# GitHub Copilot > Source: https://agentsindex.ai/github-copilot GitHub's AI coding agent for editors, the terminal, GitHub.com and a desktop app. - Best for: Software developers who want faster coding help inside their editor and GitHub workflow. Starting price Free From [github.com/features/copilot/plans](https://github.com/features/copilot/plans), checked 27 October 2026 - MCP server Yes - API Yes - Open source Yes - Self-host Not stated What we checked - Pages last read: 27 October 2026 - Facts checked: 5 facts From 6 sources - AI answers: Named in 1 of 62 Buyer questions, our November check [How we check](https://agentsindex.ai/methodology) [Editorial policy](https://agentsindex.ai/editorial-policy#not-for-sale) [Visit GitHub Copilot](https://agentsindex.ai/go/github-copilot) [Compare](https://agentsindex.ai/compare?cat=coding-agents&products=github-copilot) ## What is GitHub Copilot? GitHub Copilot is an AI coding assistant for developers and engineering teams that helps write, explain, review, and secure software inside GitHub and popular IDEs. It includes AI code suggestions, chat assistance, code completion, code review, custom agent management, and advanced security features, with integrations across Visual Studio Code, JetBrains IDEs, Slack, Jira, Azure DevOps, and GitHub Actions. GitHub says it serves 83 million developers across 200 million repositories, and customers include Shopify, Duolingo, and Microsoft. Plans run Free, Pro $4/month, Team $21/month, and Enterprise custom. ## Copilot is now a set of agents, not an autocomplete The product GitHub sells under the Copilot name spans five surfaces: the editor extensions for VS Code, Visual Studio, JetBrains, Eclipse and Xcode, a terminal CLI, a desktop app, github.com and GitHub Mobile, and a cloud agent that works on a repository without a developer present. The marketing page frames it as ["Your AI accelerator for every workflow, from the editor to the enterprise"](https://github.com/features/copilot). The capabilities differ by surface. In an editor you get inline suggestions, inline chat and agent mode. On github.com you can [assign work to Copilot and it creates a pull request](https://github.com/features/copilot/plans), and the cloud agent can research and plan "with or without a pull request". In the terminal, Copilot CLI makes and commits changes locally or on GitHub and exposes a programmatic mode. Pull request review and the cloud agent are the two features the free plan does not include. ## Pricing is a flat plan plus a credit meter There are four individual tiers and two organization tiers. Free is $0, Pro is $10 a month, Pro+ is $39 and Max is $100; [Copilot Business is $19 per granted seat per month and Copilot Enterprise $39](https://docs.github.com/en/copilot/get-started/plans). The plan price is only half the bill. Agent mode, code review, the cloud agent, the CLI and chat all consume GitHub AI Credits, and the plans page states total credit values of $15, $70 and $200 a month against the $10, $39 and $100 prices, split into base credits and a "flex allotment" that GitHub says "may change over time". Pro and above may purchase additional credits; Free may not. Credit consumption varies by model, which means the same plan costs different amounts of capability depending on whether a developer reaches for a Haiku or an Opus class model. Organization credits behave differently again: GitHub describes [included AI credits as shared org-wide with admin controls for spending](https://github.com/features/copilot/plans), and shows pooled usage as not included on any individual plan. ## The free plan is a real plan with a named ceiling Copilot Free is a standing $0 plan rather than a trial. It carries an allowance of AI credits, restricts model choice to [auto model selection only](https://docs.github.com/en/copilot/get-started/plans), and caps inline suggestions at 2,000 completions a month. Copilot Chat skills in IDEs are explicitly not available on it. Two eligibility conditions matter. Free is "only available to individual developers who don't have access to Copilot through an organization or enterprise", and verified students, teachers and maintainers of popular open source projects can get paid-tier access at no cost. A developer whose employer has a Business seat cannot fall back to Free. ## GitHub runs its own MCP server, and Copilot consumes others Agents reach GitHub through the GitHub MCP Server, which GitHub publishes itself. The remote endpoint is `https://api.githubcopilot.com/mcp/` and is [hosted by GitHub](https://github.com/mcp/github/github-mcp-server), with OAuth or a personal access token for authentication, an insiders channel at `/mcp/insiders`, and a local Docker image at `ghcr.io/github/github-mcp-server` for hosts that do not support remote servers. GitHub Enterprise Cloud with data residency is supported at a `copilot-api..ghe.com` host; GitHub Enterprise Server is not, and the docs state Copilot is not currently available for GitHub Enterprise Server at all. The server is documented for hosts beyond Copilot, including Claude Desktop and Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, Windsurf and Zed, so the GitHub tools are usable by agents that are not GitHub's. In the other