GitHub shifts Copilot to metered billing

GitHub said on April 27 that every Copilot plan will move to usage-based billing on June 1, 2026, replacing premium-request quotas with monthly AI credits. (github.blog) Instead of counting each advanced-model prompt as a premium request, GitHub will bill Copilot by token consumption, including input, output, and cached tokens. Paid plans will keep their current subscription prices and get a monthly credit allotment, with extra usage sold separately. (github.blog) (docs.github.com) GitHub’s documentation says the new pricing tables take effect June 1, 2026, and model rates will map to the listed API rates for each model. GitHub also says early-May tools will let customers preview how April 2026 usage would translate under the new system. (docs.github.com 1) (docs.github.com 2) Copilot had already been moving away from unlimited high-end usage. GitHub began enforcing monthly premium-request allowances for paid users on June 18, 2025, then tightened limits again in April 2026 after what it called a surge in agentic and high-concurrency workloads. (github.blog 1) (github.blog 2) (github.blog 3) On April 20, GitHub paused new Copilot Individual sign-ups, tightened usage limits, and adjusted model availability for existing Pro and Pro+ customers. It offered prorated refunds through May 20 for users who did not want the revised limits. (github.blog 1) (github.blog 2) For companies, the billing change turns Copilot into a metered service layered on top of seat licensing. GitHub’s billing docs say organizations can set budgets to monitor or block overages, and some enterprise accounts had previously used zero-dollar budgets to stop premium-request spillover. (docs.github.com) (docs.github.com) (github.blog) GitHub is also widening the set of costs attached to Copilot workflows. A separate April 27 changelog says Copilot code review will begin consuming GitHub Actions minutes on June 1, the same day the AI-credit billing model starts. (github.blog) The immediate question for Copilot customers is no longer just which plan they buy. It is how many tokens their developers, agents, and reviews will burn after June 1. (github.blog) (docs.github.com)