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AI Coding Assistant$10/month · Free for Students

GitHub Copilot

by GitHub (Microsoft) - the most widely used AI coding assistant

GitHub Copilot is the original mainstream AI coding assistant, used by over 1.8 million developers. It integrates into VS Code, JetBrains IDEs, Vim/Neovim, and GitHub.com. It offers inline completions, a chat panel with slash commands, and Copilot Workspace for agentic PR-level tasks.

Made by

GitHub / Microsoft

Individual

$10/month

Business

$19/user/month

Free tier

Students & OSS

Works in

VS Code, JetBrains, Vim

GPT-5.5, Claude, Gemini

⚡ Install & Setup (VS Code)

Get a Copilot subscription

Go to github.com/features/copilot → Start free trial (30 days free). Students: apply at github.com/education for free access.

Install the extensions

VS Code Extensions → search "GitHub Copilot" → install it. Then search "GitHub Copilot Chat" and install that too (separate extension).

VS Code will prompt you to sign in with GitHub. Authorize in the browser. Your subscription activates automatically.

Configure your model

Copilot Settings → Model → choose GPT-5.5, Claude Sonnet 4.6, or Gemini 3.5. You can switch per task.

Enable Copilot Edits (optional)

View → Copilot Edits to enable multi-file agentic editing. This is Copilot's answer to Cursor Composer.

🚀 Core Features & How to Use Them

① Inline Completions

Start typing - ghost text appears. Tab to accept, Esc to dismiss, Alt+] to see next suggestion.

# fetch user data with retry logic and exponential backoff
async def fetch_user(user_id: str):
# ← Copilot writes the full implementation

② Chat Panel Slash Commands

/explain

Explain selected code in plain English

/fix

Find and fix a bug in selection

/tests

Generate unit tests for selection

/doc

Add JSDoc/docstring comments

/optimize

Suggest performance improvements

/new

Scaffold a new file or component

③ Copilot Edits (Multi-File Agentic Mode)

View → Copilot Edits → describe a task spanning multiple files:

"Add rate limiting to all POST endpoints. Use express-rate-limit with 100 requests per 15 minutes per IP. Add the middleware in app.ts."

Copilot Edits plans the changes, shows diffs across files, and lets you review and accept each one.

⌨️ Key Shortcuts

Accept suggestionTab

Next suggestionAlt+]

Previous suggestionAlt+[

Open Chat panelCtrl+Cmd+I (Mac)

Inline EditCmd+I / Ctrl+I

Trigger suggestionAlt+\

💡 Pro Tips

Free for students: Verify at github.com/education - includes Copilot + other GitHub Pro features
Use @workspace in chat to ask about your entire project: "@workspace where do we handle auth?"
Copilot works in JetBrains (IntelliJ, WebStorm, PyCharm) - install from the JetBrains Marketplace
Switch models per task: use Claude Sonnet 4.6 for analysis, GPT-5.5 for coding, a reasoning model for hard math/logic
Add a .github/copilot-instructions.md file to set project-wide instructions for Copilot

⚖️ Which Coding Tool Should I Pick?

The current tool is highlighted. There is no single winner - pick by how you like to work.

Tool	Type	Pricing	Best for	Models / AI
GitHub Copilot(this page)	IDE extension	Free tier; Pro ~$10/mo	AI in your existing editor	GPT-5.5, Claude Sonnet 4.6, Gemini 3.5
Cursor	AI IDE (VS Code fork)	Hobby free; Pro $20/mo	All-round AI editor + agent	GPT-5.5, Claude Opus 4.8 / Sonnet 4.6
Windsurf	AI IDE (VS Code fork)	Free tier; paid plans	Agentic flows (Cascade)	Frontier models + own
Google Antigravity	Agent-first IDE	Free public preview	Autonomous build + browser test	Gemini 3.5
Claude Code (CLI)	Terminal agent	Claude sub or API	Agentic coding in the terminal	Claude Opus 4.8 / Sonnet 4.6 / Haiku 4.5
VS Code + AI ext	Editor + extensions	Free options exist	Keep VS Code, add AI	Depends on extension

Pricing and model support change often. Verified June 2026 - confirm on each tool's official site.

🛠️ Troubleshooting & Common Pitfalls

⚠ No suggestions showing

Confirm the Copilot extension is installed and enabled, you are signed in to GitHub, and your subscription / free tier is active for that language.

⚠ Copilot Chat is missing

Update the Copilot and Copilot Chat extensions - chat needs the latest versions.

⚠ Free-tier limits hit

The free tier caps completions and chat per month. Upgrade to Pro, or use a free alternative like the Windsurf plugin.

⚠ Wrong model is being used

Copilot Settings → Model lets you switch (GPT-5.5, Claude Sonnet 4.6, Gemini 3.5) per task.

📚 Related Course Lessons

Go deeper on the skills this tool is for:

L38 - AI Tools Landscape →L39 - Inline Code Completion →L40 - AI Chat for Development →L42 - Debugging with AI →

🔗 Official Resources

Copilot home ↗Overview + sign up Documentation ↗VS Code, JetBrains, CLI, chat Plans & pricing ↗Free, Pro, Business, Enterprise VS Code extension ↗Install in VS Code Changelog ↗Copilot product updates

Links open the official sites. Pricing and features change often - always confirm there. (Verified June 2026.)

→ Compare: Cursor → Compare: Windsurf → Compare: Claude Code CLI