GitHub Copilot introduces new limits, charges for ‘premium’ AI models
Github Copilot, the AI coding assistant of Microsoft ownership, can soon become more expensive for some users.
On Friday, Github announced “Premium requests” for Github Copilot, a new system that imposes speed limits when users switch to AI models other than the basic model for tasks such as “agent” coding and multi-file operations. Although Github Copilot subscribers can still take unlimited actions with the basic model (OpenAi’s GPT-4O), tasks and actions with newer models, such as the 3.7-Sonnet of Anthropic, will now be covered.
Customers on the Copilot Pro ($ 20 per month) received 300 monthly premium requests from 5 May, Github said in a Blog post. Regarding the users of Copilot Business and Copilot Enterprise, they receive 300 and 1,000 monthly premium applications respectively, starting between May 12 and 19 May.
Customers on one of those plans can buy extra premium requests for $ 0.04 per request or upgrade to Github’s new Copilot Pro+ plan. From $ 39 per month, Copilot Pro+ 1500 Premium offers requests and “access to the best models,” says Github, including GPT-4.5 from OpenAi.
The effective price increase for the more capable Copilot models, which was raised for some users one day after AI coding platform for some users, is perhaps a reflection of the higher calculation costs that these models make. Reasoning models such as 3.7 Sonnet take more time to check their answers, making them more reliable, but also increase the computer needed to run them.
Yet Copilot is not unprofitable. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said last August that Copilot was good for more than 40% of Github’s revenue growth in 2024 and is already a larger company than the whole of Github when the tech giant took over about seven years ago.
