GitHub Copilot
GitHub coding assistant with inline suggestions, chat and an agent that opens pull requests from issues.
Quick facts
| Pricing | Freemium |
|---|---|
| Free tier | Yes — free tier with monthly completion and chat limits |
| Platforms | VS Code, JetBrains, Neovim, Visual Studio, GitHub |
| Developer | GitHub |
| Website | https://github.com/copilot |
What GitHub Copilot is
GitHub Copilot is a coding assistant integrated into editors and GitHub itself. Its original form was inline completion: suggestions appear as you type, and accepting one takes a keystroke rather than a conversation. It has since grown into chat in the editor, a command-line tool, and an agent that can take an issue and produce a pull request for review. Because it is made by GitHub, integration with repositories, issues and code review is closer than third-party tools manage. It supports most popular languages and several editors. The limits are context and trust: suggestions are shaped by the open file and nearby code rather than the whole system, so architectural work still needs a human, and the free tier caps completions and chat requests. Review suggestions appear as comments on a pull request, and the command-line tool can be scripted into a workflow. A pull request summary is generated automatically, which shortens review.
Best for
- Teams already working inside GitHub
- Everyday completion on established codebases
- Delegating a small issue and reviewing the pull request
Not ideal for
- Whole-system refactors that need broad context
- Organisations that forbid sending code to a third party
Pros
- Deep integration with issues and pull requests
- Works across the main editors
- Free tier covers light use
Cons
- Context is local rather than repository-wide
- Free tier caps completions and chat
- Suggestions need review for correctness
Pricing in detail
The free tier includes a monthly allowance of completions and chat requests with access to a smaller model. Paid individual plans are billed monthly or annually and raise limits and unlock stronger models; business and enterprise plans are billed per seat and add policy controls, audit logs and indemnity terms. Because the free tier is capped, sustained use requires a paid plan, so compare the paid individual tier against team pricing.
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