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GitHub Copilot

GitHub Copilot is the market's oldest commercial AI coding assistant - technical preview launched June 29, 2021, GA on June 21, 2022. Developed by GitHub Inc. (Microsoft subsidiary since 2018 - $7.5B acquisition) in partnership with OpenAI, which delivered the first-generation model (Codex based on GPT-3). Today GitHub Copilot serves over 20 million active users (GitHub Q4 2025 data) and more than 90,000 organisations, including 90% of the Fortune 100. The product is platform-agnostic (the user chooses from a palette of models: Claude, GPT-5.5, Gemini, Grok, GitHub's own model) and positions itself as a neutral developer tool with deliberate selection of the best model for the task.

Base mode: code auto-completion (tab completions, ghost text) in the editor. The model predicts the next lines of code based on context (current file, neighbouring files in the project, entire repo code for Copilot Business and up). Extended with Next Edit Suggestions - the model predicts not only line completion but a sequence of consistent edits across multiple files (e.g. after renaming a function, it points to every place in the project where the import + calls need to be updated).

Chat and agent modes: Copilot Chat - dialogue with the model in an IDE panel (VS Code, JetBrains, Visual Studio, Xcode, Neovim). Model choice per query: Claude Sonnet 4.5/Opus, GPT-5.5, Gemini 2.5, Grok 4.5, GitHub's own model. Agent Mode (since October 2024, GA February 2025) - an interactive agent executing tools (terminal, file edits, tests) in a plan-execute-verify loop under user supervision. Copilot Coding Agent (since May 2025) - an autonomous cloud agent: receives a GitHub Issue, works independently in an isolated environment (GitHub Actions runner), commits changes, and opens a Pull Request. Does not require an open IDE.

Related features on the GitHub platform: Copilot Autofix (since August 2024) - automatic fix suggestions for GitHub Code Scanning alerts (CodeQL, Dependabot, secret scanning). Reduces mean remediation time from days to minutes. Copilot Code Review (GA March 2025) - an AI reviewer leaves inline Pull Request comments like a regular reviewer, flagging bugs, security holes, and code smells. Copilot Extensions (third-party marketplace, GA April 2025) - vendors like Datadog, Sentry, Jira, Docker, MongoDB, Stack Overflow, Azure DevOps add their own tools available from the Copilot chat without leaving the editor.

Positioning and competition: Cursor (Anysphere) - an IDE-first alternative, historically oriented toward Anthropic/Claude, with a well-solved Composer/Agent UX; Claude Code (Anthropic) - terminal-first, quality leader on Sonnet 4.5/Opus; Codex CLI (OpenAI) - OpenAI's terminal-first agent with GPT-5.5; Grok Build (xAI) - terminal-first agent with Grok 4.5, the cheapest option; Windsurf (acquired by Cognition in 2025). GitHub Copilot stands out with: (a) availability inside every IDE instead of a dedicated editor, (b) the deepest integration with the GitHub platform (Issues, Pull Requests, Actions, Code Scanning), (c) enterprise-grade offering (SSO/SAML, SCIM, audit logs, IP indemnity, DPA), (d) the largest selection of selectable models in a single system. Weaknesses: onboarding barriers (from April 2026 new Pro/Pro+/Student sign-ups are temporarily paused), historical concerns about anti-competitive dependence on OpenAI models (now eased by the multi-model palette).

IDE extensionWeb appMobile appCLIFreeFreemiumPaidEnterpriseSeat-based

Released 29 Jun 2021Updated 15 Jul 2026Global · Global

Visit website API documentation

Overview

System type

Input

TextDocuments

Output

TextCodeStructured dataSummaries

Access & Pricing

PUBLIC

Access channels

IDE extension

Plugin for an IDE (VS Code, JetBrains, etc.).

Web app

Access via web browser with no installation required.

Mobile app

Native app for iOS or Android.

CLI

Access via command-line interface.

Availability scope

Global

GitHub Copilot is available globally. From April 20, 2026 new sign-ups for Pro, Pro+ and Student plans are temporarily paused. From April 22, 2026 new self-serve Copilot Business sign-ups for organizations on GitHub Free and GitHub Team plans are temporarily paused.

Subscription model

FreeFreemiumPaidEnterpriseSeat-based

Pricing

Updated 1 May 2026Official pricing

Free plan ($0): 50 agent/chat requests and 2,000 completions per month. Pro ($10/user/month): 300 premium requests, unlimited chat with GPT-5 mini and unlimited inline suggestions. Pro+ ($39/user/month): 1,500 premium requests, access to all models, GitHub Spark. Business and Enterprise plans are priced individually with sales.

CategoryPlanUnitInputCachedOutput

Inference

50 agent mode/chat requests per month, 2,000 completions per month. No credit card required.

standardflat$0—$0

Inference

$10/user/month. 300 premium requests, unlimited agent mode/chat with GPT-5 mini, unlimited inline suggestions.

standardflat$10——

Inference

$39/user/month. 1,500 premium requests per month. Access to all models (Claude Opus 4.7 and others), GitHub Spark.

standardflat$39——

Inference

Additional premium requests beyond the monthly plan limit are billed at $0.04 per request.

usage basedreq.$0.04——

Capabilities

10 capabilities

Reasoning & Planning

Agency & Action

Task Specialization

Integrations

Connected apps

GitHub

Code hosting and collaboration platform with Git version control.

