GitHub Copilot Individual Plans: Key Updates on Usage Limits, Model Access, and New Sign-Ups

Introduction: Why These Changes Are Necessary

GitHub has announced a series of adjustments to its Copilot Individual plans, driven by the explosive growth of agentic workflows. These AI-powered sessions now run longer, handle more parallel tasks, and consume significantly more compute resources than originally anticipated. Without intervention, service reliability would suffer for all users. To protect the experience of existing customers, GitHub is pausing new sign-ups, tightening usage limits, and modifying model availability. While these changes may be disruptive, they are essential to maintaining a stable and predictable service. Below, we break down each update and explain how it affects you.

Pausing New Sign-Ups to Focus on Existing Customers

Effective immediately, GitHub has paused new subscriptions for Copilot Pro, Pro+, and Student plans. This moratorium allows the team to allocate resources more effectively and ensure that current users continue to receive a high-quality experience. If you are already subscribed, your service remains unaffected. New users will need to wait until sign-ups resume; no timeline has been provided yet.

Tightened Usage Limits: What You Need to Know

Usage limits have been revised to reflect the increased computational demands of agentic features. The changes apply to both session-based and weekly token limits. Here’s how they work:

Session Limits

Session limits are designed to prevent the service from being overwhelmed during peak usage. They are based on a combination of token consumption and a model-specific multiplier. Most users should not notice these limits during normal use. If you do hit a session cap, you must wait until the window resets to continue using Copilot. These limits will be adjusted over time based on demand and reliability metrics.

Weekly Limits

Weekly limits cap the total number of tokens a user can consume over a seven-day period. This is a newer mechanism introduced to control long-running, parallelized requests that generate high costs. The limits are set so that the majority of users remain unaffected. If you exceed the weekly cap but still have premium requests remaining, you can still use the service—though some features may be throttled.

Important difference: The Pro+ plan now offers more than 5× the limit of the standard Pro plan. If you are on Pro and frequently hit caps, upgrading to Pro+ may be the right solution. Additionally, usage limits are now displayed directly in VS Code and the Copilot CLI (see section below) so you can monitor your consumption in real time and avoid surprises.

Model Availability Adjustments

GitHub has also updated the models accessible within each plan. The Opus model family—known for its advanced reasoning—is no longer available in the Pro plan. However, Opus 4.7 remains available in Pro+. Older versions, Opus 4.5 and 4.6, are being removed from Pro+ entirely, as announced in the changelog. If you rely on these models, ensure you are on the Pro+ plan and using the supported version.

New Visibility: Usage Limits in VS Code and CLI

To help users stay within their limits, GitHub now displays usage data directly in VS Code and the Copilot CLI. This transparency makes it easier to manage your consumption and avoid hitting caps during critical work. Keep an eye on these indicators to plan your sessions accordingly.

What to Do If These Changes Affect You

If you hit unexpected limits or find that the new structure doesn’t suit your workflow, you have options. GitHub is offering a full refund for the remaining time on your subscription. To cancel and request a refund, follow these steps:

1. Go to your Billing settings in your GitHub account.
2. Navigate to the Copilot section and select Cancel subscription.
3. Ensure you complete the cancellation before May 20 to receive a refund for the unused portion.

After that date, standard cancellation terms apply.

Looking Ahead: Commitment to Reliability

GitHub acknowledges that these changes are disruptive, but they are a necessary step to ensure Copilot remains reliable and performant for everyone. As agentic capabilities evolve, usage limits and model offerings will continue to be refined. The company promises better communication around future guardrails. For now, existing subscribers can continue using Copilot with confidence, knowing that the service is being optimized for sustained quality.