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GitHub Copilot

GitHub's AI coding assistant, integrated directly into major IDEs and GitHub.com, offering inline code completion, chat, and autonomous agent modes.

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What it does

GitHub Copilot is an AI coding assistant built into the editors and workflows developers already use, adding inline suggestions, a chat interface, and increasingly autonomous agent capabilities that can edit multiple files, run commands, and even complete assigned GitHub issues unattended. It’s positioned as an extension to existing tools rather than a replacement editor, which makes it low-friction to adopt but less deeply AI-first than purpose-built AI editors.

Ideal users

  • Developers already living in VS Code, JetBrains, or Visual Studio
  • Teams that want AI tightly integrated with GitHub issues and pull requests
  • Individuals who want a low-cost entry point
  • Organizations needing centralized admin and policy controls via GitHub Enterprise

Who should avoid it

  • You want a fully AI-native editor experience rather than an extension bolted onto an existing IDE
  • You need guaranteed no-training-on-code at the free or individual Pro tier without opting out manually
  • You want unlimited premium-model usage without credit-based caps

Key features

  • Ghost-text inline code completion
  • Copilot Chat for in-IDE natural-language Q&A, explain, and fix
  • Agent mode for multi-file autonomous edits that runs terminal commands and iterates
  • Coding agent — assign a GitHub issue and it works in the background and opens a PR
  • Agentic code review that gathers project context and can trigger fix PRs
  • GitHub Spark for natural-language app scaffolding (Pro+/Enterprise)
  • Semantic code search and Copilot CLI

Pros

  • Deepest native integration with GitHub issues, PRs, and Actions
  • Broadest IDE support of any tool in this category
  • Cheapest paid entry point in this category
  • Usable free tier (2,000 completions/month)
  • Business and Enterprise tiers guarantee no training on customer code

Cons

  • Individual Free/Pro/Pro+ data may be used for model training unless you manually opt out
  • Moved to usage-based AI Credits billing in June 2026, adding complexity and unpredictability at higher tiers
  • Premium models gated behind credit pools on Pro and above
  • Less IDE-native agentic experience than Cursor or Devin Desktop

Pricing

Free — $10/month (Pro, individual)

Individual plans are Free/$10 Pro/$39 Pro+/$100 Max; organizations pay per seat, $19/user/month Business and $39/user/month Enterprise; all plans moved to token-based AI Credits billing in June 2026, so heavy usage can cost more than the sticker price implies.

Typical workflows

  • Most developers use it for real-time autocomplete while writing code and Chat for quick explanations or fixes without leaving the editor.
  • Teams increasingly assign GitHub issues directly to the coding agent for well-scoped background tasks, like dependency bumps or small bug fixes, that return as a PR for human review.

Integrations

  • VS Code
  • Visual Studio
  • JetBrains IDEs
  • Neovim
  • Xcode
  • Eclipse
  • GitHub.com and GitHub Mobile
  • Copilot CLI

Privacy & security notes

GitHub does not train models on Business or Enterprise data. For individual Free/Pro/Pro+ accounts, interactions may be used for training unless the user opts out in account settings.

Frequently asked questions

Does Copilot work offline?

No, all completions and chat require an internet connection to GitHub's servers.

Is my code used to train GitHub's models?

Not for Business or Enterprise customers. For individual Free/Pro/Pro+ users, it may be, unless you opt out in account settings.

What's the difference between agent mode and the coding agent?

Agent mode runs interactively inside your editor session; the coding agent works asynchronously in the background on an assigned GitHub issue and opens a PR when done.

Can I use Copilot without GitHub?

No, it requires a GitHub account and is billed through GitHub.

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