GitHub Copilot Credits and Limits: What Plans Include

GitHub Copilot’s paid individual plans currently include 1,500 monthly AI credits on Pro, 7,000 on Pro+, and 20,000 on Max. AI-model interactions draw from those allowances according to the model and token volume. Paid-plan code completions and Next Edit suggestions do not consume AI credits. If the allowance runs out, GitHub documents two immediate options: upgrade or establish a budget for additional usage.

The important distinction is that a credit limit is not a prompt limit. One brief interaction and one long agent task can consume different amounts, so the plan table is a capacity comparison—not a promise about how many tasks you can finish.

Copilot plan credits and limits at a glance

GitHub’s current paid individual-plan table reports these monthly prices and allowances. The recommendation column is TechNest’s conditional guidance, not a GitHub performance claim.

Independent reporting from Ars Technica separately corroborates the Pro, Pro+, and Max prices and total allowances. Recheck GitHub’s live table before purchasing because allowances and plan terms can change.

The following chart uses a zero-to-25,000-credit axis. That denominator leaves headroom above the largest displayed allowance instead of making Max appear to fill an axis normalized to the winner.

What one GitHub AI credit measures

GitHub’s billing overview defines one AI credit as $0.01 USD. Its more detailed individual billing explanation says an interaction can involve input, output, and cached tokens, with token prices depending on the selected model.

That is why “prompts per month” is not a reliable translation of the allowance. Prompt count omits the amount of context sent, the response length, reused context, and model pricing. A useful personal estimate therefore has to come from observed credit consumption across representative tasks, not division by an assumed fixed prompt cost.

What does not consume AI credits

GitHub’s usage-based billing announcement says code completions and Next Edit suggestions remain included in all plans and do not consume AI credits. This creates an important decision boundary: someone who mainly values inline suggestions should not estimate capacity as though every suggestion reduces the allowance.

Chat and agent-heavy workflows need a different evaluation. If you are comparing the wider product decision, TechNest’s Cursor and GitHub Copilot comparison separates assistant choice from this narrower billing question. Readers evaluating reusable project context can also consult the Copilot Spaces and Claude Projects comparison.

How to choose without guessing at prompt counts

Start with the lowest tier whose fixed price and documented capabilities meet your requirements. Then treat the allowance as a boundary to observe. Pro is the conservative starting point when metered interactions are secondary. Pro+ becomes reasonable when recurring, reviewed work—not a single unusually large task—repeatedly exhausts Pro. Max is a capacity purchase that needs the strongest evidence from your own usage record.

Do not interpret a larger allowance as proof of faster or better output. The table establishes price and capacity only. The relevant decision measure is whether completed, reviewed work repeatedly reaches the current limit and whether the next tier costs less than the time or interruption it would save.

For repository automation, spending is only one control. The GitHub Actions approval-holds checklist covers a separate security boundary that an AI-credit budget does not replace.

Check consumption before changing plans

For an individual plan, GitHub’s monitoring guide places credit consumption on the AI usage page under Billing and licensing settings. Check it at consistent intervals and record three things: the task category, credits consumed, and whether the result survived review.

A short observation window can be distorted by an exceptional migration, large refactor, or unusually long conversation. Prefer several ordinary work periods before committing to a higher recurring price. Keep confidential credentials and unapproved private material out of any evaluation workload.

What happens after the included allowance is exhausted

GitHub’s usage-limits documentation says a user who exhausts included credits can upgrade or set a budget for additional usage. Those choices have different cost shapes: an upgrade raises recurring fixed cost and allowance, while an additional-usage budget introduces variable spending.

Use a budget only at an amount you are prepared to spend. If exhaustion is rare, a permanent upgrade may be unnecessary. If it occurs during ordinary work in repeated periods, compare the next tier’s reported monthly price with the variable usage you would otherwise authorize.

Bottom line

Copilot Pro, Pro+, and Max currently provide 1,500, 7,000, and 20,000 monthly AI credits respectively. Choose from observed consumption rather than a manufactured prompts-per-month estimate. Separate inline suggestions that do not consume credits from metered model interactions, inspect the AI usage page, and increase recurring or variable spending only when representative work supports the change.