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GitHub Copilot Alternatives 2026: 8 Options for Solo Devs and Teams
GitHub Copilot now meters chat and agents in AI Credits. Eight alternatives for solo devs and teams, from Cursor to Claude Code, every price dated.
10 min read
Prices checked Oct 15, 2026 on each company’s official pricing page (linked in every section and listed under Sources). No affiliate links on this page (how we work).
Looking at GitHub Copilot alternatives? Start with what changed. Copilot Pro is still $10/mo, but chat, agent mode, code review, the cloud agent and the CLI now draw down GitHub AI Credits, at $0.01 a credit. Code completions and next edit suggestions don’t use credits and stay unlimited on paid plans (Copilot plans, checked Oct 15, 2026; full history on our Copilot price tracker). So if you mostly tab-complete, you’re probably fine. If you live in agent mode, it’s worth pricing the alternatives. And $10 isn’t the floor anymore: Cursor Plus and ChatGPT Go are both $8.
Here are eight. We haven’t tested them head to head, so this isn’t a quality ranking. It’s prices, plans and what each vendor says you get.
TL;DR: the best Copilot alternative by situation
- Cheapest paid plans: Cursor Plus, $8/mo (Grok models only), or Codex with ChatGPT Go, $8/mo (OpenAI pitches Go at “lightweight coding tasks”).
- Claude-first: Claude Code with Claude Pro, $20/mo ($17/mo billed annually).
- GPT-first: Codex with ChatGPT Plus, $20/mo.
- Teams: Codex Business or Claude Team Standard, both $20/seat billed annually, or Gemini Code Assist Standard at $19/user annually. The full seat table is below.
- JetBrains users: Gemini Code Assist lists JetBrains IDEs. Cline’s JetBrains extension is Enterprise only.
- Open source: Cline is free (you pay for inference). Zed is free for personal use with your own keys.
What Copilot costs now, and how the credits work
From GitHub’s plans page and plans docs, checked Oct 15, 2026 (full history on our Copilot tracker):
- Free: $0, 2,000 completions a month plus an AI-credit allowance GitHub doesn’t size (details).
- Pro: $10/mo. Pro+: $39/mo. Max: $100/mo. Each plan’s base credits match its price, and a “flex allotment” on top “may change over time”.
- Business: $19 per granted seat per month. Enterprise: $39. Seat credits go into a shared pool, and usage beyond it costs $0.01 per credit.
For the full credits math (what each plan’s pool covers, overage and the monthly reset), see what GitHub Copilot really costs.
That’s a reasonable system once you’ve read it twice. The trouble is the reading twice. A credit is worth exactly one cent, and the page still needs a base row, a flex row and a total row to explain it. Kevin from The Office had a rule about using few words when few words do the trick. Somebody at GitHub should hear it.
GitHub Copilot alternatives compared
All prices are USD per month, checked Oct 15, 2026. “Not stated” means the pricing page doesn’t say.
