GitHub Copilot Premium Requests: What Dec 2 Changed

On December 2, 2025, GitHub began removing account-level $0 budgets for GitHub Copilot premium requests on enterprise and team accounts that were created before August 22, 2025. Practically, that means your old “hard stop” against premium request overages may no longer apply. If your premium request paid usage policy is enabled, overages can now bill at $0.04 per request, with multipliers depending on the model or feature. If you’ve been leaning on that $0 budget to prevent surprises, it’s time to put guardrails back in place.

What exactly changed on December 2?

Two things moved in tandem. First, GitHub started removing legacy $0 premium request budgets for affected enterprise and organization accounts. Second, Copilot’s premium request paid usage policy—the toggle that either blocks or allows charges beyond your monthly allowance—now carries the real weight. If that policy is set to Enabled, usage past the allowance can incur charges. If it’s set to Disabled, Copilot will block premium-request features once your users exhaust the allowance.

GitHub’s rationale is straightforward: as Copilot adds more AI tools (for example, advanced code review, coding agents, and newer model families), a single, account-level $0 budget was creating administrative friction. Instead, they’re standardizing on policy-driven controls and per-tool accounting so admins can manage spend consistently as features evolve.

How GitHub Copilot premium requests work

Premium requests are a metered pool that resets on the first calendar day of each month at 00:00:00 UTC. Interactions that tap higher-end models or certain features—agent mode, multi-file refactors, richer code review—draw from this pool. When the pool runs out, behavior depends on your settings:

• Policy Disabled: Copilot blocks premium-request features for the remainder of the month. Included models and code completions continue.
• Policy Enabled: Premium requests over the allowance bill at $0.04 each. Model multipliers apply. The bigger the model or the more intensive the operation, the more requests it can consume in one go.

Monthly allowances by plan (per user unless noted): Free: 50; Pro: 300; Pro+: 1,500; Business: 300; Enterprise: 1,000. These allowances don’t roll over.

Who’s actually affected by the Dec 2 switch?

If your enterprise or organization account was created before August 22, 2025 and still relied on an account-level $0 premium requests budget, you’re in scope. Customers who already manage spending via the premium request paid usage policy—and not a $0 budget—won’t see functional change, but you should still verify the toggle state. Individuals on Pro or Pro+ remain unaffected by the removal of enterprise/org $0 budgets.

“How much could this cost us?” Let’s do the math

Run a quick back-of-the-envelope calculation. Suppose you have 120 Copilot Enterprise seats. Each seat includes 1,000 premium requests/month. If the average developer burns 1,250 premium requests, that’s 250 overage per person. With the policy set to Enabled:

120 users × 250 overage × $0.04 = $1,200 for the month—before any model multipliers. Swap to a more intensive model a few times a day and the effective request count per action can jump, pushing that number higher quickly. Conversely, with the policy set to Disabled, those premium features simply stop once the allowance is hit, and your bill stays flat.

Admins: fix your settings in 60 minutes

Here’s a focused, one-hour checklist you can run today to avoid bill shock while keeping the right features available.

1. Confirm the policy state: In your enterprise or org settings, open Copilot > Spending and find the Premium request paid usage policy. If you want a hard stop, set it to Disabled. If you need continuity, leave it Enabled but continue through the steps below.
2. Download last 30 days of usage: Pull the usage report and identify your top 10% of premium request consumers and the most common features or models driving the spend.
3. Decide the posture by team: Critical-path teams (SRE, security engineering, platform) often need continuity. Business units doing heavy refactors or documentation sweeps might tolerate a cap. Use org- or team-level overrides where possible.
4. Set a budget if you enable overages: Don’t leave it uncapped. Start with a modest ceiling that covers 10–20% over historical usage. Revisit weekly for the first month.
5. Educate on the model picker: Developers should know which models burn premium requests faster and when included models are “good enough” for everyday tasks.
6. Establish an escalation path: If a team hits the wall mid-sprint, who can temporarily raise limits? Document that process now.

Developers: practical ways to stop burning your allowance

Most teams can trim premium consumption 20–30% without losing velocity. A few habits help:

• Use included models for routine chat and small diffs. Save premium models for knotty refactors, migrations, or thorny bug hunts.
• Scope your prompts. Ask for changes within a bounded directory or module, not the whole repo. Multi-file, repo-wide edits tend to be premium-heavy.
• Prefer targeted code review. Ask Copilot to review a specific PR section first, then expand scope.
• Batch tasks. Ten small, separate premium interactions can often be collapsed into two well-scoped ones.
• Watch the IDE status indicator. Copilot surfaces your premium-request status in-editor. If you’re close to the limit, switch back to included models.

People also ask: common Copilot billing questions

Do unused premium requests roll over?

