Alternatives to GitHub Copilot
The AI pair programmer default
GitHub Copilot ranks #5 of 11 in AI coding assistants, with an Alt Score of 82. It is proprietary, freemium from $10/month and available on Web, Windows, macOS and Linux. 8 of 10 checklist rows are verified against a public source.
Software developers and engineering teams working in supported IDEs (VS Code, Visual Studio, JetBrains, Neovim, Eclipse) or on GitHub.com, from individual hobbyists and students to businesses and enterprises.
Inline code completions and whole-function suggestions as you type. A chat interface for asking questions, explaining code, and getting recommendations. Agent mode that can autonomously plan, explore a repository, and execute multi-step code changes. Automated pull request review that flags code quality and security issues.
Copilot runs on generative AI models built by GitHub, OpenAI, and Microsoft, trained on public source code; it analyzes surrounding context (open files, nearby code, repository contents) to generate new, non-retrieved code suggestions in real time. It integrates directly into IDEs and GitHub.com via extensions, with code completions unlimited on paid plans and chat/agent features metered through GitHub AI Credits.
Where GitHub Copilot stands out
Verified capabilities most alternatives don't have.
Why people leave GitHub Copilot
Dashed reasons are sourced facts; the rest are opinions. Vendors can dispute.
Sign in to add a reason — new reasons go through moderation before appearing.
Ranked alternatives
Ordered by Alt Score. Click any score to see the breakdown.
Tabby (TabbyML) is an open-source AI coding assistant built to run entirely on a team's own infrastructure, serving code completion and chat from locally hosted or self-hosted open-weight models with.
Cline is an open-source AI agent that plugs into VS Code and JetBrains, giving models full terminal access, file editing, and browser automation via Playwright under a human-in-the-loop Plan/Act workf.
Kilo (formerly branded Kilo Code) is an open-source AI coding agent combining features from Cline and Roo Code into one platform, running as a VS Code/JetBrains plugin, a CLI, and a cloud agent.
Aider is an open-source (Apache-2.0) command-line AI coding assistant created by Paul Gauthier that treats git as the system of record, generating a commit for every accepted change.
Amp is Sourcegraph's coding agent, rebranded from Cody in 2026 after Sourcegraph discontinued Cody's individual/Pro plans in favor of an enterprise-only Cody.
Feature comparison
Rows come from the AI coding assistants checklist (14 rows). Human-verified cells only. ? means the value has not been verified.
| AI coding assistants checklist | GitHub Copilot | Tabby | Cline | Amazon Q Developer | Kilo | Aider |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | ||||||
| Starts at | ||||||
| License | ||||||
| Platforms | ||||||
| Editor integrations | ||||||
| Autocomplete | ||||||
| Chat with codebase context | ||||||
| Agentic edits | ||||||
| Local model support | ||||||
| Self-hostable | ||||||
| Free tier limits | ||||||
| Privacy: code retention policy | ||||||
| Terminal / CLI use | ||||||
| Multi-file refactors |
Every fact and feature listed for GitHub Copilot is verified against its own pages. Each alternative is sourced on its own page.
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Pricing model Freemium verified 2026-07-10
2,000 completions per month
https://github.com/features/copilot/plans -
Starts at $10/month verified 2026-07-10
$10 USD per month
https://docs.github.com/en/copilot/about-github-copilot/plans-for-github-copilot -
License Proprietary verified 2026-07-10
An active GitHub Copilot subscription
https://docs.github.com/en/copilot/how-tos/copilot-cli/set-up-copilot-cli/install-copilot-cli -
Platforms Web, Windows, macOS, Linux verified 2026-07-10
GitHub Copilot is available as an extension in Visual Studio Code, Visual Studio, Vim, Neovim, the JetBrains suite of IDEs, and Azure Data Studio.
https://github.com/features/copilot -
Status active verified 2026-07-10
© 2026 GitHub, Inc.
https://github.com/features/copilot -
Editor integrations Yes verified 2026-07-10
GitHub Copilot is available as an extension in Visual Studio Code, Visual Studio, Vim, Neovim, the JetBrains suite of IDEs, and Azure Data Studio.
https://github.com/features/copilot -
Autocomplete Yes verified 2026-07-10
Unlimited code completion and next edit suggestions
https://github.com/features/copilot/plans -
Chat with codebase context Yes verified 2026-07-10
GitHub Copilot creates a contextual prompt by combining your prompt with additional context including previous prompts, the open pages on GitHub.com as well as retrieved context from your codebase or
https://github.com/features/copilot -
Agentic edits Yes verified 2026-07-10
Assign tasks to agents like Copilot, Claude by Anthropic, and OpenAI Codex, and let them plan, explore, and execute work autonomously
https://github.com/features/copilot -
Free tier limits Yes verified 2026-07-10
2,000 completions per month
https://github.com/features/copilot/plans -
Privacy: code retention policy Yes verified 2026-07-10
GitHub does not use either Copilot Business or Enterprise data to train its models
https://github.com/features/copilot/plans -
Terminal / CLI use Yes verified 2026-07-10
AI that works where you do, whether in your editor, on the command line, or across GitHub.
https://github.com/features/copilot -
Multi-file refactors Yes verified 2026-07-10
Edit files in your workspace in agent mode
https://github.com/features/copilot
FAQ
Yes. Tabby, Amazon Q Developer and Kilo have a free tier or are fully free. Free-tier limits in the comparison table are verified and dated.
Tabby, Cline and Kilo — every license claim links its source.