Issue with GitHub Copilot Pro activation and rate limits

[kinemg81-hash]

🏷️ Discussion Type

Question

💬 Feature/Topic Area

Copilot in GitHub

Body

Hello everyone 👋

Quick question regarding GitHub Copilot…

I recently upgraded to Copilot Pro (payment went through successfully), but I’m noticing a couple of things that don’t quite add up:

My account still shows as “Free” in some places
And I frequently get this message:
“You've hit your global rate limit. Please upgrade your plan or wait XX seconds…”

So I’m wondering:
👉 Is this expected behavior even with Copilot Pro?
👉 Is there some kind of activation delay?
👉 Or could I be missing something (IDE login, configuration, etc.)?

If anyone has experienced this or has some insight, I’d really appreciate your help 🙏

Thanks in advance!
github-kinemg81-hash-receipt-2026-04-01.pdf

[IrtezaAsadRizvi]

You’re hitting a limit because GitHub restricts how many requests you can make in a short time. This usually happens with scripts, bots, or heavy API usage. In simple terms, you’re sending too many requests too fast, so GitHub temporarily blocks you. Just wait a bit or reduce how often you call it.

[IrtezaAsadRizvi]

https://docs.github.com/en/rest/using-the-rest-api/rate-limits-for-the-rest-api?apiVersion=2022-11-28

[DebayanSaha]

I ran into this a while back right after upgrading, and yeah it feels like something’s broken but it usually isn’t.

In my case, the “Free” label sticking around was just a sync issue. GitHub doesn’t update everything instantly. My IDE was still using the old session, so it behaved like I hadn’t upgraded. Logging out of GitHub in VS Code and signing back in fixed that almost immediately.

The rate limit message threw me off too. I assumed Pro = no limits, but that’s not really how it works. There are still short burst limits. I noticed I’d hit that message mostly when I was using Copilot Chat heavily or firing prompts quickly one after another. Slowing down a bit or waiting ~20–30 seconds usually cleared it.

One thing worth double checking: make sure your IDE is actually logged into the same GitHub account that has the Pro subscription. I had two accounts logged in at one point and Copilot was using the wrong one, which caused the exact same confusion.

What I’d try if I were you:

1. Log out of GitHub in your IDE and log back in
2. Restart the editor completely
3. Confirm the subscription is active in your GitHub billing settings
4. Make sure there’s no account mismatch

If it still shows “Free” after all that, then it’s probably worth contacting support because that’s not normal beyond the initial delay.

From what I’ve seen, this usually settles down after a quick re-auth + restart.

[lermns]

Hey! 👋 This is actually a known issue after upgrading — here are the most common causes:

1. IDE session not refreshed
Even if the payment went through, your IDE still has the old session cached. Try:

• Sign out from Copilot in your IDE (VS Code / JetBrains)
• Sign back in
• Restart the IDE completely

2. Account not linked properly
Make sure the GitHub account you're logged into in the IDE is the same one where you upgraded Copilot Pro. It's easy to have two accounts and be logged in with the wrong one.

3. Activation delay
Sometimes the plan takes 5–15 minutes to propagate across GitHub's systems. If it's been less than an hour, just wait a bit and try again.

4. Verify via GitHub settings
Go to github.com → Settings → Copilot and confirm the plan shows as Pro there. If it still says Free there (not just in the IDE), contact GitHub Support directly with your receipt.

Hope that helps! 🙌