is an AI-powered coding assistant developed by GitHub and OpenAI that helps developers write code faster and with less effort. It provides real-time code suggestions, generates entire functions from comments, and assists with debugging and code explanations. Available across popular IDEs like Visual Studio Code, Visual Studio, JetBrains, and Neovim, Copilot is now integrated directly into GitHub, enabling seamless workflows.

Key Features

  • Copilot Chat: Ask natural language questions about code, get explanations, or request fixes directly in your IDE or on GitHub.

  • Coding Agent (2025): Assign GitHub issues to Copilot, which autonomously creates a draft pull request by analyzing the codebase, running tests, and pushing changes—requiring human approval before merging.

  • Copilot CLI: Use Copilot from the command line to generate code, manage pull requests, or interact with GitHub repositories.

  • Model Choice (2024+): Users can choose between multiple large language models, including GPT-4, Claude 3.5 Sonnet, Gemini 2.0 Flash, and others.

  • Spaces & Context: Organize project-specific context (code, docs, specs) in Copilot Spaces to improve response relevance.

Pricing & Access

  • GitHub Copilot Free: A new limited-tier plan for individual developers (no subscription required), but with reduced functionality.

  • Copilot Pro: $10/month, includes unlimited requests, premium models, agent mode, and enhanced features.

  • Copilot Pro+: $20/month, adds advanced features like code review suggestions and enterprise-grade security.

  • Copilot Business & Enterprise: For teams and organizations, with centralized policy management and compliance controls.

Recent Updates (2026)

  • On March 14, 2026, GitHub updated its pricing page, confirming the Copilot Free tier and clarifying eligibility.

  • March 13, 2026: The GitHub Copilot website was updated with new content on AI-powered development.

  • March 17, 2026: Students are facing backlash after GitHub removed premium AI models from the free Student plan, prompting concerns about reduced access to advanced AI capabilities.

Getting Started

  • Install via the Visual Studio Marketplace, JetBrains Plugin, or GitHub’s official site.

  • Start with Copilot Free or try Pro for 30 days.

  • Use the Quickstart guide on GitHub Docs to set up Copilot in your IDE or terminal.

For full details, visit: github.com/features/copilot

🌐
GitHub
github.com › features › copilot
GitHub Copilot · Your AI pair programmer
4 days ago - Backed by the leaders in AI, GitHub Copilot provides contextualized assistance throughout the software development lifecycle, from inline suggestions and chat assistance in the IDE to code explanations and answers to docs in GitHub and more.
artificial intelligence tool for code autocompletion
github copilot cli
github copilot agent mode
github codespaces side by side terminal
GitHub Copilot is a code completion and programming AI-assistant developed by GitHub and OpenAI that assists users of Visual Studio Code, Visual Studio, Neovim, Eclipse and JetBrains integrated development environments (IDEs) by … Wikipedia
Factsheet
Developers GitHub
OpenAI
Initial release October 2021; 4 years ago (2021-10)
Stable release 1.7.4421
Factsheet
Developers GitHub
OpenAI
Initial release October 2021; 4 years ago (2021-10)
Stable release 1.7.4421
🌐
GitHub
docs.github.com › en › copilot › get-started › what-is-github-copilot
What is GitHub Copilot? - GitHub Docs
Learn what Copilot is and what you can do with it. ... GitHub Copilot is an AI coding assistant that helps you write code faster and with less effort.
Discussions

