GitHub announced on April 27, 2026 that all GitHub Copilot plans will move to usage-based billing on June 1, 2026. Premium request units (PRUs) are being replaced by GitHub AI Credits, with consumption calculated on input, output, and cached tokens at the listed API rate for each model. Base plan prices stay the same: Pro $10/month, Pro+ $39/month, Business $19/user/month, Enterprise $39/user/month.

What Happened

Code completions and Next Edit suggestions remain included in every plan and do not consume AI Credits. The change applies to chat, agent mode, and any other premium-request features that previously consumed PRUs. Annual plans are being retired: existing annual subscribers continue on PRUs until their term ends, after which they default to a Copilot Free plan unless they sign up for a new monthly subscription. A preview-bill experience launches in early May so admins can see projected costs before the June 1 transition through the Billing Overview page. Full documentation is in the GitHub Copilot Models and Pricing reference.

Why It Matters

The shift collapses the distinction between "premium" and "non-premium" features into a single token meter. Heavy users of Claude, GPT-5, and Gemini models inside Copilot will burn AI Credits faster, and developers running coding agents in long-horizon mode will see real cost variance month to month. Light users who mostly autocomplete will see no change because completions remain exempt from credit consumption. The billing transparency is the bigger story: a preview bill before the change means agents and admins can model expected token spend rather than discover it after the meter ticks. Coverage from The Decoder framed this as a structural shift toward the same usage-based pricing OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google already use at their API tiers.

Key Details

  • Effective date: June 1, 2026 for monthly subscribers; annual subscribers transition at term renewal.
  • Credit allotment: Each plan includes a monthly AI Credits allowance. Overages roll into pay-as-you-go at API rates.
  • Code review consuming Actions minutes: A separate June 1 change means Copilot code review starts consuming GitHub Actions minutes, billed against the standard Actions allotment.
  • Free plan: Users without an active paid subscription default to Copilot Free, which has its own monthly limits on completions and chat.
  • Preview bill: Early May rollout; admins can see projected June consumption before the transition.

What to Do Next

Audit current Copilot usage if your team or org runs heavy agent or chat workloads. Review the pricing reference for the per-model token rates so projected costs can be modeled. When the preview bill lands in early May, walk through the Billing Overview page to see how the May usage pattern would have priced under the new model. If your team primarily uses code completions, expect no change. If you depend on multi-turn chat with frontier models or run coding agents continuously, plan for variable monthly spend and consider whether a higher-tier plan or pay-as-you-go ceiling fits the workflow better.