GitHub Copilot switches to token-based billing today, ending flat-rate Premium Request Units
All Copilot plans move to GitHub AI Credits on June 1, 2026, with usage metered by input, output, and cached tokens — a change developers say could multiply costs for agentic workflows even as base subscription prices hold steady.
GitHub Copilot retires its Premium Request Unit system today, replacing the flat-rate quota with GitHub AI Credits metered against input, output, and cached tokens at each model’s published API rate. The change, announced in late April by Chief Product Officer Mario Rodriguez, applies across Pro, Pro+, Business, and Enterprise tiers, and it reshapes the unit economics of agentic coding without touching the sticker price.
The headline numbers haven’t moved. Pro stays at $10 per month, Pro+ at $39, Business at $19 per user, Enterprise at $39 per user. What’s new is that each dollar now maps directly to an AI Credits allowance at one credit per U.S. cent, so a $10 plan ships with 1,000 credits and nothing more. Code completions and Next Edit Suggestions remain unlimited and credit-free; everything else is gated by available credits and admin budget controls. Copilot code review additionally bills against GitHub Actions minutes at standard rates.
Gone too is the soft landing. Under PRUs, exhausting your quota dropped you to a lower-cost model; under credits, work stops when budget does. Monthly Pro and Pro+ subscribers were migrated automatically. Annual subscribers stay on PRU pricing until expiry but face increased model multipliers starting today, then drop to Copilot Free unless they upgrade. Business and Enterprise customers get promotional included usage through June, July, and August, plus pooled credits and budget controls at enterprise, cost center, and user levels.
The developer reaction has been swift. TechCrunch reported users on Reddit and X calling it a “drastic escalation in cost,” with one verdict simply: “what a joke”. Visual Studio Magazine, citing GitHub’s own FAQ thread, captured the more analytical complaint: “you will get less, but pay the same price”, with the heaviest impact falling on Copilot Chat, large-context tasks, code review, and agent sessions, exactly the workflows GitHub has spent two years promoting.
The structural read, as The New Stack notes, is that Copilot is converging with the metered enterprise pricing already standard at Anthropic and OpenAI. Flat-rate AI was always a marketing posture papering over per-token economics. Today the meter became legible to the customer.
Sources
- https://github.blog/news-insights/company-news/github-copilot-is-moving-to-usage-based-billing/
- https://techcrunch.com/2026/05/30/what-a-joke-github-copilots-new-token-based-billing-spurs-consternation-among-devs/
- https://docs.github.com/en/copilot/how-tos/manage-and-track-spending/prepare-for-your-move-to-usage-based-billing
- https://thenewstack.io/github-copilot-usage-billing/
- https://visualstudiomagazine.com/articles/2026/04/27/devs-sound-off-on-usage-based-copilot-pricing-change-you-will-get-less-but-pay-the-same-price.aspx
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