Copilot billing changes create a poor experience for paid users

[Griffin2222222]

🏷️ Discussion Type

Product Feedback

💬 Feature/Topic Area

Copilot in GitHub

Body

I wanted to provide feedback regarding the recent changes to GitHub Copilot billing and the way additional usage is now handled.

I am a paying Copilot user and have supported the product because it provides genuine value. However, the current billing structure has created a frustrating situation where users who already pay for a subscription can quickly reach their included usage limits and are then forced into expensive upgrade paths rather than being able to purchase the additional usage they actually need.

For example, after using my included monthly credits, I am presented with options to either:

Upgrade to a significantly more expensive subscription tier, or
Continue usage through additional charges tied to a separate budget.

The issue is not that additional usage has a cost. I understand that AI compute has real infrastructure costs and that heavy usage needs to be managed.

The issue is the lack of flexibility and transparency.

A user who is happy with their existing plan should be able to simply purchase additional credits or usage when required, without needing to move into a completely different subscription tier containing features they may not need.

The current structure creates several problems:

Paid users can unexpectedly hit hard usage limits despite already subscribing.
The upgrade path is disproportionate compared with the actual additional resource required.
Users are encouraged toward higher subscription tiers rather than being given control over their own usage.
It becomes difficult to predict costs because the relationship between usage, credits, and billing is not straightforward.

A better approach would be a modular model where users can:

Keep their existing Copilot subscription.
Purchase additional AI credits when required.
Set clear spending limits.
Scale usage without being forced into a larger package.

I have removed my payment method because this billing approach no longer feels aligned with my needs. This is not because I do not value Copilot it is because the current structure makes continued payment difficult to justify.

GitHub has created one of the best developer platforms available, and many users want to continue supporting it. However, pricing should remain flexible, predictable, and proportional to actual usage.

I hope GitHub considers revisiting this approach and bringing back a more user-controlled way of scaling usage.

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[Perpleex]

Copilot is basically dead — you can't do anything with its current billing model. You max out and burn through your credits for nothing.
I paid for an annual subscription, and now I've switched to Claude Code. So I'm trying to make my remaining tokens last until the end. Yesterday I tried using Copilot for a small task and burned through all my tokens in 30 minutes for nothing.
With Claude, a whole month of usage on GitHub feels like about 5% of a 5-hour window.

At this point, they should just throw in the towel and shut the service down. Honestly, I don't see how they expect to keep any users with the service in this state.

[awdemos]

This nails the real pain point: the issue isn't paying for compute, it's being forced into a tier jump just to finish the week. If I'm happy with Pro, I should be able to buy more credits at a predictable price or set a hard monthly cap, not discover mid-sprint that my only option is "upgrade to Pro+ or stop working."

GitHub could fix a lot of this with three things:

1. A true overage pack (e.g., $10 for N additional credits) instead of forcing a tier upgrade.
2. A hard stop switch in settings ("disable premium models when credits hit 80%") rather than silently continuing to bill.
3. Per-session credit estimates before an agent task starts.

Until those exist, teams that need a fixed ceiling have to look outside the Copilot bundle. We built UltraWork (https://vibecodingagency.com/gpu-cloud/) as a flat-rate GPU workspace for agentic coding: one monthly price for H100/A100 capacity, no per-credit meter, no forced upgrades. You know the cost on day one and it doesn't change on day fifteen.

Not a replacement for Copilot's chat/completion UX, but a sane second workspace for the agent sessions that would otherwise blow through credits.