Key Terms
- GitHub AI Credits - Copilot's billing unit since June 2026: 1 credit = $0.01 USD. Chat, agent mode, code review, cloud agent, CLI, and Copilot Apps consume credits varying by model; inline completions remain unlimited on paid plans. Source: GitHub – Plans
- Base + Flex credits - each individual plan has a base credit allowance plus a "flex allotment" (Pro +$5, Pro+ +$31, Max +$100 per month) that GitHub says "may change over time". Source: GitHub – Plans
- Default model enablement - policy effective August 26, 2026: GA models turn on by default for Copilot Business/Enterprise unless admins opt out, paired with a Global model policy (GA August 26). Sources: GitHub – 2026 07 29 Default Model Enablement For Copilot Business And Enterprise , GitHub – 2026 08 26 Global Model Policy Generally Available
- Copilot harness - GitHub's name for the agentic execution layer in its IDE extensions; became generally available in JetBrains on August 24. Source: GitHub – 2026 08 24 Copilot Harness Generally Available In Copilot For Jetbrains
- Agent Plugins 1.0 - plugin system spanning VS Code, Copilot CLI, and the Copilot app, launched August 12. Source: GitHub – 2026 08 12 Agent Plugins 1 0 In Vs Code Copilot Cli And The Copilot App
- Review effort levels - code review depth control (Lite/Balanced); the default changes from Lite to Balanced on September 28, 2026. Source: GitHub – 2026 08 28 Upcoming Changes To Github Copilot Policies And Billing
- Unified Copilot experience - from no earlier than September 28, 2026, Copilot Chat on github.com, Chat in GitHub Mobile, and the cloud agent merge into one policy; chat data retention moves from 28 days to the life of the account. Source: GitHub – 2026 08 28 Upcoming Changes To Github Copilot Policies And Billing
- Sandbox - GitHub's cloud isolation layer that the unified cloud agent experience will leverage. Source: GitHub – 2026 08 28 Upcoming Changes To Github Copilot Policies And Billing
Latest Changes
Changes since the 2026-07 report.
July watch items verified:
- Business/Enterprise promo credits ($30/$70) expiring after August: superseded by a billing model change. On August 28 GitHub announced that Business/Enterprise seat prices are "not changing" ($19/$39 per user/month), that new credit-card/PayPal signups reopen September 1 after a closure period, and that from October 1 all assigned seats incur an upfront charge with included usage possibly prorated monthly. Neither the announcement nor the plans page states the ongoing included-usage amount after the promo credits lapse; this remains undisclosed. Sources: GitHub – 2026 08 28 Upcoming Changes To Github Copilot Policies And Billing , GitHub – Plans
- Default model enablement effective August 26: confirmed. The Global model policy went GA the same day, giving admins one place to manage model access. Source: GitHub – 2026 08 26 Global Model Policy Generally Available
- UK CMA probe over Copilot-linked price hikes: still-pending. No public update found in August.
