Budget controls govern individual AI credit consumption and metered spending. They let you set per-user limits and spending limits for organizations, cost centers, or your enterprise.
Copilot Business and Copilot Enterprise include a shared pool of credits. Metered charges begin after that pool is exhausted. The Copilot access plan, through GitHub Enterprise Cloud or as Copilot Standalone, has no included allowance, so metered charges begin with the first use.
Understanding budget controls
You have budget controls at the user, organization, cost center, and enterprise levels, each serving a different purpose. They work together, not as alternatives.
User-level budget
The user-level budget (ULB) caps how many AI credits a single user can consume in a billing cycle, whether usage is metered or drawn from an included pool. ULBs always enforce a hard stop. A $0 USD ULB immediately blocks features that consume AI credits.
There are three types, listed from the broadest scope to the most specific:
- Universal user-level budget: A default budget applied to every Copilot-licensed user in your enterprise. This is your primary tool for setting a baseline consumption limit.
- Cost center user-level budget: A default budget applied to every user in a single cost center, sometimes called a group-scoped user-level budget. You set one per-user amount on the cost center and it applies to every current and future member, so you can give different departments different per-user limits—for example, $20 USD per user for engineering and $5 USD per user for marketing—without creating thousands of individual budgets. It overrides the universal budget for members of that cost center.
- Individual user-level budget: A budget set for a specific user, which overrides both the universal default and any cost center user-level budget. Use this for power users who need higher limits, or to restrict specific users to a lower amount.
When more than one type applies to a user, the most specific budget wins: an individual user-level budget takes precedence over a cost center user-level budget, which takes precedence over the universal user-level budget.
Expiration dates for individual user-level budgets
You can set an optional expiration date on an individual user-level budget, so a temporary override cleans itself up instead of requiring you to remember to remove it. This is useful when you raise a user's limit for a single sprint, an incident, or a short-term project.
You can choose one of the following:
- No expiration, which is the default and means the budget applies until you edit or delete it.
- Expiration at the end of the current billing cycle.
- Expiration on a specific date.
At the end of the expiration period, GitHub removes the individual budget. The user then falls back to their cost center user-level budget, if they have one, or otherwise to the universal user-level budget. If no broader budget applies, the user has no remaining user-level budget.
You can change or clear an expiration date at any time. Expiration is only available for individual user-level budgets, not for universal or cost center user-level budgets.
To set an expiration date, see Setting up budgets to control spending on metered products. You can also set an expiration date with the REST API by using the expires_at field when creating or updating a budget. See Budgets.
When users appear in a universal user-level budget
A universal user-level budget can apply to thousands of licensed users. GitHub creates each user's budget record the first time they consume AI credits after the budget is created, or after the start of a new billing cycle. As a result, users appear in the universal budget list gradually rather than all at once, and a licensed user who does not use Copilot in a given billing cycle will not appear in the list for that billing cycle.
For a complete view of all licensed users regardless of activity, use the AI usage or Licensing pages.
Cost center budget
A cost center budget limits metered charges for a defined group of users or an organization. It applies from the first metered use, which is after pool exhaustion on plans with an included allowance. It does not limit a team's draw from an included pool.
A cost center budget does not extend or override a user-level budget: if a user has reached their user-level budget, they are blocked even if their cost center still has remaining budget.
Members of a cost center can be assigned directly, through an organization, or through an enterprise team. For how usage is allocated when more than one assignment applies to a user, see Cost center allocation for different products.
When an enforced cost center budget is exhausted, only users in that cost center are blocked. Other users and cost centers are unaffected.
A cost center budget limits the team's total metered charges. A cost center user-level budget caps each member's individual consumption, including any included credits. You can apply both to the same cost center.
Included usage controls for cost centers
These controls apply to Copilot Business and Copilot Enterprise, which have an included pool.
Included usage controls cap a cost center's included usage to the amount of AI credits funded by the licenses assigned to that cost center. GitHub sets this cap automatically and adjusts it as licensed members are added or removed, you don't enter an amount. When a cost center reaches its cap, you choose whether its members are blocked or their additional usage continues as paid overage.
