What Is GitHub Copilot?
GitHub Copilot is an AI coding assistant that now also runs agents, in your IDE and in the cloud. Here's what it does, what it costs after the AI Credits switch, and whether it's worth using in 2026.
GitHub Copilot is an AI coding assistant from GitHub. It began as inline code completion in your IDE and has grown into a set of tools that also take on whole tasks: an agent in your editor, an agent in the cloud, and a command-line version.
It is the most widely deployed AI coding tool in the world, used by millions of developers across organisations of every size.
What Copilot Does
Inline completions and next edit suggestions: as you type, Copilot suggests the next line, block, or function, and predicts the next edit you are likely to make elsewhere in the file. Accept with Tab, reject with Escape.
Copilot Chat: a chat panel in your IDE and on GitHub.com where you can ask questions about code, request explanations, or ask for a refactor.
Agent mode: you describe a task and Copilot works through it inside your editor, choosing which files to change, running terminal commands, and iterating until the task is done. This is where multi-file editing now lives.
Cloud agent: assign Copilot a GitHub Issue and it researches, plans, and makes the change in a sandbox, then opens a pull request for you to review. Called the coding agent until GitHub renamed and expanded it in April 2026.
Copilot CLI: the same agent from your terminal.
Code review: Copilot reviews pull requests on GitHub and leaves suggested changes.
Models
Copilot is no longer tied to one AI provider. Its model picker includes Anthropic’s Claude, OpenAI’s GPT family, Google’s Gemini, and others. You can choose a model per task or leave it on Auto.
IDE Support
Copilot works in:
- VS Code
- Visual Studio
- JetBrains IDEs (IntelliJ, PyCharm, WebStorm, and others)
- Neovim
- GitHub.com (chat, pull request review, and the cloud agent)
Pricing
Prices are in USD, per month.
| Plan | Price | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | 2,000 completions a month, limited chat and agent use |
| Pro | $10 | Unlimited completions, chat, agent mode, cloud agent, code review |
| Pro+ | $39 | Everything in Pro, larger credit allowance, third-party coding agents |
| Max | $100 | Largest individual allowance, for heavy agent use |
| Business | $19 per user | Organisation licence management and policy controls |
| Enterprise | $39 per user | Adds GitHub.com codebase indexing and custom models |
AI Credits. Since 1 June 2026, Copilot bills chat and agent usage through GitHub AI Credits, each worth one cent. Every plan comes with a monthly allowance: about $15 of credits on Pro, $70 on Pro+, and $200 on Max. Code completions do not touch credits on paid plans, so heavy agent use is what moves the bill.
Verified students, teachers, and open-source maintainers can get Copilot Pro without paying.
How It Compares
GitHub Copilot used to sit clearly below autonomous agents like Claude Code. That gap has narrowed: agent mode and the cloud agent both take on whole tasks rather than one suggestion at a time.
Easier to start with than Claude Code or a custom API build. Install the extension, sign in with GitHub, and it works.
Different in how it acts. Copilot’s cloud agent works an Issue into a pull request somewhere else, and you review the result. Claude Code works in your own working directory while you watch. For a fuller comparison, see Claude Code vs GitHub Copilot.
It remains the natural starting point for any developer new to AI coding tools.
Where It Shines
- Repetitive code patterns: React components, CRUD operations, test cases
- Boilerplate: configuration files, scaffolding, type definitions
- Unfamiliar languages or APIs: Copilot knows the syntax so you do not have to
- Routine Issues: small fixes and changes the cloud agent can turn into a pull request while you do something else
- Teams already on GitHub, where Issues, pull requests, and review all sit in one place
Where It Falls Short
- Novel architecture decisions. Copilot predicts from patterns; it does not know the reasoning behind your design
- Highly customised or proprietary APIs it has not seen before
- Cost predictability under heavy agent use, now that chat and agent work draw down a credit allowance
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Common questions
What is GitHub Copilot?
GitHub Copilot is an AI coding assistant from GitHub (Microsoft). It started as inline code completion inside your IDE and now covers chat, agent mode (autonomous, multi-file work inside VS Code and JetBrains), a cloud agent that takes a GitHub Issue and hands back a pull request, a command-line tool, and pull request review. It works in VS Code, Visual Studio, JetBrains IDEs, Neovim, and on GitHub.com.
How does GitHub Copilot work?
Copilot sends the context you are working in (the open file, nearby files, comments, and function names) to a large language model and shows the result as an inline suggestion, a chat reply, or a set of edits. It is no longer tied to one model provider: the model picker includes Anthropic's Claude, OpenAI's GPT family, Google's Gemini, and others, chosen per task or left on Auto. In agent mode and the cloud agent, it also plans the work, edits files, and runs commands until the task is done.
Can GitHub Copilot work autonomously?
Yes. Agent mode works through a task inside your editor, deciding which files to change and running terminal commands as it goes. The cloud agent (called the coding agent until April 2026) takes a GitHub Issue, works it in a sandbox, and opens a pull request for you to review. That makes the old line, that Copilot only suggests while you type, out of date.
How much does GitHub Copilot cost?
In USD: Free is $0, Pro is $10/month, Pro+ is $39/month, and Max is $100/month. Teams pay $19/user/month for Business or $39/user/month for Enterprise. Since 1 June 2026, chat and agent usage draws on a monthly allowance of GitHub AI Credits (worth one cent each) that comes with each plan. Code completions do not use credits on paid plans.
Is GitHub Copilot worth it?
For developers who spend most of the day writing code in an IDE, usually yes. It takes the repetitive work off your hands: boilerplate, tests, documentation, and routine changes across files. The value is lower for novel architecture decisions, where the model is less likely to land on the right approach. The Free tier is a low-risk way to find out, and Pro at $10/month remains one of the cheapest paid AI coding tools.
What is the difference between GitHub Copilot and Claude Code?
Both now act autonomously, so the difference is how. Copilot is a model marketplace built around your IDE and GitHub: agent mode in the editor, and a cloud agent that turns an Issue into a pull request elsewhere. Claude Code runs Anthropic's Claude models only and works in your actual working directory in real time, from the terminal, an IDE extension, desktop, or web. Many developers use both.
Which AI coding assistant is best for teams?
GitHub Copilot is the default choice for larger teams. It has mature organisation controls, works in every major IDE, gives access to several model families in one place, and bills per seat with a pooled credit allowance. For individual developers or small teams, tools like Cursor or Claude Code often score higher on raw capability, but Copilot's management features and GitHub integration make it the easiest to roll out across an organisation.
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