New August changes:
- Deprecation (Sep 1, announced Aug 31): Six models removed across most Copilot experiences: Gemini 3.1 Pro, Claude Opus 4.5, Opus 4.6, Sonnet 4.5, Sonnet 4.6 (annual individual subscribers keep it), and Raptor Mini. Suggested alternatives include Sonnet 5, Opus 4.7/4.8/5, Gemini 3.7 Flash, and MAI-Code-1.1-Flash. Source: GitHub – 2026 08 31 Selected Github Copilot Models Deprecated
- New models: Kimi K3 (August 6), MAI-Code-1.1-Flash (August 11, replacing MAI-Code-1-Flash deprecated the same day), Gemini 3.7 Flash (August 13), Grok 4.6 (August 14). Claude Fable 5.1 went GA September 1 (post-period). Sources: GitHub – 2026 08 06 Kimi K3 Is Now Available In Github Copilot , GitHub – 2026 08 11 Mai Code 1 1 Flash Available In Github Copilot , GitHub – 2026 08 13 Gemini 3 7 Flash Is Now Available In Github Copilot , GitHub – 2026 08 14 Grok 4 6 Is Now Available In Github Copilot , GitHub – 2026 09 01 Claude Fable 5 1 Generally Available In Github Copilot
- Billing change (announced Aug 28, effective Oct 1 for existing customers): Copilot Business/Enterprise seats switch to upfront per-seat charges at the start of each billing cycle; included usage may be prorated monthly; signups for new credit-card/PayPal customers reopen September 1 with strengthened account vetting. Source: GitHub – 2026 08 28 Upcoming Changes To Github Copilot Policies And Billing
- Privacy change (from ~Sep 28): Copilot chat on github.com and Mobile migrates to agent sessions; chat data will be retained for the life of the account instead of 28 days. Opting out removes Copilot from github.com and Mobile. Source: GitHub – 2026 08 28 Upcoming Changes To Github Copilot Policies And Billing
- Cost change (from Sep 28): Code review default effort rises from Lite to Balanced; repositories keeping "Default" will consume more review credits. Source: GitHub – 2026 08 28 Upcoming Changes To Github Copilot Policies And Billing
- Governance change (Aug 31): For users with seats in multiple organizations, model access is now determined solely by the organization that pays for usage ("Usage billed to"), not by any org that enables a model. Source: GitHub – 2026 08 31 Copilot Model Access Update For Github Team Plans
- Feature GA: Agent Plugins 1.0 (Aug 12); Copilot harness in JetBrains (Aug 24); code review effort levels (Aug 7); Copilot app Customize tab (Aug 25); reasoning-level control for cloud agent (Aug 3); Copilot experiences in Slack and Microsoft Teams (Aug 21); enterprise managed settings in JetBrains (Aug 18) and MCP allowlists (Aug 6). Sources: GitHub – 2026 08 12 Agent Plugins 1 0 In Vs Code Copilot Cli And The Copilot App , GitHub – 2026 08 24 Copilot Harness Generally Available In Copilot For Jetbrains , GitHub – 2026 08 21 The New Github Copilot Experience In Slack
- Transparency feature (Aug 11): Per-model token breakdown added to the usage report, closing part of last month's credit-burn visibility gap. Source: GitHub – 2026 08 11 Per Model Token Breakdown In The Usage Report
- Deprecation (upcoming): GitHub Spark (the web app builder) is being deprecated on github.com. Source: GitHub – 2026 08 04 Upcoming Deprecation Of Github Spark On Github Com
- Post-period (Sep 1): Copilot code review can now approve pull requests (previously comment-only). Source: GitHub – 2026 09 01 Copilot Code Review Can Now Approve Pull Requests
Plans
Individual Plans
| Plan | Price | Total AI credits/mo | Base + Flex | Key inclusions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | Limited chat and agent usage | n/a | 2,000 inline completions/mo, limited chat/agent; model list restricted to Claude Haiku 4.5, OpenAI GPT-5 mini, and Raptor mini (Preview); agent mode + CLI included |
| Pro | $10/mo | $15 | $10 + $5 flex | Unlimited completions, all mainline models (Sonnet 5, Opus 4.7/4.8/5, GPT-5.6 Terra/Luna, Gemini 3.5-3.7 Flash, Grok 4.5/4.6, Kimi K3, MAI-Code-1.1-Flash); code review; cloud agent |
| Pro+ | $39/mo | $70 | $39 + $31 flex | Everything in Pro + Fable 5, GPT-5.5, GPT-5.6 Sol; third-party agent delegation (Claude, Codex) |
