Copilot Premium Requests: Your Nov 18 Budget Playbook

On November 18, 2025, GitHub will remove account-level $0 Copilot premium request budgets for Enterprise and Team accounts created before August 22, 2025. If you’ve relied on that hard stop to block spend, it’s going away—and premium model usage can start billing against your policy instead of being rejected. (github.blog)

Here’s the thing: many orgs never tuned these settings after rollout. With model menus evolving weekly, it’s easy for a handful of power users to nudge your budget in the wrong direction. This piece translates the change into plain numbers, gives you a governance checklist, and shares a 60‑minute admin playbook to get ahead of it.

What exactly changes on November 18?

Historically, legacy Copilot Enterprise/Team accounts had a default $0 budget that blocked premium requests beyond the included allowance. On November 18, 2025, GitHub removes those $0 budgets. After that date, whether premium requests can incur additional cost is controlled by your “Premium request paid usage” policy and any budgets you explicitly set. (github.blog)

There’s also SKU routing to be aware of. For example, GitHub Spark—used to build apps from prompts—now attributes its premium usage to a dedicated SKU beginning November 1, 2025. That makes your cost analytics clearer, but it also means separate line items to watch. (docs.github.com)

What are Copilot premium requests?

In plain English, a premium request is a Copilot interaction that uses a premium model or feature and draws from a monthly allowance. If you exceed your allowance and your policy allows paid usage, each additional premium request is billed at $0.04 USD. That price point adds up quickly if the wrong model is selected for routine tasks. (docs.github.com)

Some models and features consume more than one premium request because they apply multipliers. For instance, Claude Opus 4.1 counts as ten premium requests per interaction on paid plans, while GPT‑4.1 and GPT‑4o are included on paid plans and draw zero premium requests. Model availability and multipliers vary by plan. (docs.github.com)

How the dollars stack up (with real numbers)

Let’s run two conservative scenarios to calibrate risk. Assume your organization has 200 developers and your policy allows paid usage over the allowance. If each developer runs 50 premium interactions with a 1× multiplier (e.g., Sonnet 4 or Gemini 2.5 Pro) beyond their allowance in a month, that’s 10,000 premium requests—$400. (docs.github.com)

Swap in a 10× model for just five chats per developer—say, a batch of deep refactoring questions on Opus 4.1—and you’ve again consumed 10,000 premium requests. Same $400, but you got there with fewer interactions because of the multiplier. If unmanaged, occasional spikes like this are common around major releases or incidents. (docs.github.com)

The Copilot premium requests checklist for leaders

Use this seven‑step checklist to tighten the loop between engineering and finance without strangling developer flow.

1. Confirm your account cohort. If your Enterprise/Team account predates August 22, 2025, you likely had a default $0 budget that’s being removed on November 18. Verify in Settings ▶ Spending. (docs.github.com)
2. Decide your stance: block or budget. Either disable paid usage across the board, or set a monthly budget with alerting. Start small; grow only where there’s demonstrable value. (docs.github.com)
3. Lock model policies. Enable approved models only. Consider steering routine queries to included models (GPT‑4.1, GPT‑4o) and reserving high‑multiplier models for specific roles or workflows. (docs.github.com)
4. Segment by SKU. Track Spark separately if teams are prototyping apps; it now bills to a dedicated SKU. (docs.github.com)
5. Publish a usage rubric. Define when to reach for premium models (complex code reviews, architectural decisions) and when to default to included models.
6. Set alerts and review cadence. Pull monthly usage reports and spot outliers before they snowball. (docs.github.com)
7. Educate for efficiency. Encourage auto model selection in VS Code (10% multiplier discount on paid plans) and teach prompt discipline to reduce retries. (docs.github.com)

Model churn means your policies matter even more

GitHub has been pruning and updating its model roster. Claude Sonnet 3.5, for example, was deprecated across Copilot experiences effective November 6, 2025. If you hard‑coded preferences to older models, that can trigger unexpected fallbacks or friction. Review and refresh your model allowlist now. (github.blog)

Separate but related, Copilot Knowledge Bases were fully retired on November 1, 2025 and replaced by Copilot Spaces. If your teams relied on KBs to ground responses, ensure those collections made the jump to Spaces—or you’ll see quality swings that drive more expensive retries. (github.blog)

Design a sensible model policy (fast)

Adopt a tiered approach inside your enterprise policy:

• Default tier: included models (GPT‑4.1, GPT‑4o) for everyday chat, search, and boilerplate refactors. Zero premium requests on paid plans. (docs.github.com)
• Premium tier: 1× models (e.g., Sonnet 4, Gemini 2.5 Pro) for tricky reasoning, API migrations, or docs generation. Enable for senior ICs or toolsmiths.
• Expert tier: high‑multiplier models (e.g., Opus 4.1 at 10×) gated to incident commanders, staff engineers, or platform teams with specific approval flows. (docs.github.com)

Bundle these with Spaces so prompts are grounded in your actual code and docs. That reduces retries and off‑topic detours, which directly cuts premium usage. (github.blog)

People also ask: short answers you can share

Will my org be charged automatically on Nov 18?

If your policy allows paid usage or you have budgets set, then yes—premium usage over the allowance can incur charges once the $0 budget is removed. If paid usage is disabled, requests over the allowance are blocked. Double‑check your policy and budgets. (github.blog)

How much does a premium request cost?

$0.04 per request when you go beyond your included allowance. Multipliers apply based on model (for example, 10× for Opus 4.1). (docs.github.com)

Can I cap spending by day or team?

