Codespaces billing issue on free plan

[Piratezens]

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Hello,

I am on the GitHub Free plan and recently saw this error when trying to start a Codespace:
"You seem to have a billing issue. Please adjust your billing settings to continue using Codespaces."

I thought Codespaces had a free monthly quota. Does this mean I have used up my free hours, and I must upgrade to a paid plan to continue, or will it reset next month?

Thanks!

[supervoidcoder]

I have the exact same error. It seems like GitHub has frozen all of my free tier benefits, making GitHub practicaly useless. Maybe it's a bug with the new $0 budget changes? I was using codespaces like less than an hour ago but when I tried again, it just... fails?

Account budgets |  

Account supervoidcoder 100% | SKUCopilot Premium Request | Stop usageYes | $0 spent$0 budget
Account supervoidcoder 100% | ProductGit LFS | Stop usageYes | $0 spent$0 budget
Account supervoidcoder 100% | ProductCodespaces | Stop usageYes | $0 spent$0 budget
Account supervoidcoder 100% | ProductActions | Stop usageYes | $0 spent$0 budget
Account supervoidcoder 100% | ProductPackages | Stop usageYes | $0 spent$0 budget

[supervoidcoder]

yknow what, it would've been more logical to use screenshots

^^^ i definitely haven't used 100% of none of these

[supervoidcoder]

I think this is a duplicate of an earlier discussion from MONTHS ago. It only started for me like a couple of hours before. This is terrible. Our entire class needs codespaces to do work, including me. Please help, GitHub.

[Piratezens]

What could be the solution?

…

________________________________ From: supervoidcoder ***@***.***> Sent: Friday, September 26, 2025 12:27 AM To: community/community ***@***.***> Cc: Aanand Sah ***@***.***>; Author ***@***.***> Subject: Re: [community/community] Codespaces billing issue on free plan (Discussion #174762) I think this is a duplicate of an earlier discussion from MONTHS ago. It only started for me like a couple of hours before. This is terrible. Our entire class needs codespaces to do work, including me. Please help, GitHub. — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub<#174762 (comment)>, or unsubscribe<https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/BIGOOHPLLSE6C2FC4RYS4ST3UQZSPAVCNFSM6AAAAACHQESU5KVHI2DSMVQWIX3LMV43URDJONRXK43TNFXW4Q3PNVWWK3TUHMYTINJRGQ2TGMY>. You are receiving this because you authored the thread.Message ID: ***@***.***>

[supervoidcoder]

What could be the solution?
…
________________________________ From: supervoidcoder @.> Sent: Friday, September 26, 2025 12:27 AM To: community/community @.> Cc: Aanand Sah @.>; Author @.> Subject: Re: [community/community] Codespaces billing issue on free plan (Discussion #174762) I think this is a duplicate of an earlier discussion from MONTHS ago. It only started for me like a couple of hours before. This is terrible. Our entire class needs codespaces to do work, including me. Please help, GitHub. — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub<#174762 (comment)>, or unsubscribehttps://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/BIGOOHPLLSE6C2FC4RYS4ST3UQZSPAVCNFSM6AAAAACHQESU5KVHI2DSMVQWIX3LMV43URDJONRXK43TNFXW4Q3PNVWWK3TUHMYTINJRGQ2TGMY. You are receiving this because you authored the thread.Message ID: @.***>

Not sure. Paying would probably help but I am NOT paying outta my own pocket. It's the sole reason I use github over just local git, the horrendous cashgrab known as "Replit", the severely fund-lacking Codeberg, or anything else. So literally everything not working is... kind of a big problem. GitHub is basically reduced to Codeberg without all these features (actions, codespaces, cl/ci) except for infinite repos.
Here's the other discussion: https://github.com/orgs/community/discussions/160244

[supervoidcoder]

On the Free plan you do get a monthly quota of included Codespaces usage. When you see that billing message it usually means you have used up your free hours for the current billing cycle. You will not be able to start another Codespace until the quota resets. The quota resets automatically at the start of your next monthly billing period. You do not need to upgrade unless you want additional hours beyond what the Free plan provides. If you need to continue right away you can add a payment method and pay for extra usage, otherwise you can wait for the reset. If this solved your issue please mark the answer as helpful so others can find it.

This... is just a generic response. Obviously paying would fix it.
What would really help is make the message less cryptic and... useless. It would be better to just say "You've reached your usage quota for Codespaces" instead of playing the guessing game to figure out whatever a "billing" issue means.

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