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GitHub Copilot

GitHub Copilot is an AI coding agent for individual developers, students, educators and organizations, working in the editor, on the command line and on GitHub.

  • Free plan
  • Desktop · Mobile · Plugin or MCP
  • Verified 16 Oct 2026
Visit GitHub Copilot Compare alternatives

What GitHub Copilot does

GitHub Copilot is an AI coding agent that helps developers write code in their editor, on the command line and on GitHub. A cloud agent can plan, explore and carry out assigned tasks in the background. Users can choose among several large language models, each suited to speed, accuracy or cost. It uses a freemium model, with a Free plan that includes 2,000 completions per month and paid plans billed monthly per user.

Built for

  • Individual developers, freelancers, students, educators and open source maintainers
  • Organizations and businesses

Key features

  • Cloud agent that plans, explores and executes assigned tasks autonomously in the background
  • Agent mode in the editor for proposing edits and validating files
  • Copilot CLI for the command line
  • Access to third-party agents such as Claude Code and Codex (Pro and above)
  • Choice of leading LLMs optimized for speed, accuracy, or cost
  • Audit logs for tracking activity (Pro+ and above)
  • Copilot Spaces shared knowledge source built from docs and repositories
  • Allow lists to control which MCP servers developers can access from IDEs

Pros and cons

Pros

  • The Free plan includes 2,000 completions per month.
  • Signup is self-serve.
  • Agent mode in the editor proposes edits and validates files, and Copilot CLI works from the command line.
  • The cloud agent carries out assigned tasks autonomously in the background.
  • Users can choose among several large language models, each suited to speed, accuracy or cost.
  • The Pro plan costs USD 10 per user per month billed monthly, with $15 in monthly total credits.

Cons

  • Audit logs for tracking activity are available only on the Pro+ plan and above.
  • Access to third-party agents such as Claude Code and Codex requires the Pro plan or above.
  • The Free plan is limited to 2,000 completions per month.

Where GitHub Copilot is listed

GitHub Copilot is listed under AI coding agents in AI coding tools.

Code generation and autocompleteCode reviewFor developersFor freelancersFor studentsFor teachers

GitHub Copilot alternatives

Compare all 5

Claude Code

Edits files and runs commands

Claude Code: Anthropic's agentic coding tool that edits files, runs commands, and turns issues into pull requests, for developers.

Paid plans: see official pricing

Cursor

Turns ideas into code for teams

Cursor covers the same autonomous coding agent task as GitHub Copilot, aimed at software teams, with agents that take on handed-off tasks.

Paid plans: see official pricing

Amazon Q Developer

Suggests code and writes unit tests

Amazon Q Developer covers the same coding assistance and agentic coding job for software developers, and adds AWS guidance plus Java and .NET transformation.

Free plan · Paid from $19/user/mo

OpenHands

Plans and applies code changes

OpenHands runs autonomous agents that plan, write and apply code changes, as an open source platform that overlaps with GitHub Copilot's agent job.

Free plan · Paid plans: see official pricing

Devin

Builds and delivers pull requests

Devin is an AI coding agent from Cognition that builds, tests and delivers pull requests, with Free, Pro at USD 20/month and Max at USD 200/month plans.

Free plan · Paid plans: see official pricing