GitHub Copilot: Pricing, Features & vs Cursor and Claude Code

Update (9 Nov 2026): Claude Fable 5.2 and Mythos 5.2 are out - prices, access and benchmarks are in my Claude Fable 5.2 guide.

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GitHub Copilot is a coding assistant from GitHub and Microsoft: it suggests code in your editor, answers questions about your project, and since 2025 can write changes and open pull requests autonomously. It’s not the same as Microsoft Copilot in Word and Windows, though they share a name. In this article: what you get for free, how much the plans cost, how Copilot compares to Cursor and Claude Code, and where to start. We checked the details on September 18, 2026 at github.com/features/copilot; prices are in USD net.

What GitHub Copilot Does in 2026

Four things. Inline suggestions: it completes lines and entire functions as you type. Code chat: you ask about a snippet, file, or whole project and get explanations or fixes. Agent mode in the editor: you describe a task, Copilot edits multiple files, runs tests, and fixes errors while you approve. Coding agent in GitHub: you assign it an issue like a team member, and it writes code in the background and opens a pull request for review. You choose the model from a list: OpenAI, Claude from Anthropic, or Gemini from Google.

GitHub Copilot Pricing

Verified students, teachers, and maintainers of popular open-source projects get Pro for free. The catch is the AI credit pool, which replaced premium requests on June 1, 2026: more expensive models consume it faster, and once depleted, chat and agents stop until the end of the month unless you enable overage charges at $0.01 per credit.

GitHub Copilot vs Cursor vs Claude Code

Copilot wins on entry price (Pro at $10 is half the cost of Cursor Pro) and the fact that you stay in your own editor: VS Code, JetBrains, Neovim, Xcode, or even the terminal. Cursor is a separate editor with an agent that sees the whole project and in agent mode is usually faster and more capable. Claude Code is a terminal agent for large changes in existing code, with the best quality for refactors. In practice, Copilot Free or Pro is the cheapest way to test whether AI in your editor helps you at all; a comparison on one task is in our article Copilot vs Claude Code.

How to Start in 15 Minutes

Log in to GitHub, enable Copilot in your account settings (Free doesn’t require a card), install the extension in VS Code or JetBrains, and open a project. The first three things we do: ask chat to explain the project structure, add an instructions file for Copilot (.github directory, copilot-instructions.md file) with team conventions, and enable agent mode on a small, well-tested task. Without an instructions file, Copilot guesses code style and requires more corrections.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is GitHub Copilot free?

The Free plan is free with a monthly limit on suggestions and messages. Students and teachers can get Pro at no cost after verification.

Is GitHub Copilot the same as Microsoft Copilot?

No. GitHub Copilot is for developers and works in code editors; Microsoft Copilot is an assistant in Windows, Office, and the Edge browser. They share an owner and a name.

Does Copilot work in other languages?

Yes, chat understands and responds in multiple languages, and will write comments in whatever language you request. Code suggestions are language-agnostic.

Sources checked September 18, 2026: github.com/features/copilot (plans and pricing), GitHub Docs documentation on Copilot plans and coding agent, our own tests in VS Code.

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