GitHub Copilot Pricing: Every Plan Compared (May 2026)
GitHub Copilot now has five tiers, from a useful free plan to Enterprise at $39/user. The pricing revolves around 'premium requests', a currency that powers Chat, Agent mode, code review, and model selection. The free tier's 50 premium requests per month is enough to test but not to rely on. This page breaks down every plan, what premium requests actually buy, and which tier fits different developer workflows.
GitHub Copilot Price Per Month at a Glance
Five plans, from free to $39 per user. Here is the price per month and what you get for it, before any premium-request overage. The number that actually controls your bill is premium requests, not the sticker price, so that column is the one to read first.
| Plan | Price | Premium Requests | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0/mo | 50/mo | Hobby, evaluation |
| Pro | $10/mo | 300/mo | Individual developers |
| Pro+ | $39/mo | 1,500/mo | Power users, agent mode |
| Business | $19/user/mo | 300/user | Teams under 50 |
| Enterprise | $39/user/mo | 1,000/user | Large orgs (needs Enterprise Cloud) |
Overage past your monthly allotment runs $0.04 per premium request on every paid plan. Enterprise carries a hidden line item: it requires GitHub Enterprise Cloud at $21 per user, so the real Enterprise price is $60 per user per month, not $39.
Has the GitHub Copilot Price Changed? Increases and Plan Shifts
The headline numbers have been quiet. Free, Pro, and Pro+ list prices held flat from late 2025 through May 2026 at $0, $10, and $39. Microsoft kept the sticker prices steady and changed what sits behind them instead, which is why a "price increase" can hit your bill even when the plan name and price look identical to last quarter.
Three shifts that change your real cost without touching the list price:
- The premium-request model. In early 2026 GitHub moved Pro from a fixed-completions structure to unlimited completions plus a 300 premium-request cap. If your work leans on Chat and Agent mode, that cap is your new ceiling, and hitting it bills $0.04 per extra request. A developer who runs 200 requests over cap pays $8 on top of the $10 base.
- The Enterprise Cloud prerequisite. Since Q3 2025 the $39 Enterprise tier requires GitHub Enterprise Cloud at $21 per user. That moved real Enterprise cost from $39 to $60 per user per month. The Copilot line did not change. The total did.
- Model access expansion. Pro+ added Claude Opus 4.6 and o3 in early 2026. Those models consume more premium requests per call than GPT-4.1, so leaning on them drains your allotment faster and pushes you into overage sooner. Same price, faster burn.
Where a real increase is most likely in 2026: the Business and Enterprise tiers, tied to new features like custom fine-tuning and advanced security, not the individual plans. If you run a team and the budget allows, locking a multi-year Enterprise contract now hedges against that. The full month-by-month log sits in the Pricing Update Tracker further down this page.
Free
- ✓ 2,000 code completions per month
- ✓ 50 premium requests per month
- ✓ Access to Claude Sonnet 4.6 and GPT-4.1
- ✓ Works in VS Code, JetBrains, Neovim
- ✓ Good for evaluation, not daily use
Pro
- ✓ Unlimited code completions
- ✓ 300 premium requests per month
- ✓ Copilot coding agent access
- ✓ All premium AI models in Chat
- ✓ Best value for individual developers
Pro+
- ✓ 1,500 premium requests per month (5x Pro)
- ✓ Access to ALL models including Claude Opus 4.6 and o3
- ✓ Full Agent mode capabilities
- ✓ Priority access to new features
- ✓ For power users who hit Pro's limits
Business
- ✓ Everything in Pro for each user
- ✓ Organization-wide policy controls
- ✓ Audit logs and IP indemnity
- ✓ SSO (SAML) integration
- ✓ File exclusion controls
Enterprise
- ✓ 1,000 premium requests per user
- ✓ Knowledge bases for codebase context
- ✓ GitHub.com Chat integration
- ✓ Custom model fine-tuning options
- ✓ Requires GitHub Enterprise Cloud
Premium Requests: The Hidden Unit That Controls Your Bill
Premium requests are GitHub Copilot's currency for AI-powered features beyond basic code completion. Chat messages, Agent mode actions, code reviews, and manual model selection all consume premium requests.
