GitHub Copilot switches to token-based pricing June 1, ending unlimited usage model

GitHub announced that all Copilot plans will shift to usage-based billing on June 1, 2026, ending the current premium request unit (PRU) system. Users will now consume monthly allotments of GitHub AI Credits based on token consumption, including input, output, and cached tokens at published API rates.

Pricing structure remains the same, usage model changes

Base subscription prices are unchanged:

• Copilot Pro: $10/month with $10 in monthly AI Credits
• Copilot Pro+: $39/month with $39 in monthly AI Credits
• Copilot Business: $19/user/month with $19 in credits per seat
• Copilot Enterprise: $39/user/month with $39 in credits per seat

Code completions and Next Edit suggestions will not consume AI Credits.

Critical difference: service stops when credits run out

Under the previous PRU system, users who exhausted their allocation would downshift to less capable models. With AI Credits, according to GitHub, when credits are depleted, users cannot access the service until they purchase additional credits or wait for the next billing cycle.

To ease the transition, GitHub will provide promotional credits for June, July, and August 2026: Business customers receive $30/month and Enterprise users receive $70/month during this period.

Why GitHub is making the change

GitHub states the shift reflects Copilot's evolution from a code completion tool to "an agentic platform capable of running long, multi-step coding sessions." According to the company, "a quick chat question and a multi-hour autonomous coding session can cost the user the same amount" under the current model, making the PRU system unsustainable as inference costs escalate.

The announcement follows GitHub blocking new Copilot subscriptions one week prior and restricting available models, including dropping access to Opus models entirely from individual plans.

Broader industry trend

GitHub's pricing change aligns with broader AI cost increases across the industry. OpenAI increased developer costs for GPT-5.2 from $1.25 per input token in GPT-5.1 to $5.75. Anthropic moved Claude enterprise edition from fixed pricing to usage-based pricing on April 15, 2026.

GitHub plans to preview billing estimates in early May 2026, allowing users to assess projected costs before the June transition.

What this means

This represents the end of flat-rate AI coding assistance at scale. Organizations using Copilot extensively for agentic workflows—multi-step autonomous coding sessions across repositories—will likely see costs increase significantly beyond base subscription fees. The credit pooling feature for enterprise accounts may provide some cost optimization, but the hard cutoff when credits are exhausted marks a fundamental shift in how developers can rely on AI assistance. The industry is collectively moving away from absorbing inference costs, pushing the true computational expense to end users.