Is GitHub Copilot Free Now?

GitHub Copilot, unveiled with new advancements at GitHub Universe, has transformed from an autocomplete assistant into a powerful AI coding agent. It is reshaping how developers write, review, and manage code. Below is a detailed look at its features, pricing, and how it compares with tools like ChatGPT.

Is GitHub Copilot Free Now?

GitHub Copilot is available in different pricing tiers, including a Free Plan, a Pro Plan, and a Pro+ Plan.

1. The Free Plan includes limited requests in Agent Mode or chat, access to GPT-4.1, and Claude Sonnet 3.5. It is a good starting point for individual developers.

   
   

2. The Pro Plan costs $10/month (or $100/year) and provides unlimited completions, unlimited agent mode, GPT-5 mini, and additional features such as code review.

   
   

3. The Pro+ Plan costs $39/month (or $390/year) and offers full access to all models, including GPT-5, Claude Opus, and Google Gemini 2.5 Pro, along with significantly higher usage limits.

   
   

Students, teachers, and maintainers of popular open-source projects are eligible to use Copilot Pro at no cost.

What is GitHub Copilot Used For?

GitHub Copilot is an AI-powered development assistant integrated into popular IDEs such as Visual Studio Code, Visual Studio, JetBrains IDEs, Xcode, and others. Its key uses include:

1. Code Completion: Suggests context-aware lines of code and functions to speed up development.

   
   

2. Agent Mode: Allows developers to assign issues to Copilot, which can then plan, code, test, and create pull requests automatically.

   
   

3. Multi-Model Chat: Enables developers to choose between models such as GPT-5, Claude, and Gemini depending on whether speed or depth is needed.

   
   

4. Code Review: Detects bugs, suggests optimizations, and ensures clean code before human review.

   
   

5. Next Edit Suggestions: Helps maintain consistency across projects by analyzing ripple effects of code changes.

   
   

6. Copilot Spaces: Organizes project-specific resources like documentation, notes, and code for context-aware answers.

   
   

In short, GitHub Copilot is used to accelerate coding tasks, automate repetitive work, improve code quality, and support collaborative development.

How Good is Copilot Compared to ChatGPT?

GitHub Copilot and ChatGPT serve overlapping but distinct purposes. Both use advanced AI models, but they are optimized differently:

1. GitHub Copilot is designed specifically for software development workflows. It integrates directly with repositories, IDEs, and GitHub Actions. Copilot goes beyond text generation—it can plan, write, test, and validate code across projects. Its ability to work with repository context makes it function more like a coding teammate than a general chatbot.

   
   

2. ChatGPT, including advanced versions like GPT-5, is a general-purpose conversational AI. It can help with brainstorming, debugging, or explaining concepts, but it does not natively integrate with GitHub, IDEs, or project-specific workflows in the same way Copilot does.

   
   

In practical terms, GitHub Copilot is better suited for real-time coding assistance and automation, while ChatGPT excels at explanations, ideation, and broad technical discussions. Many developers use both tools together: Copilot for day-to-day coding tasks and ChatGPT for deeper understanding or exploring alternative approaches.

What is GitHub Copilot?

GitHub Copilot transforms the developer experience by providing contextualized assistance throughout the software development lifecycle. Backed by the leaders in AI, it supports developers with code completions, chat assistance within the IDE, explanations of code, and direct answers from documentation on GitHub. The aim is to help developers spend less time on repetitive coding and more time on solving problems and innovating.

Developers who use GitHub Copilot report up to 75% higher job satisfaction and are up to 55% more productive when writing code, without sacrificing quality. The tool integrates with widely used editors including Visual Studio Code, Visual Studio, JetBrains IDEs, and Neovim, and is natively built into GitHub. With millions of individual users and tens of thousands of businesses adopting it, GitHub Copilot is the world’s most widely used AI developer tool.

Who is Eligible to Access GitHub Copilot for Free?

GitHub Copilot Free is a new tier with limited functionality available to individual developers. However, users who already have access through Copilot Business or Copilot Enterprise are not eligible. Those with Copilot Pro via a paid subscription, trial, or through existing verified OSS, student, or faculty accounts may opt to use the Free plan if they prefer.

This ensures that anyone—from hobbyists to professionals—can get started with Copilot at no cost, while more advanced features are available in paid tiers.

What Languages, IDEs, and Platforms Does GitHub Copilot Support?

GitHub Copilot has been trained on source code from public repositories across many programming languages. The quality of suggestions depends on how well-represented a language is in training data. For example, JavaScript is among the best-supported languages due to its wide use in open-source projects, while languages with fewer examples may provide less robust suggestions.

Copilot is available as an extension in:

• Visual Studio Code

• Visual Studio

• JetBrains IDEs

• Vim and Neovim

• Azure Data Studio

• GitHub CLI

Chat functionality is supported in Visual Studio Code, JetBrains IDEs, and Visual Studio, as well as in GitHub Mobile. With the Enterprise plan, GitHub Copilot also integrates directly into GitHub.com.

Does GitHub Copilot Copy and Paste Code?

No. GitHub Copilot does not copy and paste code from repositories. Instead, it uses probabilistic models to generate context-aware suggestions based on the code you are writing. The AI does not contain or replicate specific codebases—it analyzes your editor context, such as nearby code, open files, and dependencies, to predict the most relevant next line or function.

