GitHub Copilot is an AI coding assistant built into GitHub and popular development environments. It can suggest code while you type, answer questions about a codebase, review changes, and work on assigned development tasks.

What is GitHub Copilot?

GitHub Copilot is a developer tool from GitHub. It combines code completion, chat, review, and agent features across editors, the command line, GitHub.com, and dedicated Copilot applications. Available capabilities depend on the plan, client, and organization policies.

What can it do?

Copilot can generate inline code suggestions, explain unfamiliar code, propose edits and refactors, help write tests, review pull requests, and work through multi-step tasks. Its agent features can inspect a repository, edit files, run tools, and prepare changes for human review.

Where can you use it?

GitHub documents support across GitHub.com, code editors, the command line, mobile, and the Copilot app. The exact features vary between environments, so a feature available in one editor may not be available everywhere.

Plans and pricing

GitHub offers Free, Pro, Pro+, Max, Business, and Enterprise plans. The official pricing page lists Free at $0, Pro at $10 per month, Pro+ at $39, and Max at $100 for individuals. Organization plans add administration and policy controls. Usage allowances and supported models can change, so the official plan table is the reference point.

Strengths and limitations

Copilot fits directly into common developer workflows and can use repository context. It also offers multiple models and agent workflows. However, generated code still requires review: suggestions may be incorrect, insecure, or poorly matched to a project. Plan limits, model access, and feature availability also vary.

Privacy and data

GitHub states that individual subscribers can control whether their data is used for AI model training in Copilot settings. Organizations have additional policy controls. Teams handling confidential code should review GitHub’s current privacy statement, Copilot policies, and organizational settings before adoption.

In short

GitHub Copilot is a broad AI development assistant rather than only an autocomplete tool. It is most useful when developers treat its output as a draft to inspect, test, and approve.