GitHub Copilot

Writes and reviews code alongside you inside the editor, and can now be assigned a whole GitHub issue to work through as an agent.

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Checked 25 Sep 2026

Open github.com

What you'd use it for

Getting AI code suggestions, chat and review inside a codebase and pull-request flow that already lives on GitHub.

Suggest the next line or block of code as you type, inside VS Code, JetBrains, Visual Studio or Neovim
Answer questions about a specific file or repository in a chat panel, with the codebase as context
Review a pull request and leave inline comments against a custom instructions.md style guide
Take a GitHub issue, work through it as a cloud agent, and open a pull request with the result
Run coding tasks from a terminal via the Copilot CLI

The verdict

The best fit for a team that already lives on GitHub and wants AI woven into the pull-request flow it already runs. It is not the sharpest coding assistant available and does not try to be; its edge is that turning it on costs nothing structural, because the repository, the reviewers and the workflow are already there. The base price is a floor, not a ceiling, once you lean on chat, code review or the cloud agent. Worth it once a team has code review and repeat completions to justify a seat; overkill for someone writing their first script.

What it costs

Tier	Price	For	Includes
Free	$0/month	Individual developers wanting basic AI coding help at no cost.	2,000 monthly code completions, 50 chat requests, access to the CLI, agent mode, and supported editors.
Pro	$10/month base, plus a $5/month flex allowance for extra usage	Individual developers, freelancers and open-source maintainers.	Unlimited inline suggestions, $15/month in AI credits, code review, and cloud agent features.
Pro+	$39/month base, plus a $31/month flex allowance	Developers running sustained, agent-driven workflows.	$70/month in AI credits, delegation to third-party agents, code review across multiple IDEs.
Max	$100/month	Heavy users doing extended agent-driven development.	$200/month in AI credits and the largest model allowances available on a personal plan.
Business / Enterprise	Custom pricing, arranged with sales	Organisations needing centralised licensing.	Team management, policy controls, and IP indemnification.

Read from GitHub Copilot's own pricing page on 25 Sep 2026. Vendors change prices without notice.

What you need to start

A GitHub account
An existing code repository to point it at
A paid plan (Pro or above) to use the cloud agent, code review or unlimited suggestions

About ten minutes to a working chat inside an editor or GitHub.com; a paid plan and a real repository before the code review or cloud agent features do anything useful.

Your first run Ask Copilot Chat to explain a file in an existing repository and it replies in the chat panel within the conversation, no install needed since it runs inside GitHub.com or an editor already signed in; that first exchange takes a few minutes. Getting it to open a pull request on its own needs a paid plan and a repository to assign it to.

Where it breaks

Pro, Pro+ and Max all separate a fixed base fee from a 'flex allowance' billed on top for extra usage — the advertised price is not the ceiling, and a heavy month costs more than the headline figure.

Works inside VS Code, JetBrains IDEs, Visual Studio, Neovim, and directly on GitHub.com; also available as a CLI and as an agent that can be assigned a repository issue.

First entry in this reference. There is no previous check to compare it against.

When not to use it

Not for someone without an existing codebase or a GitHub account to put it in — there is nothing here for a business without code. Also a poor fit for anyone who wants a single AI-native editor built around the assistant rather than layered onto one; that reader wants Cursor.

GitHub Copilot has the advantage every incumbent has: it is already where the code lives. For a team already on GitHub, turning it on is a settings toggle rather than a new tool to adopt, which explains why it remains the most widely used AI coding assistant even as sharper alternatives compete for attention.

The free tier’s 2,000 completions a month is enough to decide whether inline suggestions actually help your workflow. Pro is the real starting point for daily use — unlimited suggestions, plus a monthly AI-credit allowance for chat and agent features, which is where most of the recent product investment has gone.

Base fee plus flex allowance

Every paid personal tier splits into two numbers: a flat monthly base and a separate “flex allowance” that covers usage beyond what the base includes. Pro+‘s headline is $39, but a month that uses the full allowance costs $70. Treat the base price as a floor, not a ceiling.

Against the alternatives

The honest comparison to Cursor is habit and integration rather than raw capability: Copilot wins when a team is already GitHub-native and wants AI review baked into the pull-request flow; Cursor wins for someone who wants the whole editor rebuilt around the assistant rather than layered onto VS Code. Claude Code sits a level below both, favoured by developers who live in a terminal rather than an IDE.

Alternatives

Websites & appsHarness

Cursor

A code editor where you describe the change you want in plain English and it edits the files directly, used by non-developers for small internal tools.

Checked 25 Sep 2026