GitHub will start charging Copilot users based on their actual AI usage
GitHub will start charging Copilot users based on their actual AI usage
GitHub 将开始根据实际 AI 使用量向 Copilot 用户收费
GitHub has announced that it will be shifting to a usage-based billing model for its GitHub Copilot AI service starting on June 1. The move is pitched as a way to “better align pricing with actual usage” and a necessary step to keep Copilot financially sustainable amid surging demand for limited AI computing resources. GitHub 宣布，从 6 月 1 日起，其 GitHub Copilot AI 服务将转向基于使用量的计费模式。此举旨在“使定价与实际使用情况更好地挂钩”，也是在有限的 AI 计算资源需求激增的情况下，保持 Copilot 财务可持续性的必要步骤。
GitHub Copilot subscribers currently receive an allocation of monthly “requests” and “premium requests,” which are spent whenever they ask Copilot for help from an AI model. But those broad categories cover many different AI tasks with a wide range of total backend computing costs, GitHub says. 目前，GitHub Copilot 订阅者每月会获得一定数量的“请求”和“高级请求”配额，每当他们向 Copilot 的 AI 模型寻求帮助时，这些配额就会被消耗。但 GitHub 表示，这些宽泛的类别涵盖了许多不同的 AI 任务，其后端计算成本差异巨大。
“Today, a quick chat question and a multi-hour autonomous coding session can cost the user the same amount,” the Microsoft-owned company wrote in its announcement. And while GitHub says it has “absorbed much of the escalating inference cost behind that usage” to this point, lumping all “premium requests” together “is no longer sustainable.” 这家微软旗下的公司在公告中写道：“目前，一个简单的聊天问题和一个长达数小时的自主编程会话，对用户来说成本是一样的。”虽然 GitHub 表示到目前为止已经“承担了大部分不断攀升的推理成本”，但将所有“高级请求”混为一谈“已不再可持续”。
Under the new pricing system, GitHub Copilot subscribers will receive a monthly allotment of “AI Credits” that matches their monthly subscription payment. Pricing for additional AI usage beyond those credits “will be calculated based on token consumption, including input, output, and cached tokens, using the listed API rates for each model.” 在新的定价体系下，GitHub Copilot 订阅者将获得与每月订阅费用相匹配的“AI 点数”配额。超出这些点数的额外 AI 使用费用“将根据 Token 消耗量（包括输入、输出和缓存的 Token）进行计算，并使用各模型的公开 API 费率”。
Those API rates can vary greatly depending on the sophistication of the model being used; pricing for OpenAI’s high-end GPT models currently ranges from $4.50 per million output tokens (GPT-5.4 Mini) to $30 per million output tokens (GPT-5.5), for instance. The total number of tokens used for an individual AI prompt can also vary greatly depending on how much “thinking” time the model needs to craft its output. 这些 API 费率会根据所使用模型的复杂程度而有很大差异；例如，OpenAI 高端 GPT 模型的定价目前从每百万输出 Token 4.50 美元（GPT-5.4 Mini）到 30 美元（GPT-5.5）不等。单个 AI 提示词所消耗的 Token 总数，也会根据模型生成输出所需的“思考”时间而产生巨大波动。
GitHub Copilot subscribers will still be able to use simple AI suggestions like code completion and Next Edit without consuming AI credits. But Copilot code reviews will come with an additional cost in the form of GitHub Actions minutes. Before the new pricing structure takes effect on June 1, GitHub Copilot users will be able to use a “preview bill” tool to help forecast how their current AI usage would be charged under the new pricing model. GitHub Copilot 订阅者仍然可以使用代码补全和 Next Edit 等简单的 AI 建议，而无需消耗 AI 点数。但 Copilot 代码审查将产生额外费用，以 GitHub Actions 分钟数的形式计费。在 6 月 1 日新定价结构生效之前，GitHub Copilot 用户可以使用“预览账单”工具，帮助预测其当前的 AI 使用量在新定价模式下会被收取多少费用。
Something’s gotta give
变革势在必行
Last week, AI critic Ed Zitron cited “leaked internal documents” in reporting on the upcoming usage-based billing changes. Those documents reportedly indicate that the week-over-week costs for GitHub Copilot had nearly doubled since January. That timing aligns with the rise of agentic AI assistants like Openclaw, which can consume massive amounts of AI tokens through their nearly always-on multi-agent workflows. 上周，AI 评论家 Ed Zitron 在报道即将到来的基于使用量的计费变更时，引用了“泄露的内部文件”。据报道，这些文件显示，自 1 月份以来，GitHub Copilot 的周成本几乎翻了一番。这一时间点与 Openclaw 等智能体 AI 助手的兴起相吻合，这些助手通过几乎全天候运行的多智能体工作流，会消耗海量的 AI Token。
Subsidizing that level of usage through heavily discounted subscription rates has apparently become untenable for GitHub, which says its new usage-based pricing “reduces the need to gate heavy users” who take full advantage of the current pricing system. “This change is designed to deliver a more sustainable and reliable product experience by aligning pricing to actual usage and costs,” the company wrote in an FAQ. 通过大幅折扣的订阅费来补贴这种使用水平，对 GitHub 来说显然已难以为继。GitHub 表示，新的基于使用量的定价“减少了限制重度用户的必要性”，这些用户目前正充分利用现有的定价系统。该公司在常见问题解答中写道：“此项变更旨在通过使定价与实际使用量和成本保持一致，从而提供更可持续、更可靠的产品体验。”
Last week, GitHub paused new signups for its subscription plans, tightened usage limits, and removed Claude’s Opus models from the lower-tier Pro plans. At the time, GitHub said those changes were “necessary to ensure we can serve existing customers with a predictable experience.” 上周，GitHub 暂停了订阅计划的新用户注册，收紧了使用限制，并将 Claude 的 Opus 模型从低级别的 Pro 计划中移除。当时，GitHub 表示这些变更是“确保我们能为现有客户提供可预测体验的必要举措”。
GitHub’s pricing decision follows an Information report that Anthropic has begun charging large Claude Enterprise subscribers for the full cost of the computing resources they use rather than offering subscription-subsidized discounts on AI tokens. Last week, Anthropic also briefly tested removing the resource-intensive Claude Code from its $20-per-month Pro subscription plan. And Anthropic has been adjusting usage limits during the “peak hours” of 5 am to 11 am Pacific Time in an effort to limit costs and improve reliability for subscribers. GitHub 的定价决定紧随 The Information 的报道之后，该报道称 Anthropic 已开始向大型 Claude 企业订阅者收取其所用计算资源的全部成本，而不是提供 AI Token 的订阅补贴折扣。上周，Anthropic 还短暂测试了从其每月 20 美元的 Pro 订阅计划中移除资源密集型的 Claude Code。此外，Anthropic 一直在太平洋时间上午 5 点至 11 点的“高峰时段”调整使用限制，以控制成本并提高订阅者的服务可靠性。
These kinds of pricing moves could become more common as major AI companies try to convert growing revenue and high demand for their services into the kinds of profits that have so far been illusory. Amid an ongoing shortage of computing resources to meet that demand, the days of subsidized, subscription-based usage discounts for the most voracious users of AI may be coming to an end. 随着各大 AI 公司试图将不断增长的收入和高需求转化为迄今为止仍难以实现的利润，这类定价举措可能会变得更加普遍。在满足需求的计算资源持续短缺的情况下，针对 AI 重度用户的补贴式订阅折扣时代可能即将终结。