The cost per premium request varies by feature and model. A simple Chat question using the default model costs 1 premium request. Selecting a more expensive model like Claude Opus 4.6 may cost more per request. Agent mode sessions consume multiple premium requests as the agent iterates through steps.
Your premium request quota resets on the 1st of each month. Unused requests don't roll over. If you exceed your quota, additional requests cost $0.04 each, billed to your account automatically.
Code completions (Tab autocomplete) are separate from premium requests. Free tier gets 2,000 completions per month. All paid plans get unlimited completions. This distinction matters, the core autocomplete experience works even when your premium requests are exhausted.
How Fast Will You Burn Through the Free Tier?
GitHub Copilot's free tier launched as a way to get developers hooked before they pay. It works. 2,000 code completions per month covers light coding, maybe 1-2 hours of active development per day. 50 premium requests per month is about 2-3 Chat interactions per day.
The free tier includes access to Claude Sonnet 4.6 and GPT-4.1 in Chat. You don't get the full model lineup (no Opus 4.6 or o3), but the available models handle most coding questions well.
The limitation that bites first is usually premium requests, not completions. 50 per month means you have to be intentional about when you use Chat or Agent mode. If you're the type of developer who asks the AI a question every 10 minutes, you'll exhaust 50 requests in a single day.
The free tier works in VS Code, JetBrains, and Neovim. There's no feature lockout on IDE support, the limitation is purely on usage volume.
Pro ($10/Mo) vs Pro+ ($39/Mo): Is 4x the Price Worth It?
Pro at $10/month gives 300 premium requests. Pro+ at $39/month gives 1,500. The 5x increase costs 3.9x the price, so Pro+ is better value per request if you need the volume.
The breakeven math: if you'd use more than ~725 premium requests per month on Pro (paying $0.04 each for the overage), Pro+ saves money. That's about 36 premium requests per working day, heavy but not extreme for a developer who uses Chat frequently.
Pro+ also unlocks access to all available models, including Claude Opus 4.6 and o3. Pro gives access to premium models but not the full lineup. If you specifically need Opus 4.6's reasoning quality for complex architecture questions, Pro+ is the only individual plan that provides it.
Most developers should start with Pro. Track your premium request usage for 2-3 months. If you're consistently hitting 250+ requests before month-end, the upgrade to Pro+ pays for itself.
Copilot vs Cursor vs Windsurf: Which Saves You More?
The three leading AI code editors take different approaches to pricing. Here's how they compare.
| Feature | GitHub Copilot Pro | Cursor Pro | Windsurf Pro |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly cost | $10/mo | $20/mo | $15/mo |
| Free tier | 2,000 completions + 50 premium | Limited requests | 25 credits/mo |
| Team plan | $19/user (Business) | $40/user (Teams) | $30/user |
| Model selection | Multiple models in Chat | Full model choice per request | Model choice with credits |
| Multi-file editing | Agent mode (premium requests) | Composer (from credit pool) | Cascade (from credits) |
| IDE | VS Code, JetBrains, Neovim | VS Code fork | VS Code fork |
Business vs Enterprise: What Does $20/User Extra Actually Get You?
Business ($19/user/month) and Enterprise ($39/user/month) share most features. The key differences are knowledge bases, GitHub.com Chat, custom models, and the Enterprise Cloud requirement.
Business adds organization-wide policy controls, audit logs, IP indemnity, SAML SSO, and file exclusion (prevent Copilot from accessing certain files). For most teams under 100 developers, Business has everything you need.
Enterprise adds knowledge bases, the ability to index your organization's repositories so Copilot can answer questions with full codebase context. It also includes GitHub.com Chat (use Copilot on github.com, not just in your IDE) and options for custom model fine-tuning.
