Announcement & FAQ: Changes to GitHub Copilot Individual Plans · community · Discussion #192963

Announcement: Changes to GitHub Copilot Individual Plans

We've recently announced that we’re making the following changes to GitHub Copilot’s Individual plans to protect the experience for existing customers: pausing new sign-ups, tightening usage limits, and adjusting model availability. We know these changes are disruptive, and we want to be clear about why we're making them, and how they will affect you.

Here’s what’s changing and why:

1. New sign-ups for GitHub Copilot Pro, Pro+, and Student plans are paused: Pausing sign-ups allows us to serve existing customers more effectively.
2. We are tightening usage limits for individual plans. Pro+ plans offer more than 5X the limits of Pro: Users on the Pro plan who need higher limits can upgrade to Pro+. Usage limits are now displayed in VS Code and Copilot CLI to make it easier for you to avoid hitting these limits.
3. Opus models are no longer available in Pro plans: Opus 4.7 remains available in Pro+ plans. As we announced in our changelog, Opus 4.5 and Opus 4.6 will be removed from Pro+.

For full details on all of the changes and how usage limits work in GitHub Copilot, visit the GitHub Blog: Changes to GitHub Copilot Individual Plans

These changes are necessary to ensure we can serve existing customers with a predictable experience. If you hit unexpected limits or these changes just don’t work for you, you can cancel your Pro or Pro+ subscription and receive a refund for the time remaining on your current subscription. ℹ️ Instructions are included in the FAQ below.

This discussion may be updated if new information becomes available. Subscribe to receive notifications of any new posts.

📌 Frequently Asked Questions

1. How to request a refund

To request a refund, go to Settings → Billing and licensing → Licensing, select Manage subscription, then choose Cancel and refund "subscription". (The phrasing varies slightly depending on your subscription ). This option will be available until May 20.

For more information, visit our docs: About billing for individual GitHub Copilot plans

2. Can existing customers change plans?

While new sign-ups are paused, users with existing plans can still migrate between paid plans.

• Who can migrate?

  • ✅ Verified students with Copilot Student already activated can upgrade to Pro/Pro+
  • ✅ Users with an active Pro subscription can upgrade to Pro+
  • ❌ Users on Copilot Free are not eligible to upgrade to Pro/Pro+
  • ❌ Users on GitHub Pro with Copilot Free are not eligible to upgrade to Copilot Pro/Pro+

• Caution ⚠️

  • Cancelling your Pro or Pro+ plan is not reversible (except for verified students).
  • If you cancel your Pro or Pro+ plan, you will not be able to resubscribe to a new plan at that level. You will still be eligible for Copilot Free.
  • There is no workaround or exception for this at this time.

3. I've hit my seven-day limit - what do I do?

Auto will continue to work once you've hit your 7-day limit. We're aware of some errors and are actively investigating those flagged in this thread. Thank you for reporting them.

Starting June 1, users will have monthly included usage (just like they do today with PRUs). However, all model usage will incur AI Credit consumption. There are no options to continue using Copilot without waiting for the included usage to reset, enabling additional spend, or upgrading.

4. Why am I hitting rate limits sooner?

New rate limits are part of this change, including further restrictions on individual rates. We’re also adding more transparent rate-limit tracking, so it’s easier to see when you’re approaching your limits. We do not have an ETA, yet when this will ship.

5. Why was Opus removed from Copilot Pro?

Opus-family models have been removed from Copilot Pro. Rate limits that would be required to keep Opus sustainable on Pro would result in a worse overall experience than using a capable model without those limits. Users would likely hit their cap very quickly.

6. Can I get an exception or workaround?

At this time, we’re not able to offer exceptions or workarounds for this change.

Copilot Free remains available for signups, and existing users will not be removed.

🎒 GitHub Education and Student Specific Questions

7. Why can't I sign up for Copilot Student right now?

New signups for Copilot Student are currently paused while we work to provide a more reliable experience for all users. If you already have access, it will remain active.

A few important notes:

• Existing Copilot Student/Copilot Pro/Pro+ users will not be removed.
• Verified students with Copilot Student already activated can upgrade to Pro/Pro+.
• Copilot Free remains available for signups.

8. What exactly changed for Education users?

These updates apply across Copilot plans, including Education users.

• The main changes are:

  • New signups for Copilot Student, Copilot Pro, and Copilot Pro+ are paused
  • Opus-family models are being removed from Copilot Pro.
  • New rate limits are being introduced.
  • More transparent rate-limit progress is being added.

• What is not changing:

  • Code completion remains free.
  • Existing users will not be removed.

9. I renewed my student coupon early and lost access to Copilot Student. Is that expected?

Renewing your student coupon early should not remove your Copilot Student access. If you are having trouble, please contact us.

10. I'm newly eligible for Copilot Student but have never activated it. Can I sign up now?

At this time, new activations of Copilot Student, Pro, and Pro+ are paused.

Your GitHub Education verification is active and has not been removed. The pause affects the ability to activate Copilot Student or a Copilot paid plan. When signups resume, you will be able to activate the Education benefit if you are still eligible. In the meantime, Copilot Free remains available for signups.

We do not have an estimated timeframe to share yet for when the pause will end. Updates will be posted in this discussion post.

🟣 GitHub Pro

11. What's the difference between GitHub Pro and Copilot Pro?

• GitHub Pro is a plan for your GitHub account itself. It enables you to access additional features GitHub Pages, Wikis, and more Actions minutes.
• Copilot Pro is an AI coding assistant subscription and a separate product.

12. I have a GitHub Pro plan, does that mean I can upgrade to Copilot Pro/Pro+?

• The plan names are similar but GitHub Pro does not include access to Copilot, and new signups for Copilot Pro/Pro+ are currently paused.
• GitHub Pro users with an active Copilot Pro subscription can upgrade to Copilot Pro+.

13. I bought a GitHub Pro plan thinking it would enable access to Copilot Pro/Pro+ plans, how do I cancel it?

• Please schedule a plan downgrade and reach out to support to request a refund.
• There are an extremely high volume of Support tickets right now, yours will be answered in the order it was received based on the amount of tickets ahead of yours. Please open only one ticket per refund request.