What happened
GitHub Copilot will transition to usage-based billing on June 1, 2026, replacing Premium Request Units with GitHub AI Credits. Usage will be calculated by token consumption, including input, output, and cached tokens, at published API rates. Base plan prices remain unchanged: Copilot Pro at $10/month, Pro+ at $39/month, Business at $19/user/month, and Enterprise at $39/user/month, each including monthly AI Credits equal to its price. Code completions and Next Edit suggestions do not consume credits. Businesses gain pooled usage and budget controls, with promotional credits for June-August.
Why it matters
Development teams face direct cost implications for advanced Copilot features as billing shifts from fixed-price requests to token consumption. Procurement teams and CTOs must now monitor token usage and manage new budget controls to prevent unexpected spend, particularly for agentic workflows that demand higher compute. This change, following Microsoft's recent disclosures of increasing Copilot AI usage, directly links operational costs to the complexity and scale of AI-assisted development.