When used in chat mode, Copilot combines your prompt with contextual information such as framework, language, and repository details to generate meaningful answers. Similarly, when used on GitHub.com, Copilot incorporates repository data and search information to respond.

GitHub Copilot Plans – Business, Enterprise, and Individual

GitHub Copilot offers different tiers depending on whether it is used by organizations or individual developers:

• Copilot Business: Provides code completion and chat in IDEs, CLI, and GitHub Mobile. Designed for organizations that require collaborative workflows.

• Copilot Enterprise: Includes everything in Business, with additional customization and integration into GitHub.com. It can index an organization’s codebase for deeper context and offers access to fine-tuned, private models.

• Copilot Individual: Created for solo developers, freelancers, students, and open-source maintainers. Includes most features of Business but without license or policy management.

  
  

Training Data

GitHub Copilot is powered by generative AI models developed in collaboration with GitHub, OpenAI, and Microsoft. It has been trained on public code repositories and natural language text. Importantly, while trained on this data, it does not store or reproduce code directly.

GitHub Copilot Autofix

GitHub Copilot Autofix is a feature included with GitHub Advanced Security. It provides contextual explanations of vulnerabilities and generates suggested code fixes, making security remediation faster and more efficient.

Opting In or Out of Copilot

GitHub Copilot is optional and requires user consent before activation. Developers can enable or disable it at any time within their editor and can control which file types it is active for. This flexibility ensures teams and individuals maintain full control over its usage.

Managing Copilot in Organizations

For companies, access to GitHub Copilot Business or Enterprise is controlled by GitHub Administrators. They can manage policies, control feature availability, and set organizational preferences. Network firewalls can also be used to allow or block specific tiers of Copilot, ensuring compliance with company requirements.

How Good is Copilot Compared to ChatGPT?

While GitHub Copilot and ChatGPT share advanced AI capabilities, they serve different purposes:

• GitHub Copilot is built for coding workflows. It integrates into IDEs, GitHub.com, and organizational repositories, making it highly effective for real-time development and project-wide code automation.

• ChatGPT is a general-purpose conversational AI. It is excellent for explanations, ideation, and technical discussions, but it does not integrate natively with GitHub or automate repository tasks.

In practice, Copilot is the superior choice for day-to-day coding and software development, while ChatGPT is better suited for conceptual guidance and brainstorming.

Quickstart Guide to GitHub Copilot

GitHub Copilot is an AI-powered coding assistant designed to help developers write code faster, debug more efficiently, and understand existing code with ease. Whether you want quick code suggestions, bug fixes, or explanations of complex logic, Copilot integrates seamlessly into your development workflow.

This quickstart guide will walk you through the steps of getting started with GitHub Copilot and making the most of its features.

Step 1: Sign Up for GitHub Copilot

To use Copilot, you’ll need a personal GitHub account. Depending on your needs, you can:

• Start with Copilot Free – Explore limited features without subscribing.

• Upgrade to Copilot Pro or Pro+ – Unlock advanced models, higher request limits, and additional capabilities.

Learn more about plan options: Plans for GitHub Copilot.

Step 2: Accessing GitHub Copilot

Copilot works across multiple environments. You can use it in:

• JetBrains IDEs

• Visual Studio

• Visual Studio Code

• Web browser (GitHub.com)

• Windows Terminal

This guide focuses on using Copilot directly in GitHub.com.

Step 3: Ask Your First Question in GitHub

1. Open a repository on GitHub and navigate to a file.

2. Click the Copilot icon in the top-right corner of the file view.

3. Type a question in the “Ask Copilot” box at the bottom of the chat panel and press Enter.

Examples of questions you can try:

1. Explain this file.

2. How could I improve this code?

3. How can I test this code?

Copilot will respond directly in the panel.

Step 4: Continue the Conversation

You can ask follow-up questions to refine Copilot’s responses.Example: after receiving an explanation, type “Tell me more” to get a deeper breakdown.

Step 5: Explore Other Use Cases

GitHub Copilot Chat is versatile. You can also:

1. Ask general software development questions.

2. Get insights into a repository or knowledge base.

3. Understand pull request changes, issues, or specific commits.

   
   

Step 6: Next Steps with Copilot

1. Use Copilot in your IDE → Code completions and inline suggestions.

2. Learn prompt engineering → Craft better questions for improved results.

3. Try GitHub Mobile → Access Copilot Chat on the go.

4. Use on the Command Line → Interact with Copilot directly via GitHub CLI.

Conclusion

GitHub Copilot in 2025 is no longer just an autocomplete tool; it is evolving into a full AI-powered coding agent. With its ability to handle project-wide changes, review code, and integrate seamlessly into developer environments, it has become an essential productivity tool for modern software teams. While ChatGPT remains valuable for general-purpose reasoning and explanations, Copilot distinguishes itself by being purpose-built for coding.

For developers considering whether GitHub Copilot is worth it, the Free Plan provides a strong introduction, while the Pro and Pro+ tiers unlock its full potential. Whether you are working on solo projects or collaborating in large teams, GitHub Copilot offers a significant advantage in software development.