github copilot pricing: every plan, the ai credits and the small print
updated · prices checked on vendor pages
quick answer: GitHub Copilot has a free plan, then Pro at $10/mo, Pro+ at $39/mo and Max at $100/mo for individuals. teams pay $19 a seat for Business or $39 a seat for Enterprise. every paid plan comes with a monthly pot of GitHub AI Credits (1 credit = $0.01), and the good news is code completions don't touch that pot at all on paid plans.
we rank Copilot #4 in ai coding agents (8.0/10). it's the cheapest serious way into an ai coding assistant, and it lives inside the editor you already use rather than asking you to move house. right, pull up a stool. here's what it actually costs.
last checked: 18 oct 2026, against GitHub's own plans page and docs (sources at the bottom).
the plans at a glance
| plan | price | monthly ai credits | who it's for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Copilot Free | $0 | a limited allowance | kicking the tyres |
| Copilot student | $0 (verified students) | an allowance | students, obviously |
| Copilot Pro | $10/mo | 1,000 base + 500 flex = 1,500 | most solo devs |
| Copilot Pro+ | $39/mo | 3,900 base + 3,100 flex = 7,000 | heavy agent users |
| Copilot Max | $100/mo | 10,000 base + 10,000 flex = 20,000 | people who live in agent mode |
| Copilot Business | $19/seat/mo | 1,900 per user, pooled | companies |
| Copilot Enterprise | $39/seat/mo | 3,900 per user, pooled | GitHub Enterprise Cloud shops |
in plain money: Pro gets you $15 of ai usage for $10, Pro+ gets you $70 for $39, and Max gets you $200 for $100. that's the headline maths, but read the bit about "flex" before you start celebrating.
how the ai credits work
GitHub's moved Copilot to usage-based billing. every interaction burns tokens, tokens are priced by model, and the total is converted into credits at 1 credit = $0.01. a quick question to a light model costs a fraction of a credit. a long cloud agent session on a frontier model across loads of files costs a lot more.
what eats credits: Copilot chat, Copilot CLI, the cloud agent, Spaces, Spark and third-party coding agents.
what doesn't: code completions and next edit suggestions. on every paid plan they're unlimited and not billed in credits. so if you mostly want tab-tab-tab autocomplete, Pro is a proper bargain.
base vs flex. each paid plan has two parts:
- base credits match your subscription price and, per GitHub, never change.
- the flex allotment is extra on top, and GitHub says it's variable and "designed to adapt as the economics of ai evolve". translation: it can go down as well as up. budget on the base, treat flex as a bonus round.
base gets used first, then flex kicks in automatically.
auto model selection saves you 10%. on paid plans you get a 10% discount on model costs when you let Copilot pick the model in chat, CLI, the Copilot app or the cloud agent.
the catches (read these before you buy the round)
1. credits don't roll over. unused credits are gone at the end of the month, and the allowance resets at 00:00 UTC on the 1st of every calendar month, whatever day you signed up. sign up on the 28th and you've got a few days to use that month's pot.
2. run out and you've got three options. wait for the reset, upgrade, or set a dollar budget for extra usage. extra credits are the same $0.01 each, so a $10 budget buys 1,000 credits. set a budget before a big agent session, not after.
3. upgrading mid-month is fair. you only pay the difference between plans, and what you've already used counts inside the bigger allowance, so the extra credits land straight away.
4. the free plan is properly limited. 2,000 code completions a month, a limited allowance of credits for chat and agent work, and auto model selection only. good for a taster, not for a working week.
5. your data and training. GitHub says it may use interaction data from Free, Pro and Pro+ users to train its models unless you opt out in your Copilot settings. Business and Enterprise data isn't used for training. worth thirty seconds in settings.
6. a work seat cancels your personal plan. if your company hands you a Business or Enterprise seat, your own Pro, Pro+ or Max is cancelled automatically, with a prorated refund.
Business and Enterprise for teams
Business is $19 per seat per month with 1,900 credits per user. Enterprise is $39 per seat per month with 3,900 credits per user, and needs GitHub Enterprise Cloud. on both, each licence adds its credits to a shared pool, and anything beyond the pool is charged at $0.01 a credit. admins set the limits and decide whether paid overage is allowed; if it isn't, Copilot pauses until the next cycle. you also get policy controls and, per GitHub, IP indemnity that individual plans don't get.
is it free for anyone?
yes, a few lucky souls:
- verified students get Copilot student free, with unlimited completions and auto model selection (no third-party agents).
- verified teachers and maintainers of popular open source projects may be eligible for free Copilot Pro.
which plan should you pick?
- just want good autocomplete in your editor: Pro, $10/mo. unlimited completions, done.
- chatting and running agent mode most days: Pro, then watch the usage dashboard. if you're hitting the ceiling by the third week, step up to Pro+.
- running long agent sessions on frontier models: Pro+ or Max. the frontier stuff chews credits.
- a team that needs admin, policies and pooled usage: business.
- skint: Free, or have a look at our best free ai coding agents.
Copilot vs the rest of the bar
| cheapest paid | what's the deal | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub Copilot | Pro $10/mo | $15 of credits a month, unlimited completions, works in your existing IDE |
| Cursor | Plus $8/mo | Grok models only on Plus; Premium is $30/mo, third-party models billed at API list price on top |
| Claude Code | Claude Pro $20/mo ($17/mo annual) | comes with a Claude subscription, usage limits rather than credits; Max from $100/mo |
Copilot's the one for people who don't want to switch editors and do want to know roughly what they'll spend. Cursor's a whole editor of its own, and Claude Code is our #1 for big multi-file jobs. for the full head-to-head see GitHub Copilot vs Cursor, Cursor pricing and Claude Code pricing, or line them all up on the ai coding agent price sheet. if you'd rather not pay a subscription at all, OpenCode and Cline let you bring your own model.
faq
how much does GitHub Copilot cost?
Free is $0. Pro is $10/mo, Pro+ is $39/mo and Max is $100/mo. for organisations, Business is $19 per seat per month and Enterprise is $39 per seat per month.
is GitHub Copilot free?
there's a free plan with 2,000 code completions a month, a limited allowance of ai credits and auto model selection only. verified students get Copilot student free, and some teachers and popular open source maintainers can get Pro free.
what are GitHub AI Credits?
they're how Copilot bills ai usage. 1 credit = $0.01, and how many an interaction uses depends on the model and how many tokens it burns. chat, CLI, the cloud agent, Spaces and Spark use credits; code completions and next edit suggestions don't on paid plans.
what's the difference between Copilot Pro and Pro+?
Pro is $10/mo with 1,500 monthly credits (1,000 base plus 500 flex). Pro+ is $39/mo with 7,000 (3,900 base plus 3,100 flex) and access to premium models.
do unused Copilot credits roll over?
no. included credits reset at 00:00 UTC on the 1st of each calendar month and anything unused is lost.
tools in this guide
sources
checked 2026-10-18
- GitHub Copilot plans and pricing: https://github.com/features/copilot/plans
- plans for GitHub Copilot (docs): https://docs.github.com/en/copilot/get-started/plans
- usage-based billing for individuals (docs): https://docs.github.com/en/copilot/concepts/billing/usage-based-billing-for-individuals
- Cursor pricing: https://cursor.com/pricing
- Claude pricing (Pro and Max, includes Claude Code): https://claude.com/pricing