Since 1 June 2026, GitHub Copilot has abandoned its fixed-rate subscription system in favour of a token-based consumption billing model. The transition has sparked widespread discontent among developers, particularly those working in small teams or independently, and has fuelled a lively debate on Reddit and X.
How the New System Works
Under the old model, users paid a fixed monthly fee regardless of their actual usage. The new system charges based on the number of tokens consumed during work sessions — a logic similar to that of OpenAI or Anthropic APIs, applied however to a tool that many had chosen precisely for its cost predictability.
Developer Reactions
The most heated comments come from those who have seen their costs increase dramatically. One Reddit user reported paying $29 a month under the old plan and projecting a spend of around $750 a month under the new system. Another shared screenshots of costs jumping from $50 to approximately $3,000.
Not all the feedback has been critical. Some developers pointed out that the difference between low and high spenders comes down to usage habits: those who work with unstructured iterations and let agents run for hours consume far more tokens than those who use Copilot as a support tool for actual work.
“The only party responsible is Microsoft. Microsoft provided this billing system and continued to make it easier and easier to burn tokens in enormous quantities on individual premium requests, which can run for hours or days generating tens or hundreds of sub-agents.”
The Context: What the Old Model Cost Microsoft
The change raises questions about the losses Microsoft accumulated in the preceding period. The old fixed-fee model, with users making ever more intensive use of the tool, had a financial sustainability that was difficult to assess from the outside. Several users have openly questioned how many resources Microsoft was effectively subsidising.
The move to a consumption model therefore marks a strategic turning point: large companies with budget planning capacity can absorb the variability, while individual developers and small teams face potentially unpredictable costs.
At the time the original article was published, Microsoft had not responded to TechCrunch’s requests for comment.
Original article: techcrunch.com