| Tool | Free tier? | Cheapest paid | Team seat | Usage metered by | Editors | Models listed | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Copilot (reference) | Yes | Pro $10 | Business $19 | AI Credits ($0.01) | VS Code, Visual Studio, JetBrains, Neovim, Xcode, Eclipse, CLI | Claude, GPT, Gemini, Grok | github.com |
| Cursor | Yes, limited | Plus $8 | From $30 | Shared pool, refreshes weekly; other labs billed by usage | Cursor editor, CLI | Grok; others extra on Premium+ | cursor.com |
| Claude Code | No Claude Code on Free | Pro $20 ($17 annual) | $25 ($20 annual) | 5-hour sessions + weekly limits | Not stated | Claude | claude.com |
| OpenAI Codex | Yes, limited | Go $8 | $25 ($20 annual) | Plan limits; API key option | Web, CLI, IDE extension, iOS, desktop app | GPT | learn.chatgpt.com |
| Devin Desktop | Yes, light quota | Pro $20 | $80 + $40/seat | Daily and weekly quota | Devin Desktop, CLI | OpenAI, Claude, Gemini, SpaceXAI, open source | devin.ai |
| Gemini Code Assist | Individual tier moved to Antigravity | Standard $22.80 ($19 annual) | Same | Per-user licence | VS Code, JetBrains, Cloud Workstations, Cloud Shell, CLI | Gemini | codeassist.google |
| Amazon Q Developer | Yes, 50 agentic requests | Pro $19/user | $19/user | Agentic request limits | IDE plugins, CLI | Claude | aws.amazon.com |
| Zed | Yes, with your own keys | Pro $10 | Business $30 | $5 tokens, then API list +10% | Zed editor | Hosted models or your own keys | zed.dev |
| Cline | Yes, free extension | No subscription | Enterprise: custom | You pay for inference, or bring your own key | VS Code, CLI; JetBrains on Enterprise | Any supported provider | cline.bot |
The eight Copilot alternatives
Cursor
What it is: An AI code editor, sold inside The X Subscription since Oct 12 (our Cursor pricing breakdown). Price (checked Oct 15, 2026): Free $0, Plus $8, Premium $30, Super $100, Ultra $200. Teams start at $30/user (Cursor pricing, tracker). Included usage: A shared usage pool that refreshes weekly. Plus is Grok-only. On Premium and up, third-party models are “billed separately by usage”. Editors: Its own editor, plus a CLI. Who it’s for: Grok users who want a full AI editor. The catch: Its answer to the Copilot price war was joining a social network bundle. If you want Claude, read our Cursor alternatives piece first.
Claude Code (via Claude plans)
What it is: Anthropic’s coding agent, included in paid Claude plans. Price (checked Oct 15, 2026): Pro $20, or $17 billed annually. Max from $100. Team Standard $25/seat ($20 annual), Team Premium $125 ($100 annual) (Claude pricing, tracker). Included usage: A rolling five-hour window, plus weekly limits on paid plans, shared with Claude chat. There’s no fixed message count. Our Claude Code pricing guide has the detail. Editors: The pricing page doesn’t list them. Who it’s for: Claude-first developers. The catch: It’s an agent, not an editor, and “how much do I get?” has no exact answer.
OpenAI Codex (via ChatGPT plans)
What it is: OpenAI’s coding agent, included with ChatGPT plans. Price (checked Oct 15, 2026): Free $0, Go $8, Plus $20, Pro from $100 ($100/$200/$500). Business is $20/user billed annually (2+ users), or $25 monthly (Codex pricing, tracker). Included usage: Plan limits. You can also pay by API key. Editors: Plus covers the web, the CLI, the IDE extension and iOS. Who it’s for: GPT users, and small teams. The catch: Go is pitched at “lightweight coding tasks”, so to replace Copilot Pro+, start at Plus.
Devin Desktop (formerly Windsurf)
What it is: The editor formerly called Windsurf (what changed). Price (checked Oct 15, 2026): Free $0, Pro $20, Max $200. Teams is $80/mo plus $40 per full dev seat, up to 200 users (Devin pricing, tracker). Included usage: Daily and weekly quotas. Extra usage is billed at API pricing. Editors: Devin Desktop and the CLI. Who it’s for: People who want a Cursor-style editor with several labs’ models on one plan. The catch: Individual plans jump straight from $20 to $200.
Gemini Code Assist
What it is: Google’s coding assistant for businesses. Price (checked Oct 15, 2026): Standard is $22.80/user monthly, or $19 with an annual commitment. Enterprise is $54 monthly, or $45 annually (Gemini Code Assist pricing). Included usage: Per-user licences. Editors: VS Code, JetBrains IDEs, Cloud Workstations and Cloud Shell Editor, plus Gemini CLI. Who it’s for: Teams on Google Cloud, and JetBrains shops. The catch: It isn’t a free pick anymore. Google’s banner says the unpaid individual tier’s “Gemini CLI and Gemini Code Assist IDE extensions were replaced by Antigravity CLI and Antigravity on June 18th 2026.”