| Max | $100/mo | $200 | $100 + $100 flex | Everything in Pro+ + full model matrix |
Source (model matrix verified in-browser September 2): GitHub – Plans
Business / Enterprise
| Plan | Price | Included usage | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Business | $19/user/mo (unchanged) | $30/mo promo credits were scheduled to expire after August; post-promo amount undisclosed | New signups (card/PayPal) reopen Sep 1; upfront seat billing from Oct 1 |
| Enterprise | $39/user/mo (unchanged) | $70/mo promo credits were scheduled to expire after August; post-promo amount undisclosed | Adds codebase indexing, custom models, github.com integration |
Business/Enterprise include IP indemnity, SAML SSO, user management, usage metrics, enterprise-grade security, and no training on customer data. Source: GitHub – 2026 08 28 Upcoming Changes To Github Copilot Policies And Billing
Overage: Additional AI credits purchasable at $0.01/credit with budgets and alerts at 75/90/100%; admins control whether paid overage is allowed on Business/Enterprise. Source: GitHub – Plans
API Pricing
GitHub Copilot is not API-first: there is no per-token API pricing for Copilot itself. Cost is metered via AI Credits (1 credit = $0.01) consumed by model choice and task complexity. Third-party models reachable through Copilot price at their own API rates elsewhere in this report. Code completions and next-edit suggestions do not consume credits on paid plans. Source: GitHub – Plans
Model Performance / Benchmarks
No new GitHub-published Copilot-specific benchmarks this month. Relevant incoming-model scores are reported in the suppliers' own sections (Anthropic Fable 5.1, Google Gemini 3.7 Flash, xAI Grok 4.6, Moonshot Kimi K3). No published coding benchmarks exist for MAI-Code-1.1-Flash. Source: GitHub – Changelog
Latest News
Business Model Reset: Signups Reopen, Upfront Billing (Aug 28, 2026)
GitHub will "reenable sign-ups for new Copilot Business and Copilot Enterprise customers paying by credit card or PayPal" starting September 1, confirming new-customer signups had been closed. Billing changes follow: every assigned seat incurs an upfront charge at the start of each cycle (existing card/PayPal customers from October 1), included usage may be prorated across the month, and fully canceling and returning may trigger updated vetting. Prices stay $19/$39. Source: GitHub – 2026 08 28 Upcoming Changes To Github Copilot Policies And Billing
Six-Model Purge and Lineup Refresh (Aug 31 / Sep 1, 2026)
Gemini 3.1 Pro, Claude Opus 4.5/4.6, Sonnet 4.5/4.6, and Raptor Mini were deprecated September 1, while August added Kimi K3, MAI-Code-1.1-Flash, Gemini 3.7 Flash, and Grok 4.6, and Fable 5.1 arrived September 1. The lineup now spans 31 models across 8 providers (Anthropic, OpenAI, Microsoft, Google, xAI, Moonshot, GitHub Raptor, plus third-party agent delegation). Sources: GitHub – 2026 08 31 Selected Github Copilot Models Deprecated , GitHub – Plans
Copilot Everywhere: Slack, Teams, JetBrains Harness, Agent Plugins (August 2026)
A new Copilot experience shipped in Slack (Aug 21) and shared agentic work in Microsoft Teams (Aug 21); the Copilot harness went GA in JetBrains (Aug 24); Agent Plugins 1.0 landed across VS Code, CLI, and the Copilot app (Aug 12); Copilot memory and Ollama (local model) support arrived in JetBrains (Aug 11). Sources: GitHub – 2026 08 21 The New Github Copilot Experience In Slack , GitHub – 2026 08 11 Copilot Memory And Ollama In Github Copilot For Jetbrains
Security Research: Copilot Cowork Sandbox Bypass (Aug 25-26, 2026)
PromptArmor published "Bypassing Copilot Cowork's Sandbox" describing attacker control of Microsoft Copilot Cowork with sandbox escape (Microsoft's sibling product to GitHub Copilot). HN: News – Item . Separately, GitHub denied that a bug found by Wiz's AI agent was written by Copilot Autofix. Ai-News – Github Denies Copilot Autofix Wrote The Bug Wizs Ai Agent Found
Community Signals
Billing and Cost-Creep Concerns