Is GitHub copilot taking over?
See it makes sense to have a fear for this that anyone who can chat with Ai and have some basic knowledge can build production grade apps/codes. But ig it's not that simple cause I'm myself a recent graduate working as a software engineer at a startup where my company has provided me Cursor AI and I use it heavily for working and it's almost do my majority job and I've to just make sure it doesn't break anything and debug and think, like I'm the sole person giving him instructions, things to take care of and guide him...now ofcourse I'm a junior dev so we grew up with a surge in technologies which had Ai assistance so in today's development world, the recent practice has degraded the core coding manual work by increase in efficient delivery and implementation which is debatable! But ig it's not that easy that anyone with access to ai and basic knowledge can replace you, cause you've to be accountable for any issues and problems...which only a person with a good amount of knowledge in that domain can solve and not some random guy with Ai knowledge. Even sometimes I'm scared that what if I am not able to implement something cause my workflow is 95% dependent on AI but then I understand that " I've to be more knowledgeable, better at context explaining, and faster debugging" so that I can outrun people who can replace me and always have knowledge in the tech stack you're working in. Hope you got something useful from what I said! More on reddit.com
🌐 r/developer
68
30
September 2, 2025
Is Github Copilot worth it?
Past month I was experimenting with GitHub Copilot and my conclusion is no. Features I was using: Autocomplete (completes code as you type) Chat Autocomplete is a disaster really. 90% of the time it’s a miss. All what it brought is distraction to the process. Chat is OK, but somehow just talking with ChatGPT is much faster and I tend to get better results out of it. What I liked is ability to switch between different models while using the same UI. Still looking for “perfect” setup for myself. Right now the best autocompletion I found is supermaven. I pair it with ChatGPT official UI with projects so context is there most of the time. More on reddit.com
🌐 r/ExperiencedDevs
25
0
May 27, 2025
Is it okay to use ChatGPT or GitHub Copilot for real dev work and professional projects?
i work at a real software company where we are encouraged to leverage AI in any way that can possibly make us more productive. AI is a part of life now. More on reddit.com
🌐 r/FlutterDev
44
30
May 26, 2025
anyone here still using GITHUB copilot over newer ai’s?
Me. For 10$ per month with Claude Sonnet 3.7 in agentic mode is a very good option compared to other alternatives I've tested. Am I missing something better at that price? More on reddit.com
🌐 r/ChatGPTCoding
84
30
May 18, 2025
People also ask

What is included in GitHub Copilot Free?

GitHub Copilot Free users are limited to 2000 completions and 50 chat requests (including Copilot Edits).

🌐
github.com
github.com › features › copilot
GitHub Copilot · Your AI pair programmer
What if I do not want GitHub Copilot?

GitHub Copilot is entirely optional and requires you to opt in before gaining access. You can easily configure its usage directly in the editor, enabling or disabling it at any time. Additionally, you have control over which file types GitHub Copilot is active for.

🌐
github.com
github.com › features › copilot
GitHub Copilot · Your AI pair programmer
How can I upgrade my GitHub Copilot Free license to Copilot Pro?

If you're on the Free plan, you can upgrade to Pro through your Copilot settings page or directly on the Copilot marketing page.

