com. With a single personal account, you can contribute to a combination of personal, open source, or professional projects using one identity. Other people can invite the account to contribute to both individual repositories and repositories owned by an organization, and the account can be a member of multiple organizations or enterprises.

The whole way Copilot is billed and managed goes counter to that recommendation.

[lipemat]

Will unused AI Credits roll over into future months or are the first $10 or $39 in AI Credits a "use it or loose it" scenario?

Hi there,

It should have been mentioned in the FAQ right away.

Valid point, we've added this question into the discussion announcement.

Your unused AI credits will not roll over from month to month. They will reset at the start of each monthly billing cycle.

[Juan-Esc]

What’s the point of the subscription anymore? It should just be a recharge balance with pay as you go. There’s no point in buying the Pro+ subscription either, sticking with Pro or switching to a true pay-as-you-go service is a better option

[nardobarbosa]

Hi there,

It should have been mentioned in the FAQ right away.

Valid point, we've added this question into the discussion announcement.

Your unused AI credits will not roll over from month to month. They will reset at the start of each monthly billing cycle.

What happened with the extra credits I purchased?

[AlbertoPa]

So the switch to "consumption-based" is one-sided. If it is truly consumption-based, then credits should roll over.

[aeronhibby]

This is the thing that will make me switch away. Sometimes I only use 20% of my limit. I would be better off using Cursor and paying Anthropic for a usual month worth, which will carry over up to a full year, and I can manually 'top up' whenever it runs out every month or two.. or three

[Domush]

Removing the free models destroys any value in the individual plans

[cyberjob001]

I might just unsubscribe because of this very reason! Copilot was the only sensible package provider, but seems they want to follow in others footsteps! Maybe the change might be better, but removing free models. I am out!
Why pay for multiple different subscriptions, if only advantage present is removed.

[disi]

I was always saying that the problem with other AI is that in the middle of a project you run out of credits and don’t even get code completion.
I have the free tier at work and can say that coding assistant still works if you run out of credits. But no chat.
Will it be similar with my personal pro account? Just more credits?

[omar-alsaheb]

I might just unsubscribe because of this very reason! Copilot was the only sensible package provider, but seems they want to follow in others footsteps! Maybe the change might be better, but removing free models. I am out! Why pay for multiple different subscriptions, if only advantage present is removed.

So what are you using today?

[cyberjob001]

I was relying on gpt-5 mini after the requests were depleted. I already have codex and claude subscriptions. Only kept copilot because of free models. Now I wont need copilot and will move to some other provider which provides fixed number of calls rather than token based usage.
If anyone even provides a basic model which can be used as fallback when premium requests are depleted i would lean towards it.

[AvinoamSebbah]

What are you doing to do for GitHub student account ? About GitHub Ai Credits
Thanks

[Himpq]

They have suspended the registration of Education Benefits, and I also want to know the next steps

[shyeyian]

• Request-based billing is user oriented.

  • Users do not care about how the AI works, they only care about the input and the output.
    • (Just like users do not care about the implementation of an function, but only care about the declaration int func(int value)).

• Token-based billing is not user oriented.

  • It exposes internal parameters (which is so-called 'tokens') to users.
  • This is a bad design in software engineering, and will be especially bad in GitHub.

Please, move back into request-based billing. Thanks.

[cyberjob001]

You provided a valuable insight and used very clear wordings so its easily understood!
I have exact same opinion!

[brandon-fryslie]

Request based billing is awesome because if you do it correctly you can get Claude to write an entire application in a single request.

Clearly that isn't sustainable for MS, who is paying the bills for this functionality. I wondered how long it would last, bummer it's over. Github was the cheapest tokens by far.

[czinczaar]

Yes, this is a big problem. And we know LLMs have a tendency to produce much useless stuff that was not asked for by the user and was not mentioned in the prompt. Now they want us to pay for that.