whirlwin posted "GitHub Copilot reviews cost creep" (3 points) linking the August 28 policy/billing announcement, reflecting concern that the Balanced-by-default review effort and unified experience will raise credit consumption. News – Item . The code-review-can-approve-PRs change was also submitted to HN. News – Item
Autocomplete vs Agent Usage
jawuilp's "Ask HN: Are you still using AI code autocomplete?" (5 points, 16 comments, Aug 26) asked whether developers still use Cursor Tab or Copilot autocomplete now that agentic assistants dominate, noting "By the time I started having access to decent AI autocomplete tools, things like Cline and Augment were already around." News – Item
Adoption Data
JetBrains' Developer Ecosystem Survey 2026 (published Aug 18) provides third-party adoption estimates for Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, JetBrains Junie, and other agents. Source: Jetbrains – Ai Coding Agent Adoption 2026
Enterprise Readiness
| Feature | Available? | Details |
|---|---|---|
| SSO (SAML) | Yes | Business and Enterprise plans. Source: GitHub – Plans |
| SSO (OIDC) | No | Not listed on plans pages. |
| SCIM | Partial | User management via org/enterprise APIs; full SCIM provisioning documented for Enterprise through GitHub's identity management. Source: GitHub – Copilot |
| Audit logs | Yes | Enterprise; usage metrics and audit log tracking expanded through 2026. Source: GitHub – Plans |
| IP indemnity | Yes | Business and Enterprise (Microsoft Copilot Copyright Commitment). Source: GitHub – Plans |
| Data residency | Partial | Enterprise-managed settings, IP allowlists, MCP allowlists (Aug 6); no region-pinned inference option published. Source: GitHub – 2026 08 06 Mcp Allowlists In Enterprise Managed Settings |
| HIPAA | Partial | Covered via GitHub's Enterprise compliance programs (BAA available); not itemized on Copilot plans page. Source: GitHub – Trust Center |
| Air-gapped / on-prem | Partial | GitHub Enterprise Server 3.22 RC (Aug 11) supports Copilot; full on-prem Copilot feature parity is not documented. Source: GitHub – 2026 08 11 Github Enterprise Server 3 22 Release Candidate |
| SLA | No | No Copilot-specific SLA published. |
| Admin controls (RBAC) | Yes | Global model policy (Aug 26), enterprise managed settings across IDEs/CLI/app, MCP allowlists, budget controls with expiration dates (Sep 1), per-user budgets. Sources: GitHub – 2026 08 26 Global Model Policy Generally Available , GitHub – 2026 09 01 Set An Expiration Date For Individual User Budgets |
Transparency Gaps
| Gap | Details | Severity |
|---|---|---|
| Post-promo Business/Enterprise included usage | The $30/$70 promo credits were scheduled to end after August. GitHub's August 28 billing announcement and the plans page do not state the ongoing included amount; the new upfront-billing model makes monthly cost projection harder, not easier. | High |
| Closed-signup period | Business/Enterprise signups were closed for an undisclosed period before the Sep 1 reopening; GitHub never published how long or why beyond "availability and reliability". | Medium |
| Credit burn rates | Per-model credit consumption for typical sessions still has no published estimates, though the new per-model token breakdown (Aug 11) improves after-the-fact visibility. | High |
| Unified experience cost impact | Moving review defaults from Lite to Balanced (Sep 28) raises per-review credit consumption by an undisclosed amount. | Medium |
| Chat retention change | Lifetime retention of chat data (from ~Sep 28) is a material privacy shift for enterprises; the retention period for agent-session artifacts vs chat is not fully specified. | Medium |
| GPT-5.2 family pricing | GPT-5.2, GPT-5.2-Codex, GPT-5.3-Codex, and GPT-5.5 still lack published per-interaction credit costs distinct from the model matrix. | Medium |
| Flex allotment instability | Flex credits remain "variable" and subject to change without notice. | Medium |
| MAI-Code-1.1-Flash specs | No published benchmarks, context window, or credit multiplier for Microsoft's in-house coding model. | Low |