Overview
- The new token system went into effect on June 1, 2026, replacing predictable monthly subscriptions with monthly AI credit allotments and pay‑per‑use charges.
- Paid tiers now grant monthly credits that translate to cash value: the Pro plan supplies 1,500 credits, Pro+ provides 7,000 credits, and Copilot Max gives 20,000 credits, with one credit equaling $0.01.
- Developers have posted screenshots and estimates showing sharp, sometimes dramatic bill increases that they say could raise monthly costs from tens of dollars to hundreds or thousands, and some users report cancelling subscriptions.
- Microsoft’s justification is that Copilot now runs autonomous agents, code reviews, debugging and chat workflows that use far more compute than simple completions, so a flat fee no longer reflects provider costs.
- The change mirrors a wider industry move to usage pricing; users should know that token use depends on input and output tokens and the chosen model, and that automatic model selection can make costs rise quickly.