What changed
On October 28, 2026, GitHub introduced an optional 'Copilot access' billing model for eligible GitHub Enterprise Cloud customers working with a GitHub or Microsoft account team. Users who already hold a GitHub Enterprise Cloud licence pay no additional Copilot seat fee; people without that licence can be covered by Copilot Standalone for $10 USD per user per month. Both groups receive Copilot Enterprise-level feature/model eligibility subject to policies, but no included monthly AI credits: chat, agents and other metered features are charged from the first request against enterprise budgets. Inline completions and next-edit suggestions remain available without AI-credit charges. Existing Copilot Business ($19/user with 1,900 pooled monthly credits) and Copilot Enterprise ($39/user with 3,900 pooled credits) remain available. Switching is voluntary, not an automatic migration, and self-service Enterprise customers cannot yet opt in.
Why it matters
The commercial choice is no longer simply which Copilot seat tier to buy. Enterprises with many occasional Copilot users may lower fixed seat spending by moving to metered access, while heavy users could pay more because every AI-credit-consuming request is billed and there is no included allowance. Administrators must model total usage, assign seats explicitly, configure budgets and ensure the AI credits paid usage policy stays enabled. The model cannot be mixed with Business or Enterprise Copilot seats within one enterprise, although Enterprise-licensed and $10 Standalone users can coexist under Copilot access. Teams using firewall allowlists may also need to add the Enterprise Copilot endpoint before transition.
What is included — and what is not
For eligible GitHub Enterprise Cloud users, the incremental Copilot seat charge is $0. Non-Enterprise-licensed users can receive Copilot Standalone at $10 per person monthly. Neither path includes monthly AI credits; GitHub bills metered usage from the first request. Copilot Chat, CLI, cloud agents and third-party coding agents consume credits. Inline code completions and next-edit suggestions remain unmetered and continue working even with no budget.
Compare against existing pooled allowances
GitHub's current documentation lists Copilot Business at $19 per seat monthly with 1,900 pooled AI credits per seat, and Copilot Enterprise at $39 with 3,900 pooled credits per seat. One AI credit equals $0.01 USD, though model token costs determine how many credits an interaction uses. Under the new Copilot access model, none of those included credits carry over. Compare total seat plus usage costs using a representative month and count usage previously absorbed by pooled allowances.
Rollout and migration constraints
The October 28 option is available through GitHub or Microsoft account teams for eligible Enterprise Cloud customers. Self-serve subscriptions, Free and Team organisations and self-service trials are not yet eligible. Existing Copilot Business and Enterprise subscribers keep their plans unless they voluntarily transition. The enterprise chooses one billing model; Copilot access cannot coexist with Business or Enterprise seats inside the same enterprise. Administrators must still assign Copilot seats, even for Enterprise-licensed users.
Budget and network migration traps
Under Copilot access, metered features require AI credits paid usage to be enabled and an available budget. User-level and enterprise spending controls can block those features without revoking the seat; completions still work. GitHub advises adding the *.enterprise.githubcopilot.com endpoint if the network currently only allows the Business endpoint. Account-team transitions start on the first day of a month, and GitHub recommends reviewing expected usage and costs before scheduling a change.