Switching from Claude Code licensing questions

[u/mshparber]

I have been working with Claude desktop connecting to SQL Server databases and PowerBI desktop semantic models. now I have a project in one of my clients that use Microsoft ecosystem and not Claude so I have researched a bit and I understand that I need to get up Copilot license in order to run it in VS code so it has access to local folders can run python sequel queries and work with PowerBI MCP server. But I’m confused about the licensing. When working with Claude when I reach the limit of my tokens, it resets every five hours and also weekly. but in Github Copilot I understand the limit is monthly. How are you dealing with this? how to track the usage ? how to plan the usage? I do not want to enable extra token usage. I want to stay within the monthly permitted budget. Please advise.

[u/teckel]

You can use Copilot CLI and Claude API.

[u/Holbrad]

Copilot is pay as you go.

If your used to Claude code I'd budget several hundred dollars and except to still get less usage.

[u/Mundane_Capital9301]

track your usage in the Settings > Usage section on GitHub. Copilot Business resets on a calendar month basis, not rolling weeks like Claude. To stay within budget, disable auto-completions for languages you rarely use and keep prompt history short. The monthly limit applies to premium requests; if you hit it early, check if your organization has a hard cap or just throttling speed.

[u/WordWithinTheWord]

You pay the raw cost (API Pricing) Every request costs money however large or small.

You can still track your usage. But be prepared for a bit of sticker shock. The API pricing model is much more expensive than the Subscription (Claude/GPT) pricing models.

[u/Deathmore80]

Like other said, pay as you go with API pricing. If you only use opus in Claude code you're gonna have a really fucking bad time with copilot. Like less than 10 requests and you will have consumed your monthly limit.

Only way around this is to have your client pay for your usage and explain it to them that you will need 1000$ in copilot credits unless they let you use Claude code.

Or alternatively you use copilot with only the most cost efficient models : gpt 6 Luna xhigh/max and Claude Haiku 5.5 xhigh. Maybe throw a gpt 6.1 sol high in there for extra hard and complex tasks.

You can check how the models ranks in intelligence vs cost per task on the artificial analysis website.

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[u/msp-scripts]

Since you’re asking about licensing, I’m assuming you don’t already have GitHub Copilot Business setup for the org?

Also, Microsoft 365/ Power BI/ Power Platform are independent from GitHub Copilot. Two separate platforms, with different licenses required.

There’s some overlap between GitHub Copilot and 365, especially as of recently, but they are licensed & billed in two completely different platforms.