Unlike a cost center budget, which caps metered charges only after the shared pool of AI credits is exhausted, an included usage control limits how much of the pool a cost center can draw before the metered phase begins.
Cost center administrators can view the included usage cap and current consumption on the cost center home page. When the included usage pool cap is enabled, the home page shows AI credit pool enabled and displays the AI credits consumed in that cost center out of the total cap.
How the included usage cap is calculated
The cap is the sum of the included AI credits for every license assigned to the cost center's members, even when license types are mixed:
- Each Copilot Business license adds 1,900 AI credits.
- Each Copilot Enterprise license adds 3,900 AI credits.
For example, at current included amounts, a cost center with 10 Copilot Business licenses and 5 Copilot Enterprise licenses has a cap of 38,500 AI credits: 19,000 from the Copilot Business licenses (10 × 1,900) plus 19,500 from the Copilot Enterprise licenses (5 × 3,900).
The cap updates automatically if GitHub changes the included amount for a license type. It's also recalculated as the cost center's own licenses change: increases apply right away, so a growing team isn't blocked, while decreases take effect at the start of the next billing cycle, so AI credits that members have already used aren't clawed back mid-cycle.
| Change | Effect on the cap | When it applies |
|---|---|---|
| A licensed user is added or granted a license, or an existing license is upgraded (for example, Copilot Business to Copilot Enterprise) | Increases | Right away |
| A licensed user is removed or loses their license, or an existing license is downgraded | Decreases | Start of the next billing cycle |
| A licensed member moves between two cost centers that both use included usage controls | Recalculated for both cost centers | Start of the next billing cycle |
| An unlicensed user is added or removed | No change | Not applicable |
Organization budget
An organization budget limits metered charges for users whose Copilot seats are billed to that organization. Like cost center budgets, it applies from the first metered use.
Organization budgets are the only budget option available to organization owners. They can only further restrict usage below any budget set by an enterprise admin, and they cannot override a higher-level budget.
Usage billed directly to an organization from a GitHub App installation counts against the organization budget. You cannot create a budget for an individual app or installation. If Stop usage when budget limit is reached is not enabled, the budget only sends alerts and app spending continues after the limit is reached. For information about managing app access, see Manage GitHub Apps that use your organization's Copilot.
With Copilot Business and Copilot Enterprise, if a user receives licenses from multiple organizations, GitHub picks one organization at random each billing cycle to bill the seat. This means the user's spend could count against a different organization's budget from month to month, making enforcement unpredictable. To avoid this, ensure each user has a single license through one organization, or use cost center budgets with direct user assignment.
Enterprise budget
The enterprise budget limits total metered charges across your entire enterprise. With Copilot access, this is all usage that consumes credits. With an included allowance, this is usage after pool exhaustion.
Important
The enterprise budget does not cap license fees. For example, 400 Copilot Business licenses cost $7,600 USD per month. An enforced $5,000 USD enterprise budget allows up to $12,600 USD in combined license and metered charges, not $5,000 USD, unless cost center exclusion allows additional spending.
How the controls compare
| Control | What it caps | When it's active | Scope | Hard stop? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Universal user-level budget | Each user's total AI credit consumption | All usage, including any included credits | Per user | Always |
| Cost center user-level budget | Each member's total consumption, set per cost center (overrides universal) | All usage, including any included credits | Per user, by cost center | Always |
| Individual user-level budget | A specific user's total consumption (overrides universal and cost center user-level budgets) | All usage, including any included credits | Per user | Always |
| Cost center budget | A team's metered charges | From first metered use | Per cost center | Only if "Stop usage when budget limit is reached" is enabled |
| Organization budget | An organization's metered charges | From first metered use | Per organization | Only if "Stop usage when budget limit is reached" is enabled |
| Enterprise budget | Total enterprise metered charges | From first metered use | Enterprise-wide | Only if "Stop usage when budget limit is reached" is enabled |
Set budgets before first use. Enable Stop usage when budget limit is reached on spending limits to enforce them. See Setting up budgets to control spending on metered products.
How billing flows through budgets
When someone in your enterprise uses Copilot, the system checks budget controls in a specific order to decide whether the request is served, metered, or blocked.
