- What is GitHub Copilot?
- GitHub Copilot is an AI coding assistant from GitHub that plugs into editors such as VS Code, JetBrains and Neovim.
- What does it do?
- Suggests inline code completions as you type and answers questions about the open file or repo in a chat panel. Also does agent-style multi-file edits, pull request summaries and terminal command help in supported editors.
- Who is it for?
- Developers who want completion and chat without leaving their editor, and teams already standardised on GitHub. Less useful if you want a terminal-driven agent.
- What are the alternatives to GitHub Copilot?
- Cursor and Windsurf are full editors built around AI; Supermaven concentrates on fast completion; Continue.dev and Cody by Sourcegraph are extensions that let you choose the model; Aider works in the terminal.
Top alternatives
Smaller, founder-led tools that quietly compete with GitHub Copilot.
OSS AI code assistant.
Open-source extension you point at your own models, local or hosted.
Free OSSOSS
AI with codebase context.
Strong on monorepo-scale context.
$9/seat/mo (Pro)
Terminal pair programmer.
Works in the terminal against your Git history instead of inside the editor.
OSS