GitHub Copilot

GitHub Copilot is GitHub’s coding assistant, bringing code completion, chat, and agent workflows into development tools and GitHub. Its strongest fit is developers who want that help across their existing editor, terminal, and GitHub work.

It has a useful free entry point and several paid tiers, but paid chat and agent work draw from monthly AI Credit allowances. That makes the allowance—not just the subscription price—important when choosing a plan.

Overview

Copilot supports work across the software development lifecycle, from inline suggestions and code explanations to documentation questions and delegated agent tasks. Its desktop workspace can launch work from GitHub, track multiple agents, review changes, and merge completed work. This broader workflow is compelling for developers already working in GitHub, though the value of higher tiers depends on how much credit-consuming assistance they use.

Suggestions are probabilistic, not copied and pasted from codebases. Models are trained on natural language and source code from publicly available sources, including public GitHub repositories. For more options in the category, see AI Coding Assistants.

Key features

Editor help with codebase context

Code completion, chat, coding agents, and codebase indexing give Copilot several ways to assist within a development workflow. Indexing can bring codebase context to assistance; terminal access is useful when work moves outside the editor. Together, these features make Copilot more than an autocomplete tool, but chat and agent use count against AI Credits on paid plans.

Agents, integrations, and safeguards

Copilot connects with GitHub, IDEs, the CLI, project tools, chat apps, and custom MCP servers. Extensions let users interact with external tools and services through Copilot Chat in supported IDEs, GitHub.com, and GitHub Mobile. Pro supports Claude Code and Codex; on higher plans, the cloud agent can delegate to Claude and OpenAI Codex.

Cloud agents check generated code for security issues and get a second opinion through Copilot code review before finalizing a pull request. Cloud and local sandboxes provide isolated execution environments. Organizations can control MCP server access with allow lists, while Business and Enterprise administrators can exclude files from suggestions, responses, and code review. These controls matter for teams managing how code and tools are used; Enterprise administrators also control preview features, models, and organization policies.

Pricing

Copilot has a free plan and paid individual and organization plans. Paid plans include unlimited code completions and next edit suggestions, but chat, agents, code review, CLI, and Copilot Apps consume GitHub AI Credits. A monthly price therefore does not mean unlimited use of every feature.

• Free — free: No credit card required, with 2,000 code completions and 50 chat requests per month, limited agent usage, CLI access, and community support. It includes Haiku 4.5, GPT-5 mini, and more. This is a sensible starting point for eligible individual developers, but not for people with organizational or enterprise Copilot access. Verified students have a separate free plan with an AI Credits allowance, auto model selection only, and no third-party agents.
• Pro — $10 a month: For individual developers, freelancers, students, educators, and open source maintainers who want everyday coding with agents. It includes a $15 monthly total credits, and Pro supports Claude Code and Codex. The paid plan removes the Free completion cap, but credit-consuming features still have a monthly allowance.
• Pro+ — $39 a month: Includes a $70 monthly total credits and premium models, making it better suited to more complex development than Pro. It costs substantially more, so it fits users likely to draw on the larger allowance.
• Max — $100 a month: Includes a $200 monthly total credits for sustained, high-volume agent workflows. It is the highest-cost individual option and makes most sense when that level of agent use is central to the work.
• Business — $19 per granted seat per month: Provides 1,900 AI credits per user per month, centralized access and budget controls, governance, pooled credits per user, premium models, and web-based support. Its administration and privacy controls make it the relevant choice for organizations rather than a cheaper substitute for individual plans.
• Enterprise — $39 per granted seat per month: Provides 3,900 AI credits per user per month, priority access to premium models, and organization-wide administration; GitHub Enterprise Cloud is required, and contact sales. It suits larger rollouts needing that control and allowance, but the Enterprise requirement narrows its audience.

Paid subscriptions, trials, and verified accounts with Pro can switch to Free. GitHub also offers a free trial. Business includes data privacy and IP indemnity; no refund terms are stated here.

Platforms

Copilot is available on GitHub, Visual Studio, Visual Studio Code, Xcode, JetBrains IDEs, Vim, Neovim, Azure Data Studio, and Eclipse, as well as Raycast. CLI access is included with all plans and can be installed through npm, WinGet, Homebrew, or an install script; terminal support also includes Windows Terminal Canary chat. GitHub Mobile supports all plans on Android and iOS. This breadth is a strength for developers who move between editor, terminal, and mobile, rather than those seeking an assistant limited to one IDE.

Who it's for

Choose Copilot if you want coding assistance integrated across GitHub and a wide selection of editors, with agents available for delegated work. Free is best for eligible individual developers exploring the basics; Pro targets individual developers and related users who want everyday coding help. Business and Enterprise are aimed at organizations that need centralized administration and policy controls. If your priority is sustained agent use, compare the monthly credit allowance with your expected usage before paying for a higher tier.

Pros and cons

• Pro: Editor assistance, codebase indexing, terminal access, and agents cover more of the development workflow than completions alone.
• Pro: Broad editor, CLI, GitHub, and mobile support reduces the need to switch tools to get Copilot assistance.
• Pro: Free offers substantial completion access plus chat, while Business and Enterprise add administration and security controls for teams.
• Con: Chat, agents, and several other paid features consume AI Credits, so unlimited completions do not mean unlimited overall assistance.
• Con: Free is restricted to individual developers without organizational or enterprise Copilot access, and its monthly completion and chat caps limit heavier use.
• Con: Enterprise requires GitHub Enterprise Cloud, putting it out of reach for organizations that do not use that service.

Alternatives

Consider Claude Code if you want a paid product with a free plan and support across web, desktop, and mobile platforms; its free plan does not include Claude Code.

Devin is another freemium option, with a free plan offering one member and limited usage and a Pro plan for one member at $20 a month.

Kilo Code is worth considering if open-source VS Code, JetBrains, and CLI extensions with agentic coding suit your workflow; usage is billed separately.

Gemini CLI offers free access for exploring the CLI with Google Account authentication, while Google AI Pro provides higher usage limits for Gemini CLI and other services.

JetBrains Junie may suit developers seeking a JetBrains-oriented option, with a free start that includes five AI credits and an AI Pro plan at $8.33 a month.

Baidu Comate is another freemium coding assistant.

Tencent CodeBuddy is another freemium option.

Tongyi Lingma is another freemium coding assistant.

Verdict

GitHub Copilot is a strong choice for developers who want assistance across editors, GitHub, and terminal workflows, especially when agent tasks and team controls matter. Its broad integration and useful free tier are the main reasons to start here. Look elsewhere if you need predictable, unrestricted chat or agent usage: paid credit allowances make the real fit depend on how heavily you use those features.