Quick answer: GitHub Code Quality becomes a paid product on July 20, 2026. GitHub’s standard base price is $10 per active committer per month on repositories where Code Quality is enabled. That base license is not the entire possible bill: CodeQL scans can consume GitHub Actions minutes, and AI-powered capabilities can consume GitHub AI Credits. Check the new license estimate now, then narrow or disable coverage before July 20 if the projected cost is not justified.
GitHub Code Quality cost calculator
Use this simple formula for the base monthly license estimate:
Unique active committers × $10 = estimated monthly base license cost| Active committers | Estimated base cost/month | Estimated base cost/year |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | $10 | $120 |
| 5 | $50 | $600 |
| 10 | $100 | $1,200 |
| 25 | $250 | $3,000 |
| 50 | $500 | $6,000 |
| 100 | $1,000 | $12,000 |
Important: These figures cover only the standard per-committer license. They do not include Actions usage, AI Credits, taxes or account-specific discounts. Your own GitHub billing estimate is the better planning number.
How to check your license estimate
- Open the relevant GitHub billing entity.
- Go to Billing and licensing.
- Open Licensing.
- Find the Code Quality card.
- Review the consumed-license count and estimated monthly payment.
GitHub announced this estimate on July 13, 2026, specifically to help Team and Enterprise Cloud customers understand the impact before billing begins. The estimate uses standard list pricing and does not include discounts.
What counts as an active committer?
According to GitHub’s billing documentation, an active committer is a licensed user whose commit has been pushed to at least one Code Quality-enabled repository within the last 90 days, regardless of when the commit was originally authored. GitHub App bots are ignored.
- A person who contributes to several enabled repositories within the same organization or enterprise uses one license, not one license per repository.
- The person must also have a GitHub Team or GitHub Enterprise license through membership, an enterprise-managed account, external collaboration or a pending invitation.
- Disabling Code Quality on a repository may reduce the count only when its unique committers do not also contribute to other enabled repositories.
The full bill has three components
| Cost component | How it is measured | Included in the new estimate? |
|---|---|---|
| Base Code Quality license | $10 per unique active committer per month at standard list price | Yes |
| GitHub Actions | Minutes consumed by CodeQL-powered scans; self-hosted runners are treated differently under Actions billing | No |
| GitHub AI Credits | Usage by AI-powered features; GitHub documents 1 AI credit as $0.01 USD | No |
During the public preview, GitHub does not bill active-committer licenses or AI Credits for Code Quality scans, but scans can already consume Actions minutes. From July 20, all applicable components can matter.
Pre-July 20 decision checklist
- Record the estimate: save the active-committer count and standard monthly estimate.
- Download usage detail: check Actions consumption by the
dynamic/github-code-scanning/codeqlworkflow in a detailed billing report. - Map enabled repositories: identify repos with little activity or low business criticality.
- Remove accidental scope: avoid organization-wide enablement if only a pilot group needs the product.
- Review AI usage: account separately for AI-assisted detection, review and autofix activity.
- Decide before July 20: keep, narrow or disable Code Quality based on the measurable value of findings, quality gates and code coverage.
- Recheck after one billing cycle: compare the estimate with actual base, Actions and AI usage.
How to disable Code Quality and avoid future charges
Repository owners, organization owners and users with the admin role can disable it. For one repository:
- Open the repository on GitHub.
- Select Settings.
- Under Security, open Code quality.
- Choose Disable.
- Select Save changes.
GitHub says disabling Code Quality stops future scans and associated billing for that repository. Enterprise and organization administrators should also review organization-level repository targeting so a broader policy does not re-enable or continue coverage unintentionally.
Who is affected?
- Supported: organization-owned repositories on GitHub Team and GitHub Enterprise Cloud.
- Not supported: GitHub Enterprise Server.
- No separate Copilot requirement: GitHub’s documentation says a Copilot or Code Security license is not required to use Code Quality or apply its Copilot-powered autofixes, although AI-powered usage can still create metered charges after general availability.
Frequently asked questions
When does GitHub Code Quality become paid?
GitHub says general availability and paid usage begin on July 20, 2026.
How much does GitHub Code Quality cost?
The standard base license is $10 per active committer per month. Actions minutes and AI-powered usage are separate potential costs.
Does the new estimate show the complete bill?
No. GitHub says it reflects only per-committer licensing at standard list price. It excludes Actions minutes, AI-powered usage and account discounts.
Is GitHub Code Quality still free today?
The product remains in public preview until July 20, 2026. GitHub does not bill active-committer or Code Quality AI Credit usage during the preview, but scans can consume Actions minutes.
How can I prevent charges?
Disable Code Quality before July 20 on repositories you do not want covered, and verify organization-level targeting. GitHub says disabling it stops future scans and associated billing.
Official sources
- GitHub Changelog: Code Quality license estimate (July 13, 2026)
- GitHub Docs: Code Quality billing
- GitHub Docs: Disabling Code Quality
- GitHub Changelog: General availability and pricing
Last checked: July 14, 2026. Pricing, discounts and product behavior can change; verify the live estimate and GitHub’s official billing documentation before making a purchasing decision.