direction, [integration with MCP servers is included on every Copilot plan](https://github.com/features/copilot/plans) for agent mode, and from Pro upward for the cloud agent. GitHub also operates the MCP Registry at [github.com/mcp](https://github.com/mcp), a catalogue of community servers with one-click install, which is a discovery surface rather than part of the Copilot subscription. ## Models come from three vendors and are gated by tier Copilot is a client over other companies' models. The plan documentation lists Anthropic Claude, Google Gemini and OpenAI GPT families side by side, with availability differing per tier: Claude Sonnet and Haiku class models are available on Pro, while the Opus class models and several Gemini and GPT variants are marked not included on Pro and included on Pro+ and Max. Free and Student get auto model selection only. The practical consequence is that a model named on the marketing site is not necessarily a model your plan can select, and the [tier-by-tier model table](https://docs.github.com/en/copilot/get-started/plans) is the only place that settles it. Copilot can also delegate tasks to third-party coding agents including Claude and Codex, which GitHub marks as a preview and as not included on Free or Pro. ## Open source covers the clients, not the service Parts of Copilot are published under permissive licenses. The VS Code Copilot Chat extension is [MIT licensed](https://github.com/microsoft/vscode-copilot-chat), though that repository is archived with development moved into the main VS Code repository, and the GitHub MCP Server is a public Go project with a published Docker image. The hosted Copilot service, the prompts and the model routing are not published, and no license is offered for them. That matters for anyone evaluating Copilot as infrastructure rather than as a subscription: the client is inspectable and forkable, the thing doing the work is not. ## Programmatic access is administrative, not inference GitHub publishes [REST API endpoints for Copilot](https://docs.github.com/en/rest/copilot?apiVersion=2022-11-28) covering usage metrics, user and seat management, content exclusion rules and cloud agent repository settings. These are management APIs: they let a platform team provision seats, pull adoption metrics and exclude paths from Copilot's context. For driving the agent itself the path is Copilot CLI, which the plans page lists with a programmatic mode included on every tier, including Free. A team that wants Copilot inside its own build pipeline is scripting the CLI, not calling a completions endpoint. ## Where it fits, and where it does not The fit is strongest where the work already lives in GitHub: issues, pull requests, Actions runs and reviews are the objects Copilot's agents act on, and the MCP server exposes exactly those. App modernization for Java and.NET is included from Pro upward, which points at the same buyer. It fits less well in three cases. Teams on GitHub Enterprise Server are excluded, since Copilot is not currently available there. Buyers who need a predictable monthly figure face a credit meter with a flex allotment GitHub reserves the right to change. And anyone wanting to call a model directly rather than through an editor, CLI or the cloud agent is looking at the wrong product: the published APIs manage Copilot, they do not serve completions. ## How much does GitHub Copilot cost? Prices excluding tax, as GitHub Copilot publishes them. - Free · Free - 2,000 completions and 50 chat requests a month - Pro · $10/month - Pro+ · $39/month - Max · $100/month - Business · See GitHub - Enterprise · See GitHub [![GitHub Copilot](https://agentsindex.ai/img/1024/screenshots/github-copilot/pricing.webp)](https://agentsindex.ai/img/1920/screenshots/github-copilot/pricing.webp) Pricing page, captured 18 October 2026 [github.com/features/copilot/plans](https://github.com/features/copilot/plans), checked 27 October 2026 ## For AI agents - MCP server: Yes - API: Yes ## What we checked on GitHub Copilot Yes Partly No What it costs to start Yes ### What the price counts Individual plans are flat per-user monthly subscriptions, from $10 for Pro, and each paid plan also carries a monthly allowance of GitHub AI Credits that agent, review and CLI work consumes, with extra credits purchasable on paid plans. > $10 USD per user / month Plans & Pricing, For individuals, Pro plan card price cell [github.com/features/copilot/plans](https://github.com/features/copilot/plans) Checked 27 October 2026 What it costs to start Yes ### Free tier The free Copilot plan includes the CLI with an allowance of AI credits, so you can install and run it without talking to anyone. > Copilot CLI is included as a core feature of all GitHub Copilot plans (Free, Pro, Pro+, Max, Business, and Enterprise). FAQ, 'Who can access GitHub Copilot CLI?' [github.com/features/copilot/cli](https://github.com/features/copilot/cli) Checked 24 October 2026 How you build with it Yes ### Public API Programmatic mode drives the agent from your own scripts with a single prompt argument, and it can authenticate with a fine-grained personal access token. > To use the CLI programmatically, include the -p or --prompt command-line option in your command. Modes of use, Programmatic interface [docs.github.com/en/copilot/concepts/cop…](https://docs.github.com/en/copilot/concepts/copilot-surfaces/copilot-cli) Checked 24 October 2026 How you build with it Yes ### MCP server It ships with GitHub's MCP server enabled and connects to custom MCP servers, so it acts as an MCP client rather than a server other agents call. > the coding agent ships with GitHub's MCP server by default and supports custom MCP servers to extend capabilities README, Introduction and Overview, MCP-powered extensibility bullet [github.com/github/copilot-cli](https://github.com/github/copilot-cli) Checked 24 October 2026 How you build with it Yes ### Open source Source is public on GitHub under Apache 2.0, and the vendor invites code contributions and community extensions. > We welcome contributions! Gemini CLI is fully open source (Apache 2.0), and we encourage the community to: README, Contributing section [github.com/google-gemini/gemini-cli](https://github.com/google-gemini/gemini-cli) Checked 24 October 2026 ## GitHub Copilot alternatives - [Hyper](https://agentsindex.ai/hyper) · The team behind Hyper runs this listing · Autonomous engineering agent that tests each delivery in a real browser on its servers and ships it with evidence. · Free, then $20 a month Checked 11 Nov · Featured Freemium Free trial · [Visit](https://agentsindex.ai/go/hyper) - MCP server - API - Open source - Self-host - GitHub Copilot and Hyper | GitHub Copilot | Free, then $10 a seat a month | 27 Oct | | --- | --- | --- | | [Hyper](https://agentsindex.ai/hyper) | Free, then $20 a month | 11 Nov | ## Where we've written about GitHub Copilot - [Hyper review (2026): an autonomous coding agent that ships verified pull requests](https://agentsindex.ai/blog/hyper-review-autonomous-coding-agent) - [AI coding agents compared: what each one is actually good at](https://agentsindex.ai/blog/ai-coding-agents-what-each-is-good-at) ## Questions about GitHub Copilot - How much does GitHub Copilot cost?: GitHub Copilot has a free plan. From github.com/features/copilot/plans, checked 27 October 2026. - Does GitHub Copilot have an API or an MCP server?: It has an API. It has an MCP server. - Is GitHub Copilot open source, and can you host it yourself?: It is open source. - What have we checked on GitHub Copilot?: 5 facts, under these headings: What it costs to start, how you build with it. - How do we check GitHub Copilot?: We hold 5 facts on GitHub Copilot, quoted from 6 pages. Facts and price last checked 27 October 2026. Last change found 18 October 2026. [How we check every listing](https://agentsindex.ai/methodology) ## Sources and changes Last changed 18 October 2026 Sources 6 - Read 27 October 2026 · [github.com](https://github.com/features/copilot/plans) /features/copilot/plans - Read 24 October 2026 · [docs.github.com](https://docs.github.com/en/copilot/concepts/copilot-surfaces/copilot-cli) /en/copilot/concepts/copilot-surfaces/copilot-cli - Read 26 October 2026 · [docs.github.com](https://docs.github.com/en/copilot/get-started/plans) /en/copilot/get-started/plans - Read 24 October 2026 · [github.com](https://github.com/features/copilot/cli) /features/copilot/cli - Read 24 October 2026 · [github.com](https://github.com/github/copilot-cli) /github/copilot-cli - Read 24 October 2026 · [github.com](https://github.com/google-gemini/gemini-cli) /google-gemini/gemini-cli Repository What changed on this page 1 - 18 October 2026 Price ## Similar to GitHub Copilot [See all in Coding agents](https://agentsindex.ai/categories/coding-agents) - [ERIUS PHONE](https://agentsindex.ai/eriusphone) A dedicated virtual Android phone per AI agent, with Google Play apps and sign-ins that persist between sessions. From about $45 a month - [TinyFish](https://agentsindex.ai/tinyfish) One web layer for agents: free search and fetch, plus hosted browsers and goal-driven web automation. Free plan, then $0.002 per minute - [UI Discovery](https://agentsindex.ai/uidiscovery) Library of real website and app UI sections, queryable by AI assistants over MCP and a REST API. Free plan, then $15 a month - [ClineFlow](https://agentsindex.ai/clineflow) Git-native project memory and handoffs for coding agents. Free plan ## From our research [All research](https://agentsindex.ai/blog) - [Comparison](https://agentsindex.ai/blog/daytona-vs-e2b-vs-modal) 16 Oct 2026 Daytona vs E2B vs Modal: which sandbox for agent code? Daytona, E2B and Modal compared on sandbox pricing, concurrency, GPU support and open-source status, plus why Daytona's flagship repo is now archived. - [Buyer's guide](https://agentsindex.ai/blog/erius-phone-ai-agent-android-device) 9 Oct 2026 ERIUS PHONE review (2026): pricing, pros and cons ERIUS PHONE rents AI agents real cloud Android phones they drive by API, priced monthly per phone in euros, but it offers no webhooks. - [Buyer's guide](https://agentsindex.ai/blog/superbot-pricing-use-cases-alternatives) 22 Oct 2026 superbot review (2026): pricing, pros and cons, alternatives superbot runs errands, admin and scheduled tasks on your computer, free to start with paid credit plans, for busy people, but promises no uptime. ## Is this yours? Claim it free, then see who reads this page and carry the verified owner mark. 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