Visual Studio Code

Microsoft's open-source code editor, the world's most popular IDE (74% of developers in the Stack Overflow 2024 survey). GitHub Copilot works as a native extension with full Agent Mode and Chat integration.

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JetBrains IDEs

JetBrains' family of professional IDEs: IntelliJ IDEA (Java/Kotlin), PyCharm (Python), WebStorm (JS/TS), Rider (.NET), PhpStorm, GoLand, RubyMine, RustRover. Copilot provides a plugin for all of them.

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Microsoft Teams

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Slack

Active

Jira

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Docker

Application containerisation platform: environment definition (Dockerfile), packaging (image), execution (container). The Docker Copilot Extension generates Dockerfiles, chooses base images, and resolves build errors.

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Sentry

Error tracking and performance monitoring platform for web/mobile/backend applications. The Sentry Copilot Extension pulls production error stacks and suggests concrete fixes in the developer's code.

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Datadog

Infrastructure monitoring and observability platform (logs, metrics, traces, APM, RUM). The Datadog Copilot Extension pulls data from production dashboards into the prompt and suggests debugging steps.

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Stack Overflow

The world's largest Q&A platform for developers (58M questions, 24M users, 2024). The Stack Overflow Copilot Extension (OverflowAI) searches vetted SO answers directly from the editor.

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MongoDB

Popular NoSQL / document store database, natively replicated and sharded. The MongoDB Copilot Extension writes Query API queries, aggregations, indexes, and schema migrations from a natural-language description.

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Azure DevOps

Microsoft's DevOps suite: Repos (git hosting), Pipelines (CI/CD), Boards (kanban), Test Plans, Artifacts. Copilot integrates natively into Azure DevOps Boards and Pipelines for enterprise customers.

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Product features

System tools

Ecosystem

Related technologies

AI Agents (Autonomous Agents)

Applications

CodingWorkflow automationQ&A / Question answering

Available on platforms

Microsoft Azure AI Foundry

Security & Enterprise

Security source

Enterprise Access

SAML SSO (Okta, Entra ID, Ping, Google Workspace, custom SAML 2.0 IdP) + SCIM 2.0 provisioning. Groups synced from IdP, Just-in-Time provisioning, role-based access (Owner, Admin, Manager, Member, Outside Collaborator).

Audit Logs

GitHub Audit Log API covers Copilot activity: subscription changes, seat management, policy changes, model choices per organization, extension installs. Streaming to SIEM (Splunk, Datadog, Sumo Logic).

Compliance Controls

SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001, ISO 27017, ISO 27018, ISO 22301, PCI DSS, HIPAA (GitHub Enterprise Cloud + BAA), FedRAMP Moderate (since October 2024), GDPR, CCPA. Trust Center: github.trust.page.

Encryption Controls

TLS 1.3 in transit, AES-256 at rest. All API endpoints HTTPS-only. Secrets in user files are protected by the public code filter (Copilot does not suggest code containing secrets patterns).

Data Residency

GitHub Enterprise Cloud with data residency (EU: Ireland since January 2024, Australia since June 2025, US always). Copilot inherits the region from the GitHub Enterprise Cloud tenant.

Private Networking

Copilot Extensions can be private (not public in the marketplace) and available only inside the tenant. IP allowlist at the GitHub Enterprise Cloud level covers access to the Copilot API.

Compliance Controls

Copilot Copyright Commitment - GitHub covers legal costs in the event of third-party copyright claims relating to suggested code, provided the customer enables the public code filter (code referencing).

GitHub Copilot Business and Enterprise do not use customer data to train models. SAML SSO, audit logs, IP indemnity, access policy management, file exclusions and a Data Protection Agreement (DPA) supporting GDPR are available. The public code (code referencing) filter detects and blocks suggestions that match public code on GitHub.

Notes

Upd. 1 May 2026

Key enterprise safeguards: (1) SAML SSO + SCIM provisioning for Copilot Business/Enterprise. (2) IP indemnification (Copilot Copyright Commitment) - GitHub covers legal costs in the event of copyright claims vs suggested code, provided the customer enables the public code filter (code referencing). (3) Data Protection Agreement supporting GDPR and CCPA. (4) File exclusions - the admin can exclude files/directories (e.g. secrets, PII) from Copilot indexing and suggestions. (5) Policy controls - per-organization vs per-user control: chat access, frontier model access, MCP access, public code referencing access. (6) Zero training - Business/Enterprise data is NOT used to train models (Free/Pro plans may be used, opt-out is available). (7) Audit logs in GitHub Enterprise Cloud/Server cover Copilot activity (subscription changes, model choices, extension installs). Infrastructure: SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001, FedRAMP Moderate (since 2024), TLS 1.3 in transit, AES-256 at rest.