GitHub Copilot moves to usage-based billing, replacing fixed plans with AI Credits
GitHub announced a major pricing reform today: starting June 1, 2026, all GitHub Copilot plans will transition to usage-based billing.
The core change replaces premium request units (PRUs) with GitHub AI Credits, consumed based on token usage — including input, output, and cached tokens — at published API rates per model.
Base prices are not changing:
- Copilot Pro: $10/month, includes $10 in AI Credits
- Copilot Pro+: $39/month, includes $39 in AI Credits
- Copilot Business: $19/user/month, includes $19 in AI Credits
- Copilot Enterprise: $39/user/month, includes $39 in AI Credits
The difference is fundamental: previously, a fixed subscription covered unlimited usage. Now, heavy users will pay for what they consume beyond their included credits.
What stays free? Code completions and Next Edit Suggestions remain included in all plans and do not consume AI Credits. The change mainly affects Chat and Agent mode conversations.
Why now? As GitHub CPO Mario Rodriguez explains, Copilot has evolved from an in-editor assistant into an agentic platform capable of running long, multi-step coding sessions. A quick chat question and a multi-hour autonomous coding session previously cost the same — GitHub was absorbing escalating inference costs, which was no longer sustainable.
For organizations:
- Existing Business/Enterprise customers get promotional credits for June-August ($30 for Business, $70 for Enterprise)
- Pooled included usage across the organization eliminates stranded capacity
- Admins get budget controls at enterprise, cost center, and user levels
- Copilot code review will additionally consume GitHub Actions minutes
Watch out: The fallback experience is going away. Previously, users who exhausted their allowance would automatically drop to a cheaper model. Under the new model, usage is governed by available credits and admin budget controls.
A preview bill experience will launch in early May, letting users see projected costs before the June 1 transition.