GitHub Copilot Review
AI pair programmer built into GitHub, VS Code, Visual Studio, and the terminal
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Looking for a GitHub Copilot alternative? See our ranked comparison.→What is GitHub Copilot?
GitHub Copilot is Microsoft's AI coding assistant, built into GitHub itself and into VS Code, Visual Studio, JetBrains IDEs, and a terminal CLI. It started as inline autocomplete and has grown into a full agent: it can open a chat, hand off multi-file changes to a cloud or local agent, review your pull requests, and run terminal commands on your behalf.
As of June 2026, GitHub moved every paid plan from a flat-rate subscription with fixed premium-request quotas to usage-based billing. Your monthly fee now buys a pool of AI credits that chat, agent mode, code review, and the CLI draw down by token consumption, plus a variable 'flex' bonus on top for individual plans. Code completions and next-edit suggestions are still unlimited and free on every plan. A new top-tier Max plan ($100/month) targets high-volume agent users who outgrow Pro+. Because pricing and inclusion in GitHub, VS Code, and Visual Studio is already the norm for most developers, Copilot's main pitch is that it's already where you work rather than a new tool to adopt.
GitHub Copilot screenshots
Who it's for
- ✓ Teams already standardized on GitHub who want AI review, chat, and agents without adding a new vendor
- ✓ Developers who mostly want fast inline completions and only occasional chat, since that stays cheap or free
- ✓ Enterprises that need SSO, audit logs, and policy controls tied to their existing GitHub Enterprise Cloud setup
Who should look elsewhere
- ✗ Heavy agent-mode users doing long refactors or big-context sessions on Pro or Pro+, since token-metered credits can burn through a plan's allotment in days (Max exists for this but costs $100/seat/month)
- ✗ Developers who want a predictable flat bill regardless of how much they chat or delegate to agents
- ✗ Teams not already on GitHub, since a lot of Copilot's value comes from tight integration with GitHub itself
Pros
- + Deep integration with GitHub pull requests, issues, and Actions, plus native support in VS Code, Visual Studio, and JetBrains
- + Unlimited, unmetered code completions on every paid plan, so basic autocomplete never runs out
- + Access to a wide model catalog (GPT, Claude, and others) from one subscription and one billing relationship
- + Enterprise plan adds codebase indexing, custom model support, and admin policy controls GitHub already sells to large orgs
Cons
- – The June 2026 move to token-metered AI credits caught many users off guard: trade press reported some customers seeing bills rise as much as 100-fold under the new system for the same workflows
- – Credit pools are shared across chat, agent mode, code review, and CLI, so a single long agent session can eat a month's allotment in days
- – GitHub paused new self-serve Business sign-ups for organizations on GitHub Free or Team as of April 22, 2026, and Enterprise requires GitHub Enterprise Cloud outright, adding a dependency on top of the Copilot seat price
- – When your included credits run out, you either upgrade plans or set a paid budget for extra usage at $0.01/credit; without a budget configured, Copilot pauses until your next billing cycle rather than continuing to work for free
GitHub Copilot pricing
At about $10/month to start, it is one of the cheaper options in AI Coding Assistants.
| Plan | Price | Highlights |
|---|---|---|
| Free | Free | 2,000 code completions a month · 50 chat requests a month · Auto model selection only · No cloud agent |
| Pro | $10/seat/mo | Unlimited code completions · $15 of monthly AI credits ($10 base + $5 flex) for chat, agent mode, and CLI · Cloud agent and model picker · Free for verified teachers and maintainers of popular open-source projects; verified students get a separate free Copilot Student plan |
| Pro+ | $39/seat/mo | $70 of monthly AI credits ($39 base + $31 flex) · Access to Claude Opus and other premium models · Audit logs |
| Max | $100/seat/mo | $200 of monthly AI credits ($100 base + $100 flex), the highest individual allotment · Everything in Pro+, built for sustained high-volume agent use · Priority access to new models and features |
| Business | $19/seat/mo | $19 of monthly AI credits per seat, pooled across the org (no flex bonus) · Centralized policy management · For orgs on GitHub Free, Team, or Enterprise Cloud, though new self-serve sign-ups for Free/Team orgs have been paused since April 22, 2026 |
| Enterprise | $39/seat/mo | $39 of monthly AI credits per seat (no flex bonus) · Priority access to new models · Codebase indexing and custom model support · Requires GitHub Enterprise Cloud |
On June 1, 2026 GitHub replaced its premium-request quotas with GitHub AI Credits (1 credit = $0.01). Individual plans get a base credit allotment equal to the plan price plus a variable 'flex' bonus that can change over time: Pro is $10 base + $5 flex = $15/month, Pro+ is $39 base + $31 flex = $70/month, and Max is $100 base + $100 flex = $200/month. Business and Enterprise get no flex bonus, so their credit pool equals the seat price ($19 and $39/seat respectively). Code completions and next-edit suggestions stay unmetered on every plan; chat, agent mode, code review, and Copilot CLI draw down credits at each model's listed API rate. Prices above are monthly per seat, billed monthly.
Pricing verified July 22, 2026 · source
How GitHub Copilot's pricing compares
GitHub Copilot next to its closest alternatives on entry price, billing, and whether pricing is public.
| Tool | Starting price | Billing | Free option | Pricing disclosed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GitHub Copilot | $10/seat/mo | usage-based | Yes | Public |
| Cursor | $20/seat/mo | usage-based | Yes | Partly public |
| Windsurf | $20/seat/mo | per-seat | Yes | Partly public |
| Tabnine | $39/seat/mo | per-seat | No | Partly public |
| Sourcegraph Cody | $16000/yr | quote-only | No | Partly public |
| Aider | Free tier + custom | usage-based | Yes | Not disclosed |
Is GitHub Copilot still actively developed?
Last significant update: July 2026. VS Code releases (1.123-1.127) added generally available agentic browser tools so agents can navigate pages and validate web apps in-editor, plus parallel agent sessions and clearer per-session cost visibility.
Top GitHub Copilot alternatives
GitHub Copilot FAQ
Is GitHub Copilot free?+
Yes, there's a free plan with 2,000 code completions and 50 chat requests a month, using auto-selected models only. It doesn't include the cloud agent.
How much does GitHub Copilot cost per seat?+
Pro is $10 a month, Pro+ is $39, Max is $100, Business is $19 per seat, and Enterprise is $39 per seat. Since June 2026 that fee also sets your base monthly AI credit allotment for chat, agent mode, and the CLI, plus a variable flex bonus on individual plans.
Why did people's GitHub Copilot bills suddenly jump in 2026?+
GitHub switched from flat premium-request quotas to token-metered AI credits on June 1, 2026. Trade press reported some developers running heavy agent-mode or chat workloads saw bills rise as much as 100-fold versus the old flat-rate system.
Does code completion still work if I run out of credits?+
Yes. Code completions and next-edit suggestions never consume AI credits and stay available on every paid plan even after your credit pool for chat and agents is used up.