By Paul Thurrott
Publication Date: 2026-04-20 20:36:00
UPDATE: Microsoft has announced the changes noted below. –Paul
Internal documents viewed by Big Tech foe Ed Zitron reveal that Microsoft intends to update GitHub Copilot to support token-based billing, a dramatic shift from the current requests-based billing system it currently uses.
“Although token-based billing has been a top priority for Microsoft, it became more urgent in recent months, with the week-over-week cost of running GitHub Copilot nearly doubling since January,” Zitron writes. “The move to token-based billing will see GitHub users charged based on their usage of the platform, and how many tokens their prompts consume — and thus, how much compute they use.”
To be clear, this will raise the price of GitHub Copilot—which currently comes in free, Pro ($10 per month), and Pro+ ($39 per month) tiers—for most individuals. As Zitron explains, GitHub Copilot Pro currently provides 300 requests per month with an option to buy more on the fly, but…
