GitHub Copilot's February 2025 pricing change is the single largest percentage increase we've tracked across major developer tools: from $10 to $19 per user per month — a 90% jump. Simultaneously, GitHub renamed the plans (Individual became Pro, Business became Business), added a new higher tier (Pro+), and bundled more AI capabilities into each.
For individual developers paying out of pocket, this moved Copilot from an easy monthly expense to something that requires a second look. For companies paying for teams of 10-50 developers, the increase compounded quickly.
Exactly what changed
| Plan (New Name) | Old Price | New Price | Change | Key Features Added |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free (new) | N/A | $0 | New | 2,000 completions/mo, 50 chat messages/mo |
| Pro (was Individual) | $10/mo | $19/mo | +90% | Unlimited completions, Copilot Chat, code review |
| Pro+ (new) | N/A | $39/mo | New tier | Premium models (GPT-4o, Claude 3.5), 1,500 premium requests/mo |
| Business | $19/seat/mo | $19/seat/mo | No change | Organization policies, audit logs |
| Enterprise | $39/seat/mo | $39/seat/mo | No change | Custom models, enterprise security |
The interesting twist: GitHub also introduced a free tier of Copilot with limited usage. For developers who only use Copilot occasionally, the new free tier may actually be sufficient — making this a segmentation play as much as a price increase. Heavy users pay significantly more; casual users now pay nothing.
Why GitHub raised Copilot's price
The official reason was new features: Copilot Chat (conversational AI in the editor), code review suggestions, workspace indexing, and the ability to use multiple AI models. These are genuine additions.
But the underlying driver is AI inference cost. GitHub runs Copilot on foundation models (a mix of OpenAI's GPT-4 family and proprietary models). As GitHub expanded Copilot's capabilities — from just code completion to chat, code review, multi-file edits, and terminal commands — the number of API calls per user skyrocketed.
At $10/user, heavy Copilot users were almost certainly costing GitHub more than they were paying. The $19 price restores margin on the product while the new free tier at limited usage serves as a freemium acquisition channel.
Impact by team size
| Developers | Old Annual (Individual) | New Annual (Pro) | Extra Per Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 dev | $120/yr | $228/yr | +$108 |
| 5 devs | $600/yr | $1,140/yr | +$540 |
| 10 devs | $1,200/yr | $2,280/yr | +$1,080 |
| 25 devs | $3,000/yr | $5,700/yr | +$2,700 |
| 50 devs | $6,000/yr | $11,400/yr | +$5,400 |
What developers are doing about it
Option 1: Drop to the free tier
Copilot's new free plan offers 2,000 code completions and 50 chat messages per month. For developers who use Copilot lightly — occasional autocomplete rather than AI-driven development — this may be enough. Many developers have reported the free tier covers 70-80% of their actual usage.
Option 2: Switch to Cursor
VS Code fork with deep AI integration. Pro plan includes GPT-4, Claude 3.5, and other premium models. The AI-native editor experience is arguably better than Copilot for complex tasks.
Option 3: Use Codeium / Windsurf
Free tier with unlimited completions (with usage limits). Pro plan at $15/mo. Solid alternative for teams looking for cost savings without sacrificing quality.
Option 4: Use Continue (open source)
Open source AI code assistant. Bring your own API key (OpenAI, Anthropic, local models). If your team already has an OpenAI or Anthropic enterprise contract, marginal cost is near zero.
Option 5: Negotiate on Business plan
The Business plan ($19/seat/mo) didn't actually change price — Individual did. If you were on Individual and moving to Business, the price is the same. For teams of 5+ developers, Business includes organization-wide policies and audit logs that Individual doesn't, making it worth considering anyway.
Check if your employer pays: Many companies cover Copilot as a standard developer tool expense. If you've been paying personally, it's worth asking your employer or team lead to add it to the company tool budget — especially if it's improving your productivity.
Track GitHub Copilot pricing going forward
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Is this the last Copilot price increase?
The AI tooling market is moving fast. GitHub is competing with Cursor, Windsurf, Replit, and a wave of AI-native editors. It's unlikely to raise Copilot prices dramatically again in the near term — it would accelerate defection to alternatives.
More likely: GitHub will expand the Pro+ tier (premium models, higher request limits) and push heavy users upmarket, while keeping the base Pro plan stable. The new free tier gives GitHub a freemium funnel to capture new developers before competitors do.
PricePulse is watching Copilot's pricing page continuously. Check the current status or set up an alert.