Alternatives · checked 7 November 2026 · by Guilherme Jovanovic
Best GitHub Copilot alternatives
GitHub Copilot is GitHub's AI coding assistant for code completion, chat, agents and code review, working inside VS Code, JetBrains and other editors, on GitHub, and in a CLI.
Free $0 (2,000 completions/mo, limited chat and agent use); Pro $10/mo; Pro+ $39/mo; Max $100/mo; chat and agent usage on paid plans is drawn from monthly GitHub AI Credits. Source
Quick Answer: GitHub Copilot alternatives
If Copilot's AI Credits run out too fast, the answer depends on what you use. For agent work with costs you control, Cline and OpenCode are free and open source and use your own keys or local models. For a flat monthly price, Claude Code (Claude Pro, $20/mo) or OpenAI Codex (in ChatGPT plans from $8/mo) cover usage under a subscription. If you mostly want completions, Zed Pro gives unlimited edit predictions for $10/mo.
Why people leave GitHub Copilot
Token-based AI Credits run out fast.
After the June 2026 switch to usage-based billing, one Pro+ user burned about 8% of a month's credits in two hours, another spent over $6 on a single change request, and a Reddit user used 16% of a Pro+ allowance in one session. theregister.com
No more fallback to a cheaper model when credits are gone.
Under the old premium-request system, Copilot could fall back to a lower-cost model once requests ran out; GitHub's changelog says fallback experiences are no longer available, so usage is limited by remaining credits and budgets. github.blog
Costs are hard to predict.
Each request is priced by model, by how much context is sent and by response size, so the same prompt can cost very different amounts; users told The Register this makes budgeting difficult. theregister.com
Code review costs twice.
Copilot code review now consumes GitHub Actions minutes in addition to AI Credits. github.blog
7 alternatives, and who each one suits
Listed by use case, not by who pays us. Prices from each tool's official pricing page.
- Best for
- Developers who want to see and control exactly what each request costs: the open-source agent is free for individuals, runs in VS Code and JetBrains like Copilot, and bills only through your own provider keys or a local model.
- Fixes
- Credits running out; no fallback (switch to a cheaper or local model yourself); unpredictable costs.
- Skip it if
- You want inline tab completions included; Cline is an agent, not an autocomplete tool.
- 02
Claude Code
Pro $20/mo ($17/mo billed annually); Max $100/mo; Ultra $200/mo; Team from $20/seat/mo annually source- Best for
- Developers who mainly used Claude in Copilot: Claude Pro at $20/mo covers Claude Code usage under a subscription instead of per-token credits, in the terminal, VS Code, JetBrains, a desktop app and the web.
- Fixes
- Per-token credit drain; unpredictable costs (flat monthly price).
- Skip it if
- You want several model vendors; Claude Code runs Claude models only, and it has five-hour and weekly limits.
- 03
OpenAI Codex
Free (limited); Go $8/mo; Plus $20/mo; Pro from $100/mo; Business $20/user/mo annually source- Best for
- Developers who mainly used GPT models: Codex is included with ChatGPT plans (CLI, IDE extension, desktop app and cloud), so you may already be paying for it.
- Fixes
- Per-token credit drain; unpredictable costs (flat monthly price).
- Skip it if
- You want Claude models or inline tab completions.
- 04
Cursor
Free; Plus $8/mo (Grok only); Premium $30/mo; Super $100/mo; Ultra $200/mo; Teams from $30/user/mo source- Best for
- Developers who want a full AI editor with completions and agents included in a weekly pool, and are fine with Grok models; Plus is $8/mo.
- Fixes
- Credit drain for Grok users; no fallback (Grok usage is in the plan pool).
- Skip it if
- You mainly use Claude or GPT; in Cursor they are billed at API list price on top of a $30/mo or higher plan, which has the same per-token problem.
- 05
Devin Desktop (formerly Windsurf)
Free; Pro $20/mo; Max $200/mo; Teams $80/mo + $40 per dev seat source- Best for
- Developers who want an AI editor with OpenAI, Anthropic and Google models in the plan quota rather than per-token credits; Pro is $20/mo and Free includes unlimited tab completions.
- Fixes
- Per-token credit drain; unpredictable per-request costs.
- Skip it if
- You work in long bursts; daily and weekly quotas have locked out heavy users.
- Best for
- Developers who want unlimited edit predictions at a fixed $10/mo, or a free editor that uses their own API keys and runs agents like Codex via ACP.
- Fixes
- Credit drain (completions are unlimited on Pro); unpredictable costs (usage billed at list price + 10%, visible per token).
- Skip it if
- You rely on VS Code or JetBrains extensions; Zed is a separate editor.
- Best for
- Terminal users who want an open-source (MIT) agent that works with 200+ providers and local models, and can start on free models with no account.
- Fixes
- Credits running out (choose cheaper or free models); unpredictable costs.
- Skip it if
- You want editor completions; OpenCode is an agent for the terminal, desktop and mobile.
Sponsored alternative
Building an alternative to GitHub Copilot? This labelled spot, kept apart from the list above, is open. How sponsorship works
GitHub Copilot alternatives: questions
Is GitHub Copilot still free?
What is cheaper than GitHub Copilot?
What happens when my Copilot credits run out?
Which Copilot alternative has a flat monthly price?
Checked 7 November 2026. Checked 2026-11-07. Prices read from official pricing pages on that date. Copilot's plans page lists monthly AI Credits as $15 for Pro ($10 base + $5 'flex'), $70 for Pro+ and $200 for Max, with flex described as variable; GitHub's April 2026 changelog said each plan's credits equal its price, so the current page was used. Business ($19/user/mo) and Enterprise ($39/user/mo) prices come from the April 2026 changelog, not the plans page. Visual Studio Magazine (Aug 2026) and Notebookcheck coverage returned 403 and were not used. The Register's figures are user reports, not GitHub data. How we choose and how we make money: disclosure.
Sources (16)
- https://github.com/features/copilot/plans
- https://github.blog/changelog/2026/04/27/github-copilot-is-moving-to-usage-based-billing/
- https://www.theregister.com/ai-and-ml/2026/06/02/github-copilot-users-threaten-exit-as-metered-billing-kicks-in/5249826
- https://cline.bot/pricing
- https://cline.bot/
- https://claude.com/pricing
- https://code.claude.com/docs/en/overview
- https://learn.chatgpt.com/docs/pricing
- https://learn.chatgpt.com/docs
- https://cursor.com/pricing
- https://devin.ai/pricing
- https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/windsurf.com?page=2
- https://zed.dev/pricing
- https://zed.dev/
- https://opencode.ai/
- https://github.com/Aider-AI/aider