Microsoft-owned GitHub’s AI coding assistant, GitHub Copilot, may soon see an increase in costs for certain users. Recently, GitHub introduced a system called “premium requests,” which implements rate limits when users opt to utilize AI models beyond the base model for advanced coding tasks like agentic coding and multi-file edits.
While subscribers can still perform unlimited actions with the base model, OpenAI’s GPT-4o, there will be restrictions on tasks using more advanced models like Anthropic’s 3.7 Sonnet. Under the new pricing structure, customers on the Copilot Pro tier, which costs $20 per month, will be allotted 300 monthly premium requests starting May 5.
For Copilot Business and Copilot Enterprise users, the allocation will be 300 and 1,000 premium requests per month, respectively, beginning between May 12 and May 19. Users have the option to purchase extra premium requests at a rate of $0.04 each, or upgrade to the new Copilot Pro+ plan, starting at $39 per month, which includes 1,500 premium requests and access to superior models, such as OpenAI’s GPT-4.5.
This increase in costs for accessing more capable AI models may reflect the higher computing expenses associated with deploying these advanced tools. Models like 3.7 Sonnet necessitate additional time for fact-checking their outputs, thereby enhancing reliability but also requiring more computational power.
Nevertheless, GitHub Copilot remains a profitable venture; Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella noted last August that Copilot has accounted for over 40% of GitHub’s revenue growth in 2024 and has surpassed the overall business scale of GitHub when acquired approximately seven years ago.