You control spend with budgets and the paid usage policy at the org or enterprise level. Pair budgets with monthly usage reports and alerts; segment by SKUs like Spark to keep visibility. (docs.github.com)

What if my developers run out of allowance?

On paid plans, they can keep using included models at no extra cost, albeit with normal rate limits and performance caveats. To go premium again, you either raise budgets or upgrade. (docs.github.com)

A 60‑minute admin playbook to de‑risk November 18

Let’s get practical. Block your calendar for one hour and run this sequence:

1. Inventory accounts (10 minutes). Confirm which orgs/enterprises were created before August 22, 2025. Note any that still rely on the legacy $0 budget. (docs.github.com)
2. Set a global stance (10 minutes). In the enterprise policy, either disable paid usage temporarily or set a conservative budget ($100–$300) per month per org while you collect data. (docs.github.com)
3. Harden model allowlists (15 minutes). Keep included models always on; enable one or two 1× models; reserve 10× models for admins or a dedicated group. Consider enabling VS Code’s auto model selection to trim multipliers. (docs.github.com)
4. Enable alerts and reporting (10 minutes). Turn on budget notifications and export the usage report. Share it with finance and platform engineering. (docs.github.com)
5. Migrate knowledge to Spaces (10 minutes). If you were on Knowledge Bases, verify critical contexts now live in Copilot Spaces to reduce costly retries. (github.blog)
6. Communicate and train (5 minutes). Post a one‑pager: when to use premium models, expected behavior after Nov 18, and a contact for questions.

“But my teams need the best models” — striking the balance

Totally fair. The goal isn’t austerity; it’s intentionality. Treat premium models like GPU hours: provision where they create leverage. For a migration sprint, flip on Sonnet 4 or Gemini 2.5 Pro for core maintainers. For incident response, grant short‑term access to 10× models and record outcomes. Then ratchet back when the spike passes. The combination of model policies, Spaces grounding, and budgets gives you fine‑grained control without micromanaging. (docs.github.com)

Connect this to your broader governance

If you’re rolling out AI agents or centralizing capability behind a platform team, fold Copilot governance into that operating model. We’ve covered governance‑first rollouts for GitHub’s agent tooling and MCP in detail—use the same playbook here so procurement, security, and engineering stay in lockstep. See our guidance on governance‑first AI platform rollouts and our 90‑day MCP adoption plan for establishing safe, scalable context flows.

Also consider how CI/CD and runners intersect with Copilot usage. If you’re evaluating Apple Silicon runners, concurrency, or new policy toggles in November, align those decisions with your Copilot policy updates so your monthly cost picture isn’t fragmented. Our brief on GitHub Actions’ November updates outlines the operational trade‑offs.

Gotchas and edge cases to watch

Multiple licenses, one human. If a developer is licensed by two independent organizations, you must set which entity is billed for premium requests; otherwise those requests are rejected. Don’t wait for the helpdesk tickets—set “Usage billed to” now. (docs.github.com)

Preview features and SKUs move. Spark’s dedicated SKU is great for visibility, but it also introduces a second tap. If you enable it widely, create an explicit budget and owner to prevent “nobody owns it” drift. (docs.github.com)

Model deprecations ripple. When a model is removed, users may unknowingly fall back to a different model with a different multiplier. Keep a monthly policy review on the calendar. Sonnet 3.5’s November 6 deprecation is a timely reminder. (github.blog)

Where this lands in 2026

Zooming out, Copilot is moving toward clearer SKUs, usage‑based components, and grounded answers via Spaces. That’s good for transparency and procurement. But it puts the onus on you to instrument usage like you would any other metered cloud service. Treat the admin console as part of your FinOps dashboard, not a set‑and‑forget toggle. If you formalize model tiers, control paid usage, and ground prompts, you’ll spend less and ship faster.

What to do next (this week)

• Review enterprise/org policies and either disable paid usage or set a conservative budget before November 18, 2025. (github.blog)
• Approve a minimal set of 1× models; keep included models as default. Document when to use each. (docs.github.com)
• Migrate critical grounding data to Copilot Spaces if you haven’t already. (github.blog)
• Export usage reports, share with finance, and set a monthly review. (docs.github.com)
• Encourage auto model selection in VS Code and better prompts to reduce retries. (docs.github.com)

If you want a sanity check on your rollout plan or need help aligning AI governance with platform engineering, our team can help. Start with what we do, skim our portfolio, or just send us a note. We’ll get you ready for November 18 and set you up with a durable model policy that won’t crumble with the next deprecation.

Appendix: a quick calculator you can paste into Slack

Here’s a mental model your teams can use to estimate costs in seconds:

premium_cost = interactions × model_multiplier × $0.04 (beyond allowance)

Examples:

• 50 interactions on a 1× model = 50 × 1 × $0.04 = $2.00
• 5 interactions on a 10× model = 5 × 10 × $0.04 = $2.00
• 100 interactions on included models on paid plans = 0 premium requests = $0.00

When the conversation matters—architecture reviews, complex migrations—authorize premium models. When it’s routine—tests, comments, boilerplate—stay on included models and ground with Spaces to keep quality high. (docs.github.com)

Related reads from our team

If you’re standing up governance and platform guardrails, these deep dives pair well with today’s changes:

• GitHub Agent HQ + MCP: The Governance‑First Playbook
• Model Context Protocol: Your 90‑Day Adoption Plan
• GitHub Actions November 2025: Limits, M2, Copilot