GitHub is introducing a new pricing and billing model for Copilot designed to reflect how organisations actually use AI today. 

As Copilot evolves from a simple AI assistant to a more agentic platform, usage patterns have changed dramatically. In response, GitHub is creating a pricing model that fairly reflects usage, rather than bumping prices up for everyone. 

What’s changing with GitHub Copilot billing 

From 1 June 2026, you’ll receive a monthly allotment of GitHub AI Credits as part of your Copilot plan.  

Credits are allocated per seat, and will be pooled across your organisation, rather than tied to the individual user. Pooling helps to avoid per-user limits, but if the shared pool is exhausted, what happens next is up to you – you can stop usage, or allow additional usage at published rates. 

With GitHub Copilot you’ll receive: 

1,900 AI credits per $19 Copilot Business seat 

3,900 AI credits per $39 Copilot Enterprise seat 

You can now preview your bill directly within GitHub, giving your users and admins visibility into projected costs before the 1 June transition. 

Why is GitHub billing changing 

Under the current GitHub billing model all Copilot activity is treated as the same, but in reality, this isn’t the case. A quick chat prompt and a multi-hour autonomous coding session place very different demands on the platform. 

Rather than upping prices for all, GitHub will now bill users appropriately, based on what they actually use. If you use less, you’ll spend less credits, while if you have higher usage, you’ll have the freedom to do so without running the risk of being gated from features. 

The new GitHub Copilot pricing model is more sustainable, enabling them to maintain long-term service reliability, and keep the platform fair for everyone. 

How do GitHub AI credits work? 

The biggest change in this update is the introduction of AI credits. These are based on your plan, and the number of seats your organisation has.  

The price of your plan isn’t changing, but the way you use your allocation may change how you use GitHub Copilot. You will use credits based on token usage across input, output and cached tokens. Importantly, any unused credits don’t carry over into the next month, so make sure you use your allocation each month. 

Whether you will be able to continue spending credits once your pool is exhausted is down to you. Your admins have new budget controls, in which you can set budgets at enterprise, cost centre and user levels. 

Limited time promos 

To support you during this transition, if you’re an existing Copilot Business or Copilot Enterprise customer, you’ll automatically receive extra promotional usage for June, July and August. 

During these promos, you’ll receive 3,000 AI Credits per seat on your Copilot Business subscription, and 7,000 AI Credits per seat on your Copilot Enterprise subscription (vs 1,900 and 3,000). 

We’re here to support  

We know the new pricing model presents a big change in the way you manage your monthly billing.  

If you’d like help understanding how the new model will affect your organisation, or guidance on setting budgets and usage controls, our team is here to support you. Get in touch and we’ll talk you through the new changes.