GitHub Copilot hits 7.5x token cost

GitHub put GPT-5.5 into general availability for Copilot on April 24, and the new model carries a 7.5× premium-request multiplier at launch. (github.blog) That rollout covers Copilot Pro+, Copilot Business, and Copilot Enterprise users, with access appearing in Visual Studio Code, Visual Studio, Copilot CLI, GitHub Mobile, JetBrains, Xcode, Eclipse, and the Copilot cloud agent. GitHub said the release is gradual. (github.blog) In Copilot, a “request” is a single prompt or interaction, and premium models consume those requests at a multiplier tied to model cost. GitHub’s billing docs say Copilot Chat uses one premium request per user prompt, multiplied by the selected model’s rate. (docs.github.com) That means one GPT-5.5 chat prompt counts as 7.5 premium requests, and one Copilot cloud-agent session also counts at the model’s multiplier. Real-time steering comments during an active cloud-agent session are billed the same way. (docs.github.com) (github.blog) GitHub’s current pricing system already separates included models from premium ones. Its docs list GPT-5 mini, GPT-4.1, and GPT-4o as included models on paid plans, while higher-end models draw down premium-request allowances. (docs.github.com) The billing system itself is changing again. GitHub said on April 27 that all Copilot plans will transition to usage-based billing on June 1, 2026, with usage consuming GitHub AI Credits instead of today’s premium-request system. (github.blog) (docs.github.com) GitHub’s pricing reference now lists per-token prices for Copilot models and says the June 1 switch will apply to individuals, organizations, and enterprises. The company also said annual Pro and Pro+ subscribers stay on premium-request pricing until their current term expires. (docs.github.com) (github.blog) For teams, the practical change is that model choice now affects both quotas and, soon, direct usage charges. GitHub’s docs say overages can already be billed when premium-request allowances are exhausted and overages are enabled. (docs.github.com) GitHub has also been steering some users toward cheaper defaults. On April 17, it said Copilot CLI auto model selection is currently limited to models with 0× to 1× multipliers, and paid subscribers get a 10% multiplier discount when using auto. (github.blog) So the 7.5× figure is real, but it is only part of the story: GitHub has paired a new high-end model launch with a broader move to metered Copilot billing starting June 1. (github.blog 1) (github.blog 2)