Note
Cloud and local sandboxes for GitHub Copilot is in public preview and subject to change.
How cloud and local sandboxes for GitHub Copilot usage is measured
Billing applies to cloud sandboxing only. Local sandboxing is included in the standard GitHub Copilot seat at no additional cost.
A cloud sandbox session incurs charges across three meters:
- Compute: the time a cloud sandbox session is running.
- Memory: the memory allocated to a cloud sandbox session while it is running.
- Storage: snapshot storage for stopped sessions.
Usage is measured from the moment a session starts until it is stopped or deleted. Memory is measured based on the memory allocated to the session, not the memory actively in use.
Compute
The compute meter tracks the time a cloud sandbox is running. Compute is not metered while a sandbox is stopped.
Memory
The memory meter tracks the memory allocated to a cloud sandbox while it is running. Memory is not metered while a sandbox is stopped.
Storage
The storage meter tracks snapshot storage for stopped sessions. When you stop sandboxes for GitHub Copilot, GitHub retains a snapshot of the sandbox's state so you can resume it later. Snapshot storage is metered from the time the sandbox is stopped until the sandbox is deleted.
For more information about cloud and local sandboxes for GitHub Copilot, see About cloud and local sandboxes for GitHub Copilot.
Free and billed use
During public preview, eligible GitHub accounts receive a $10 monthly entitlement to try cloud sandboxes. This entitlement is available for June 2026. Any usage beyond the monthly entitlement is billed to your account.
After the preview period ends, the entitlement no longer applies and all usage is billed.
Paying for use
You pay for cloud sandboxes using the payment method set up for your GitHub account. See Managing your payment and billing information.
Pricing
| Meter | Description | Unit | Price (USD) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Compute | Time that a cloud sandbox session is running. | Compute second | $0.000024 |
| Memory | Memory allocated to a cloud sandbox session while it is running. | GiB second | $0.000003 |
| Storage | Snapshot storage for stopped sessions. | GiB month | $0.005 |
How costs are assigned to a billable account
Cloud sandbox usage is billed to the organization that owns the sandbox. When you create a cloud sandbox session with copilot --cloud, you are prompted to select the owning organization. All usage for that session is billed to the selected organization.
Managing your budget for cloud sandboxes
If your account does not have a valid payment method on file, usage is blocked once you use up your quota.
If you have a valid payment method on file, spending may be limited by one or more budgets. Check the budgets set for your account to ensure they are appropriate for your usage needs. See Setting up budgets to control spending on metered products.
You can set budgets and alerts to monitor and control your cloud sandbox spending. For more information, see Budgets and alerts and Setting up budgets to control spending on metered products.
When you create a budget for cloud sandboxes, you can choose between two budget types:
- Product-level budget: caps spending across all cloud sandbox usage, regardless of SKU.
- SKU-level budget: caps spending for a specific cloud sandbox SKU (for example, "Sandbox Linux"). For a full list of cloud sandbox SKUs, see GitHub Product and SKU names.
If you enable Stop usage when budget limit is reached, additional cloud sandbox usage is blocked once the budget reaches 100%, and a banner notifies users in the affected scope.
Note
Cloud and local sandboxes for GitHub Copilot is not part of the "Bundled AI credits" budget type. Bundled AI credits budgets apply only to SKUs that consume AI credits (such as GitHub Copilot AI credits, cloud agent AI credits, and GitHub Spark AI credits). To control cloud sandbox spending, use a product-level or SKU-level budget.
Viewing your cloud and local sandboxes for GitHub Copilot usage
To view your cloud sandbox usage, billable amounts, and the monthly preview entitlement, see Viewing and estimating your spending and Gathering insights on your spending.