GitHub Copilot

GitHub Copilot is an AI coding assistant that works across GitHub, supported IDEs, the terminal, and mobile workflows. It provides inline completions and chat, model selection, custom instructions, Copilot CLI, cloud agents that can research and implement issues, code review, third-party agents, MCP integrations, and organization controls. Usage is measured through GitHub AI Credits, so model and agent consumption can vary by task.

✨ Key Features

• Suggest code inline — Receive completions and next-edit suggestions while working in supported editors.
• Chat about code — Ask questions, explain code, plan changes, and troubleshoot in context.
• Run Copilot CLI — Use Copilot from a terminal to make and commit local or GitHub changes.
• Delegate to Cloud Agent — Assign an issue for research, planning, implementation, and optionally a pull request.
• Review code — Get pull-request reviews and file-diff reviews in supported workflows.
• Choose models — Select from available GitHub, OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, Microsoft, xAI, and other models where the plan permits.
• Use third-party coding agents — All paid Copilot plans can use supported third-party coding agents. The OpenAI Codex VS Code extension’s Sign in with Copilot option separately requires Pro+ or Max.
• Connect MCP servers — Give Copilot access to supported external tools and context.
• Write custom instructions and agents — Encode repository or team conventions in repeatable workflows.
• Modernize applications — Use supported app-modernization workflows for Java and .NET.
• Manage AI Credits — Track included usage, flexible allowances, and organization-level pools and budgets.
• Apply team governance — Business and Enterprise add seat management, policy controls, privacy, support, and enterprise capabilities.

💳 Pricing

• Free — $0/user/month; 2,000 completions/month, limited chat/agent usage, model access as shown by GitHub, Copilot CLI, and community support.
• Pro — $10/user/month; unlimited completions and next-edit suggestions, Cloud Agent, code review, model selection, third-party agent access, and $15 monthly total GitHub AI Credits.
• Pro+ — $39/user/month; premium models including Opus, audit logs, more than 4× Pro’s included usage, and $70 monthly total credits.
• Max — $100/user/month; priority access to new models/features, $200 monthly total credits.
• Business — $19/granted seat/month; pooled credits, unlimited completions, Cloud Agent, code review, broad model catalog, third-party agents, access/budget/governance controls, privacy, and support.
• Enterprise — $39/granted seat/month; organization-wide rollout and larger pooled credits, with enterprise controls and GitHub.com integration/customization as documented by GitHub.

AI agent, chat, code review, CLI, and app usage consumes GitHub AI Credits. Included and additional usage terms can change; verify the live plan comparison and billing documentation.

⚖️ Alternatives Compared

🎯 Use Cases

• Completing repetitive code while editing a repository.
• Asking for explanations of unfamiliar functions or modules.
• Planning and implementing a GitHub issue with a cloud agent.
• Reviewing a pull request before merge.
• Running code changes from a terminal with Copilot CLI.
• Migrating supported Java or .NET applications.
• Connecting an MCP server to project-specific tools or context.
• Applying repository instructions consistently across contributors.
• Comparing models for a complex coding or debugging task.
• Governing AI usage and budgets across an engineering organization.