[matteocacciola]

I am really sorry but I am not understanding very well the "convoluted language" you are using. I have simple questions:

1. what will happen if I will not do anything with my individual Copilot Pro plan?
2. why should I move to a monthly based plan before the expiration of my subscription?
3. why don't you provide a yearly based subscription, even if on an usage-based policy?

[M4XEURS]

You will face very very very high multipliers like 27x, and you will not get your opus back.
But if you move to monthly, opus is also not for you, only for pro plus.
lol

[matteocacciola]

bye bye Github Copilot Pro

If you're currently on a monthly subscription, you will be automatically be moved to usage based billing on June 1st.

[ariajanke]

"AI credits"?! More number games. Is there just no where for me to have anything approximating a professional coding environment now? I'm done!

[ariajanke]

I hate github.

[cyberjob001]

What happens next month, are they rolling up the unused credits?
They are just throwing us away!

[thompson0012]

For existing annual pro+ plan, their premium request based charging model . The sub agent still not counted into premium request?

[thompson0012]

It should be mentioned in FAQ,

[6plosive]

microslop crooks

[Echostorm44]

You might have enough fine print to get away with wildly changing the deal you made with annual subscribers but I think the ill will you're trading for cash will end up costing you more in the long run.

[DreamFulFil]

This makes GHCP the most expensive(yet degraded) AI provider ever, which makes them way less competitive. I wonder why they're making such a slow, inconsiderate, move. It's not as if they have other significant products(though I personally like the CLI)

[rpateld]

The Problem: 70–80% of us don’t even use our 300-request cap, yet we’re being asked to pay 4x more just to keep Opus 4.7. We don't need 1,500 requests; we just need the logic that actually works for complex debugging.

[bb-maruyama]

From documents:

A user's included AI credits are pooled at the billing entity level. For example, an enterprise with 100 Copilot Business users gets a shared pool of 190,000 AI credits rather than 100 individual buckets. This means power users can draw more when they need it, while lighter users offset that consumption.

As an organization administrator, can I set hard limits on credit usage per user? (e.g., 1900 credits/user/month)

As an organization administrator, can I set hard limits on credit usage per user? (e.g., 1900 credits/user/month)

@bb-maruyama yes, you can!

Limits can be set at the enterprise, cost center, and user level. --> Here is a resource in docs that explains Usage-based billing for organizations and enterprises and another on Setting up budgets to control spending on metered products.

[emilanderss0n]

What's next? Usage based pricing for toilet paper. Calling it.

[KaiXuanSama]

This is terrible.

[anggaaryas]

So, is the api usage billing still cheaper than competitor?

[obrassard]

Honest question here, what is the point of Pro+ now ?

Under the new model, it seems illogical to pay a $39 monthly fee for prepaid credits (which I might lose at the end of the month) when I could pay $10 for Pro and just cover the over-usage as I go.

Why stick us with a flat fee at all? A "pay-as-you-go" usage plan would be much more transparent than this pseudo usages based pricing model.

[DreamFulFil]

With their pricing model, you might end up using up all AI credits you got for Pro subscription in the first day of the month.

[ClintasaurusRex]

Well it was my favorite to use but now I'm out. I ll just write my own code. Seems to me companies that rely on these tools will soon find it cheaper to go back to hiring developers again

[Twcat0503]

It's time to unsubscribe and changed to another one.

[hocktoh89]

Where is the cancel subscription button? Don’t hide it please

@hocktoh89 If you hit unexpected limits or these changes just don’t work for you, you can cancel your subscription and receive a refund for the time remaining on your current subscription. This is pro-rated for annual subscriptions.

To request a refund, go to Settings → Billing and licensing → Licensing, select Manage subscription, then choose Cancel and refund "subscription". (The phrasing varies slightly depending on your subscription). This option will be available until May 20.

For more information, visit our docs: About billing for individual GitHub Copilot plans

Important

The Community Discussions is a public forum, please do not share any personal or billing information like email address, password, or payment information when posting.

[Himpq]

Microsoft stopped giving github money?

[Fenyutanchan]

I wanna know how long the cache lasts.
If it’s only 5 minutes, the cost’s gonna skyrocket.