GitHub Copilot is moving to usage-based billing

Summary

Starting June 1, 2026, GitHub Copilot will transition from a premium request-based billing model to a usage-based model using GitHub AI Credits. This change shifts pricing from a fixed request count to token-based consumption—including input, output, and cached tokens—to accommodate the higher compute demands of agentic, multi-step coding features.

Key Points

• Transition Date: The move to usage-based billing will occur on June 1, 2026.
• Billing Metric: Usage will be calculated based on token consumption (input, output, and cached tokens) using published API rates for each model.
• Subscription Pricing: Base monthly prices remain unchanged: Copilot Pro ($10), Pro+ ($39), Business ($19/user), and Enterprise ($39/user).
• Included Credits: Monthly subscriptions include a set amount of AI Credits equal to the base plan price (e.g., $10 in credits for Pro, $39 for Pro+).
• Excluded Features: Code completions and Next Edit suggestions do not consume AI Credits.
• Removal of Fallback Models: The "fallback" experience, where users switch to lower-cost models after exhausting premium requests, will be discontinued; usage will instead be limited by available credits and admin-defined budgets.
• New Cost Drivers: Copilot code review will consume both GitHub AI Credits and GitHub Actions minutes.

Technical Details

The new billing architecture replaces Premium Request Units (PRUs) with GitHub AI Credits. Under this model, the cost of a session is determined by the total volume of tokens processed, specifically accounting for input, output, and cached tokens. For organizations, GitHub is introducing pooled usage for Copilot Business and Enterprise, which allows credits to be shared across the entire organization to prevent stranded capacity from unused individual seats.

Administrators will have access to new granular budget controls, allowing for the configuration of spending limits at the enterprise, cost center, and user levels. Organizations can choose to either cap spend when the credit pool is exhausted or allow additional usage at published API rates. To assist with the transition, a preview billing experience will be available in the GitHub Billing Overview page starting in early May 2026, providing visibility into projected costs.

Impact / Why It Matters

Developers using agentic, multi-step coding features must monitor token consumption, as these high-inference tasks will now directly impact credit balances. For administrators, the shift requires implementing new budget controls and managing the interplay between AI Credits and GitHub Actions minutes for features like code review.