🌐
github.com
github.com › features › copilot
GitHub Copilot · Your AI pair programmer
🌐
Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org › wiki › GitHub_Copilot
GitHub Copilot - Wikipedia
2 weeks ago - GitHub Copilot is a code completion and programming AI-assistant developed by GitHub and OpenAI that assists users of Visual Studio Code, Visual Studio, Neovim, Eclipse and JetBrains integrated development environments (IDEs) by autocompleting code.
🌐
GitHub
docs.github.com › en › copilot
GitHub Copilot documentation - GitHub Docs
You can use GitHub Copilot to enhance your productivity and assist as you work on code.
Find elsewhere
🌐
GitHub
docs.github.com › en › copilot › get-started › plans
Plans for GitHub Copilot - GitHub Docs
GitHub Copilot Pro is designed for individuals who want more flexibility. This paid plan includes unlimited completions, access to premium models in Copilot Chat, access to Copilot coding agent, and a monthly allowance of premium requests.
🌐
Microsoft Azure
azure.microsoft.com › en-in › products › github › copilot
GitHub Copilot | Microsoft Azure
GitHub Copilot is an AI coding assistant that helps developers write code faster with less effort. It provides contextual assistance, offering coding suggestions as developers type, which could be a line completion or a whole new block of code. This helps developers focus more on problem-solving, ...
🌐
GitHub
docs.github.com › en › copilot › concepts › billing › individual-plans
About individual GitHub Copilot plans and benefits - GitHub Docs
GitHub offers three Copilot plans for individual developers, as well as a dedicated student offering, each designed to meet different needs based on your coding habits, interest in AI models, and desired level of flexibility.
🌐
GitHub
github.com › github › copilot-cli
GitHub - github/copilot-cli: GitHub Copilot CLI brings the power of Copilot coding agent directly to your terminal. · GitHub
5 days ago - GitHub Copilot CLI brings the power of Copilot coding agent directly to your terminal. - github/copilot-cli
Starred by 9.4K users
Forked by 1.3K users
Languages   Shell
🌐
GitHub
github.com › features › copilot › plans
GitHub Copilot · Plans & pricing
1 week ago - Backed by the leaders in AI, GitHub Copilot provides contextualized assistance throughout the software development lifecycle, from inline suggestions and chat assistance in the IDE to code explanations and answers to docs in GitHub and more.
🌐
GitHub
docs.github.com › en › copilot › get-started › quickstart
Quickstart for GitHub Copilot - GitHub Docs
You can use Copilot to get answers to coding-related questions, such as how best to code something, how to fix a bug, or how someone else's code works. For full details of what Copilot can do, see What is GitHub Copilot?.
🌐
GitHub
github.blog › home › news & insights › product › github copilot: meet the new coding agent
GitHub Copilot: Meet the new coding agent - The GitHub Blog
May 23, 2025 - GitHub Copilot has a new feature: a coding agent that can implement a task or issue, run in the background with GitHub Actions, and more.
🌐
GitHub
github.com › features › copilot › cli
GitHub Copilot CLI · GitHub
GitHub Copilot CLI reads, writes, and runs code where you work. Code faster, smarter, together.
🌐
Visual Studio Code
code.visualstudio.com › docs › copilot › overview
GitHub Copilot in VS Code
1 week ago - GitHub Copilot brings AI agents to Visual Studio Code. Describe what you want to build, and an agent plans the approach, writes the code, and verifies the result across your entire project.
🌐
GitHub
docs.github.com › en › copilot › get-started › best-practices
Best practices for using GitHub Copilot - GitHub Docs
Learn how to get the most out of Copilot. ... GitHub Copilot is an AI coding assistant that helps you write code faster and with less effort, allowing you to focus more energy on problem solving and collaboration.
🌐
GitHub
github.com › github-copilot › pro
GitHub Copilot Pro · Try free for 30 days
Get AI-based suggestions and answers to your questions with GitHub Copilot, your AI pair programmer. Try free for 30 days with unlimited access and extra perks.
🌐
GitHub
docs.github.com › en › copilot › get-started › features
GitHub Copilot features - GitHub Docs
A command line interface that lets you use Copilot from within the terminal. You can get answers to questions, or you can ask Copilot to make changes to your local files. You can also use Copilot CLI to interact with GitHub.com—for example, ...
🌐
GitHub
github.com › github › copilot-sdk
GitHub - github/copilot-sdk: Multi-platform SDK for integrating GitHub Copilot Agent into apps and services · GitHub
1 day ago - Embed Copilot's agentic workflows ... Copilot SDK exposes the same engine behind Copilot CLI: a production-tested agent runtime you can invoke programmatically....
Starred by 7.8K users
Forked by 982 users
Languages   TypeScript 26.6% | C# 23.8% | Python 23.3% | Go 18.1% | Shell 7.2% | JavaScript 0.7%
🌐
Microsoft
visualstudio.microsoft.com › github-copilot
Visual Studio With GitHub Copilot - AI Pair Programming
September 26, 2023 - Developers all over the world use Copilot to code faster and do what matters most: building great software. ... A fast way to get started with GitHub Copilot.