GitHub Copilot

GitHub Copilot is the AI pair programmer from GitHub and Microsoft, and by the numbers it is the default AI coding tool: around 50 million users as of mid-2026, 4.7 million paid subscribers, and roughly 72 million installs of the VS Code extension. It offers inline code completions, multi-file chat and agent mode, an autonomous Coding Agent that takes a GitHub issue and opens a draft pull request, Copilot code review, and a terminal-native Copilot CLI. Since 2025 it supports model choice across OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google models.

The honest picture: GitHub moved Copilot to usage-based AI credits in June 2026, so heavy agent sessions now burn metered credits on top of the subscription — a long Claude agent session can eat most of a Pro plan's monthly allowance. The Stack Overflow 2025 survey found 66% of developers frustrated by AI answers that are 'almost right,' and Copilot's agentic depth still trails Cursor on complex multi-file refactors. Its real moat is ecosystem breadth: PRs, Actions, and code scanning all flow through the GitHub account you already have.

Install the Copilot extension in VS Code, JetBrains, or Neovim, or enable it on github.com. Free tier includes 2,000 completions a month; Pro is $10/month with $15 of monthly AI credits; Pro+ ($39), Max ($100), Business ($19/seat), and Enterprise ($39/seat) add more credits and controls.