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How to Check Your GitHub Copilot Usage and AI Credits
GitHub Copilot gives every plan a monthly allowance of AI Credits that resets at 00:00 UTC on the 1st of each month. Here's how to see your remaining allowance, track your burn rate, and stop guessing whether you're about to run out.
Last updated October 2026; limits last checked October 2026 · By Soren Starck
Understanding Copilot Usage Limits
GitHub Copilot has two layers of limits depending on your plan. The Free plan caps you at 50 chat requests and 2,000 code completions per month, with auto model selection only. Paid plans (Pro, Pro+, Max, Business and Enterprise) give you unlimited code completions, but chat, agent mode and other model calls spend a monthly AI Credits allowance at per-token model rates.
The catch: the cost depends on the model and the number of tokens. A quick question to a lightweight model costs a fraction of a credit. A complex agent task with multiple model calls on a frontier model costs far more, all from the same pool. On Pro, Pro+ and Max, GitHub's own alerts come later: its budget alerts (75%, 90% and 100%, if you turn them on) measure a dollar budget for paid usage after your included credits are gone, and its included-usage alerts do not cover Copilot (GitHub's budget and individual billing docs, checked 23 October 2026).
Method 1: Check Usage on GitHub.com
The manual approach uses GitHub's built-in usage page:
- Sign in to github.com
- Click your avatar → Settings
- In the sidebar, choose Copilot
- Open Usage to see the AI credits you have used this cycle (individual plans also get a per-model breakdown under Billing and licensing → AI usage)
Limitations: the page only refreshes when you reload it, credit totals can lag by hours, and GitHub's alerts (at 75%, 90% and 100%) follow a dollar budget you configure. Without one, you either remember to check or find out when the allowance is spent.
Method 2: Monitor in Real-Time with SessionWatcher
SessionWatcher for Copilot is a native app for the Mac menu bar and the Windows taskbar, built for this exact problem. Instead of opening github.com every hour, you just glance at your menu bar or taskbar.
SessionWatcher tracks:
- Premium request quota - exactly how many you've used and how many remain
- Burn rate - premium requests per day, projected to month-end
- Model breakdown - which premium models you're burning quota on
- Billing-cycle reset - countdown until your quota refreshes
- Desktop notifications: alerts at 70% and 90% by default, so you never get blindsided
SessionWatcher
GitHub's alerts follow budgets.
SessionWatcher shows your credits as they go.
Native app for the Mac menu bar and the Windows taskbar. Track Claude, Codex and 20 more tools' usage, costs, and rate limits in real time.
“Fast, simple, and does exactly what it should. Definitely worth it.”
@nicojerome on GitHub
macOS 14+. Free for 7 days, no credit card.
How AI Credits Are Charged
Since June 1, 2026, GitHub bills each interaction by the model and the number of tokens, converted to AI Credits (1 credit = $0.01). A few current rates from GitHub's models and pricing table:
| Model | Per 1M tokens (input / output) | In AI credits |
|---|---|---|
| Code completions (paid plans) | Not billed | 0 from allowance |
| GPT-5 mini | $0.25 / $2.00 | 25 / 200 |
| Claude Sonnet 5.5 | $2.00 / $10.00 | 200 / 1,000 |
| Claude Opus 5.5 | $4.00 / $20.00 | 400 / 2,000 |
| Agent tasks (multi-step) | Every model call adds up | Varies with tokens |
Annual Copilot Pro and Pro+ subscribers who stayed on the legacy request-based billing still count premium requests with model multipliers until their plan ends; GitHub lists those in its legacy multiplier table.
Pro includes 1,500 AI credits ($15) a month: 1,000 base plus 500 flex. A heavy Opus user can chew through that in an afternoon and not realize until Copilot starts refusing premium models.
SessionWatcher vs. Manual Monitoring
| Feature |  SessionWatcher | github.com Usage page |
|---|---|---|
| Real-time premium quota | Yes | Delayed |
| Burn-rate projection | Yes | No |
| Quota warnings | Desktop notifications | Budget alerts (on Pro, Pro+ and Max, paid usage only) |
| Setup required | Install and sign in | Login + remember to check |
| Workflow interruption | None (menu bar / taskbar) | Switch to browser |
| Cost | $59 one-time (Pro) | Free |
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I check my GitHub Copilot usage?
GitHub shows it at github.com → Settings → Copilot → Usage, and on Pro, Pro+ and Max its budget alerts (75%, 90% and 100%, if turned on) cover paid usage after the included credits, not the included credits themselves. SessionWatcher for Copilot shows live premium quota in your Mac menu bar or Windows taskbar.
What counts as a premium Copilot request?
Since June 1, 2026, premium requests have been replaced by GitHub AI Credits, except on legacy annual Pro and Pro+ plans. Chat, agent mode, Copilot CLI and cloud agent sessions spend credits at the per-token rate of the model you pick, such as Claude Sonnet 5.5, Claude Opus 5.5 or GPT-6.1 Sol. Code completions and next edit suggestions do not use credits on paid plans.
Why did Copilot stop suggesting code today?
On the Free plan, you have probably used its 2,000 completions for the month. On paid plans, code completions use no AI Credits and stay unlimited. Once the monthly allowance is spent, GitHub lets you wait for the reset, set a budget for paid usage, or switch to a cheaper model; on Business and Enterprise, Copilot pauses until the next cycle if the admin allows no paid usage. SessionWatcher warns you before that happens.
Is there a Copilot monitor app for macOS?
Yes: SessionWatcher for Copilot. Native macOS menu bar app, also available for Windows 10 (2004+) and 11 in the taskbar (see SessionWatcher for Windows). Part of Pro ($59 one-time), one licence key for both.