Each request for an AI credit-consuming feature goes through these checks:
-
User-level budget check. The system first checks whether the user has exceeded their user-level budget. When a user has more than one type of user-level budget, the most specific one applies: an individual budget if set, otherwise the budget for the user's cost center, otherwise the universal budget. If the applicable budget is exceeded, the request is blocked immediately. ULBs are always a hard stop, and no other budget can override or supplement them. If no user-level budget is set, the request continues.
-
Included allowance and paid usage check. On Copilot Business and Copilot Enterprise, the system checks whether the shared pool has credits remaining. If yes, the request is served from the pool at no extra cost. Once the pool is empty, usage is metered if the AI credits paid usage policy is enabled. Otherwise, it is blocked. With Copilot access, there is no pool, so this policy must be enabled from the first use of a feature that consumes credits.
-
Cost center, organization, or enterprise check. For metered usage, the system checks budgets in the following order:
- If the user is in a cost center: The cost center's budget is checked. If budget remains, the cost center pays. If the budget is exhausted, the system checks whether "Stop usage when budget limit is reached" is enabled.
- If the user is not in a cost center but their license is billed to an organization with a budget: The organization's budget is checked. If budget remains, the organization pays. If the budget is exhausted, the system checks whether "Stop usage when budget limit is reached" is enabled.
- If no cost center or organization budget applies: The enterprise spending limit is checked. If the limit has not been reached, the enterprise pays. If the limit has been reached, the system checks whether "Stop usage when budget limit is reached" is enabled.
In all cases, if "Stop usage when budget limit is reached" is on, the user is blocked. If it is off, charges continue to accrue without a cap.
Important
"Stop usage when budget limit is reached" applies to enterprise spending limits, cost center budgets, and organization budgets only, and is off by default. Without it, charges continue to accrue past the limit. Always enable it when creating a budget. User-level budgets always enforce a hard stop and do not have this setting.
How user-level budgets and spending limits interact
User-level budgets and spending limits are independent controls that serve different purposes. ULBs control how much each person can consume. Spending limits control how much metered usage your organization will pay for.
If these are not aligned, users can get blocked unexpectedly. The system applies a "lowest remaining headroom wins" rule: whichever budget has the least capacity remaining blocks the user first, regardless of what other budgets still have available. For example, if a user has $5 USD remaining on their individual ULB but the enterprise budget only has $1 USD remaining, the enterprise budget blocks them, even though their personal budget isn't exhausted.
With an included allowance, if your ULBs collectively allow more consumption than the shared pool provides, the difference spills over into metered charges. Without an included allowance, all credit consumption generates metered charges. If your spending limits are too low to cover that consumption, users get blocked before they reach their individual limits.
When you raise ULBs, check that your spending limits can still cover the resulting gap.
The reverse is also true: raising a cost center or enterprise budget does not unblock a user who has hit their ULB. For example, a user who exhausts their $5 USD ULB cannot consume from a cost center budget with $10 USD remaining. The ULB caps that user's total consumption, including any included credits. To unblock them, increase the applicable user-level budget.
Cost center exclusion
By default, cost center usage counts against the enterprise budget. Cost center exclusion is useful when a specific team needs independent spending authority that isn't constrained by the enterprise-wide cap, for example, a research team with its own budget approval. When exclusion is enabled for a cost center, that team's metered charges are not counted against the enterprise budget and will not be blocked when the enterprise budget is reached. Their spending is capped only by their own cost center budget.
What happens when a user is blocked
When a user reaches an enforced budget limit, their access to Copilot features that consume AI credits is blocked. Unlimited inline code completions and next edit suggestions continue to work because they do not consume credits.
Budget restrictions do not remove a user's seat. To remove a seat provided through Copilot access, see Giving users GitHub Copilot in your enterprise.
A blocked user remains blocked until one of the following happens:
- The next billing cycle begins and monthly consumption resets.
- An administrator increases the relevant budget.
- The user requests additional budget and an administrator approves the request.
Next steps
- To set up budget controls for your enterprise, see Getting started with budget controls.
- To choose the right configuration for your organization's structure, including common scenarios and sizing advice, see Optimizing your budget configuration.