No. The counter resets at 00:00:00 UTC on the first day of each month. Unused requests expire.

Can I block overages entirely?

Yes. Set the premium request paid usage policy to Disabled. Premium features will stop when users exhaust their allowance, but included models and standard code completions remain available.

How do model multipliers work?

Different models and certain features count as more than one premium request. Think of it as a weight—more capable models or operations consume multiple requests per interaction. If you’re in overage, the dollar impact scales accordingly. Train teams to use the lightest capable model for the job.

What’s included without touching premium requests?

All paid Copilot plans continue to include unlimited code completions and access to included chat/agent models, subject to rate limits. That’s your baseline for everyday coding tasks.

A simple framework for Copilot cost control

Use this three-step loop for the next 30 days. It’s light enough to actually run and strict enough to work.

1) Set your posture

Pick one of two default stances: Hard Cap (policy Disabled) or Soft Cap (policy Enabled with a budget). Start Hard Cap for non-critical teams; Soft Cap for platform and security. Document who can grant temporary exceptions.

2) Shape demand

Publish a one-page guide for developers: when to use included models, when to reach for premium, and which requests are heaviest. Add examples. The goal isn’t to ration; it’s to reduce accidental burn.

3) Iterate with data

Review the usage report weekly. Look for outliers and patterned waste—like repo-wide refactors triggering heavy premium interactions. Fix with enablement, not blame: suggest better prompts, add templates, or create a “refactor window” with a temporary budget bump.

Decision guide: which plan fits our profile now?

Plan choice and policy posture go together. Some quick heuristics:

• Copilot Business (300/user): Good for stable teams with mature codebases and limited need for heavy agents or large, cross-repo edits. Keep policy Disabled and open tickets for short-term upgrades when needed.
• Copilot Enterprise (1,000/user): Better for monorepos, frequent refactors, or formal code-review automation. Use Soft Cap with a tuned budget to avoid mid-sprint stalls.
• Pro+ (1,500/user): Ideal for power users and platform engineers who spike into heavier models frequently. Consider seat targeting rather than blanket upgrades.

Governance without red tape

The strongest teams treat premium requests like any other limited resource: they write simple rules, automate the basics, and remove friction where it hurts delivery. A few low-effort moves:

• Label PRs that invoked premium features. A bot can comment with usage stats to help reviewers decide if follow-ups should stay premium or switch to included models.
• Add model guidance to your repo’s contributing guide. Suggest defaults and when to opt up.
• Create a “premium hour.” If you’re in Hard Cap mode, schedule a weekly window where leads can temporarily enable premium for planned refactors.

What changed for security and compliance?

Nothing about the Dec 2 switch weakens your ability to control spend; it just moves the control point. The policy toggle is auditable, and usage reports are exportable. Treat policy changes like any material billing or risk control: require peer review, runbooks, and alerts on threshold crossings.

A fast, real-world playbook (this week, this quarter)

This week (stabilize)

• Set premium request paid usage policy to the right default per org.
• Pull usage reports; flag top consumers and heaviest features.
• Publish a one-pager for developers with model guidance and prompts.
• Set budgets where Soft Cap is necessary; keep ceilings conservative.

30 days (optimize)

• Right-size seats: move frequent heavy users to Enterprise or Pro+; downgrade light users if appropriate.
• Automate alerts at 70/90/100% of allowance; route to team Slack channels.
• Template premium flows (code review prompts, refactor sequences) to cut waste.

Quarterly (institutionalize)

• Review plan mix and budgets against outcomes—deploy time, PR cycle time, defect rates.
• Refresh the one-pager as models and multipliers evolve.
• Audit policy changes and exceptions; close loopholes.

Related reads and help

If you want a deeper dive on the billing mechanics and the December 2 timing, we broke down the nuances here: Copilot premium requests: the Dec 2 switch. For broader AI operations planning—including agent rollouts and change management—see our practical roadmap in a 90‑day plan for AI agents. If you need a quick sanity check on your current setup or a hands-on review of policies and budgets, our team can help: see what we do or drop us a line via contacts.

What to do next (short list)

• Decide: Hard Cap vs. Soft Cap, per org.
• Set the premium request paid usage policy accordingly and add a budget if enabling overages.
• Pull usage data; target guidance to the teams burning the most.
• Coach developers on model selection and scoping prompts.
• Revisit seat mix in 30 days—upgrade or downgrade with data.

Bottom line

December 2 didn’t make Copilot more expensive by default—it moved the control from a blunt $0 budget to a precise policy and optional budget. If your switch flipped without preparation, you might feel it in January’s bill. But with a clear stance, a few guardrails, and better developer habits, you can keep the premium power where it pays off and stop paying for the rest.

Want more pragmatic ops guidance like this? Explore the rest of our blog—we keep it real and keep it shippable.