GitHub Copilot is usage-based now. Here's what that changes for terminal users.

As of June 1, 2026, all GitHub Copilot plans run on usage-based billing. Premium request units are gone. What replaced them is a token-metered currency called GitHub AI Credits: one credit equals one cent, and every model interaction converts into credits based on the input, output, and cached tokens it consumes, charged at each model's published rate. GitHub's framing is that Copilot outgrew its old pricing. A one-line completion and a multi-hour autonomous run used to cost the same, and once agentic use went mainstream, that flat rate stopped matching the compute behind it. Tying the price to tokens fixes the mismatch. If your Copilot use is mostly autocomplete, this barely registers. If you drive Copilot as an agent from the terminal, it changes which moves cost money. Here's the practical shape of it. Requests out, tokens in Old model: each interaction cost one premium request, scaled by a per-model multiplier, drawn from a monthly request allowance. New model: each interaction costs whatever its tokens cost on the model you picked. Every paid plan still ships with a monthly pool, now denominated in credits, with the option to set a budget for usage past it. Published figures put the included pool at 1,500 credits for Pro, 7,000 for Pro+, and 20,000 for Max, with pooled per-user allowances on Business and Enterprise. Worth knowing if you pay yearly: annual Pro and Pro+ subscribers stay on the request-based model until the term ends, and several model multipliers went up for them on June 1. An annual plan doesn't dodge the change. It postpones part of it while making the strong models eat more of the old allowance. Autocomplete is untouched Before anyone starts rationing, here's the part that didn't move. Inline completions and Next Edit Suggestions are still unlimited and still free. If your day is mostly tab-completion in the editor, your costs read identical to May. Nothing to monitor there. The meter lands on the rest: chat, and especially the agentic runs th