The hidden cost: Enterprise requires GitHub Enterprise Cloud at $21/user/month. Total cost is $60/user/month ($39 + $21). This makes Enterprise 3x the cost of Business when you factor in the prerequisite. Only organizations that already have Enterprise Cloud should consider this tier.
Each Enterprise user gets 1,000 premium requests per month vs Business's standard allocation. For teams doing heavy Agent mode or code review work, this higher quota matters.
4 Ways Copilot Costs More Than the Sticker Price
- ⚠ Premium requests are consumed by Chat, Agent mode, code reviews, and model selection. A simple Chat question and a complex Agent session both use premium requests, but at different rates depending on the model.
- ⚠ Additional premium requests beyond your plan limit cost $0.04 each. A developer who blows through 300 Pro requests and uses 200 more pays $8 extra, at that point, Pro+ at $39/mo is better.
- ⚠ The free tier's 2,000 completions sound generous, but heavy users can hit that in a few days. Code completions on paid plans are unlimited.
- ⚠ Enterprise requires GitHub Enterprise Cloud ($21/user/month separately). Total cost is $60/user/month ($39 Copilot + $21 Enterprise Cloud). This catches teams off guard.
- ⚠ Premium request quotas reset on the 1st of each month regardless of when you subscribed. If you sign up on the 25th, you get 5 days of full quota, then it resets.
- ⚠ Not all models cost the same number of premium requests. Claude Opus 4.6 and o3 consume more per request than GPT-4.1. Using expensive models exclusively burns through your quota faster.
Which Copilot Plan Should You Pick? Quick Decision Guide
Student or hobbyist
Free tier. 2,000 completions + 50 premium requests is enough if you're coding a few hours per week. Upgrade to Pro when the 50 premium requests feel limiting.
Full-time individual developer
Pro at $10/month. 300 premium requests covers typical daily use (10-15 Chat/Agent interactions per day). Unlimited completions means Tab autocomplete never stops. Best value in AI coding tools.
Power user (heavy Agent/Chat use)
Pro+ at $39/month. 1,500 premium requests (5x Pro) plus access to Claude Opus 4.6 and o3 for the hardest problems. Worth it if you consistently exhaust Pro's 300 requests.
Engineering team (5+ developers)
Business at $19/user. Cheaper than Cursor Teams ($40/user) with strong admin controls. Enterprise ($39/user + $21 GitHub Enterprise Cloud) only if you need knowledge bases and custom models.
The Bottom Line
Pro at $10/month is the best value in AI coding tools. 300 premium requests covers daily use for most developers, and unlimited completions means the core autocomplete experience is always on. Pro+ at $39/month is worth it only if you consistently exhaust Pro's limits or need access to the most expensive models. Business at $19/user undercuts Cursor Teams ($40/user) significantly. The free tier is a genuine product now, not a trial, 2,000 completions per month is enough for light use.
Related Resources
Frequently Asked Questions
Pricing Update Tracker (2026)
GitHub Copilot pricing and included features change throughout the year. We track every update so this page stays the most current source. Last reviewed: May 2026.
- May 2026: No list price changes. Free $0, Pro $10, Pro+ $39, Business $19/user, Enterprise $39/user. Premium-request overage held at $0.04/request across paid plans.
- April 2026: No list price changes. Premium request overflow rate held at $0.04/request. Pro+ added Claude Opus 4.6 access for all subscribers.
- March 2026: Pro+ gained access to o3 reasoning model. Business tier added GPT-4.1 across all team seats at no extra cost.
- February 2026: Pro tier restructured to unlimited code completions plus 300 premium requests, replacing the prior fixed-completions structure.
- Q4 2025: Free tier added 50 premium requests per month, up from 0. Pro+ launched at $39/month with 1,500 premium requests.
- Q3 2025: Enterprise tier began requiring GitHub Enterprise Cloud ($21/user) as a prerequisite, raising real Enterprise cost from $39 to $60/user/month total.
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