Amazon Q Developer
What it is: AWS’s coding assistant. Price (checked Oct 15, 2026): The Free Tier is $0 and Pro is $19/user/mo (Amazon Q Developer pricing). Included usage: Free gets 50 agentic requests a month, and Pro has higher limits. Both list the latest Claude models. Editors: IDE plugins and the CLI. The pricing page doesn’t name the IDEs. Who it’s for: AWS teams. AWS’s newer Kiro IDE is another option, at Free, Pro $20, Pro+ $40, Pro Max $100 and Power $200 per user/mo (Kiro pricing). The catch: Free Tier limits in the IDE only apply to Builder ID users.
Zed
What it is: An open-source code editor with optional AI. Price (checked Oct 15, 2026): Personal $0, Pro $10, Business $30/seat. There’s a 14-day Pro trial (Zed pricing). Included usage: Personal is unlimited with your own keys or external agents. Pro includes $5 of tokens, then bills at API list price +10%. Editors: Zed only. Who it’s for: People who want a new editor and already pay a model provider. The catch: You’re switching editors, not just assistants.
Cline
What it is: An open-source coding agent. Price (checked Oct 15, 2026): Free for individuals. You pay only for inference, and Enterprise is custom (Cline pricing). Included usage: None bundled. Bring your own keys, or buy inference through Cline. Editors: VS Code and the CLI. JetBrains is an Enterprise feature. Who it’s for: VS Code users who want to pay model makers directly. The catch: No plan, no cap. Your bill is whatever your provider charges.
Best Copilot alternatives for teams and businesses
Per seat, per month, checked Oct 15, 2026:
| Option | Monthly billing | Annual billing | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Copilot Business / Enterprise | $19 / $39 | Not stated | Credits pooled across the org (docs) |
| Codex (ChatGPT Business) | $25 | $20 | 2+ users |
| Claude Team Standard / Premium | $25 / $125 | $20 / $100 | Includes Claude Code |
| Gemini Code Assist Standard / Enterprise | $22.80 / $54 | $19 / $45 | Annual means an upfront commitment |
| Amazon Q Developer Pro | $19 | Not stated | Includes IP indemnity |
| Devin Desktop Teams | $80/mo + $40/seat | Not stated | Up to 200 users |
| Zed Business | $30 | Not stated | No bundled AI credits |
JetBrains AI also sells team plans, but its prices load through JavaScript and we couldn’t read them, so see the current price.
We meant to list Tabnine here too. Its pricing URL now redirects to a Tricentis “contact us” page. A pricing page that answers “how much?” with “let’s talk” isn’t a pricing page. It’s a lead form with a nice URL.
Which one should you pick?
If you’re solo and on VS Code, stay on Copilot Pro if you mostly autocomplete, since completions don’t touch credits. If you’re agent-heavy, move to Claude Pro or ChatGPT Plus ($20 each) for whichever model you prefer. If you’re buying 20 seats, compare Copilot Business ($19) against Codex Business and Claude Team Standard ($20 annual each). And if you need JetBrains support for everyone, Gemini Code Assist Standard ($19 annual) states it on its page. More side by side in our AI coding tools comparison.
Staying with GitHub? Copilot Pro vs Pro+ explains whether the $39 plan is worth it.
Staying with Copilot at work? Copilot Business vs Enterprise covers the org plans. Comparing free options? See Is Gemini Code Assist free?
Weighing Copilot against a ChatGPT subscription? Copilot Pro vs ChatGPT Plus for coding compares price, limits and IDE support.
FAQ
What is the best alternative to GitHub Copilot? It depends on your model: Claude Code via Claude Pro ($20/mo) for Claude users, Codex via ChatGPT Plus ($20/mo) for GPT users, and Cursor Plus ($8/mo) if Grok-only is fine.
Is there a free alternative to GitHub Copilot? Yes. Copilot Free itself allows 2,000 completions a month plus an unsized AI-credit allowance. Cline is free (you pay for inference), Zed Personal is free with your own keys, Amazon Q Developer Free has 50 agentic requests a month, Kiro Free has 50 credits, and Devin Desktop Free has a light quota.
Is Cursor better than GitHub Copilot? We haven’t tested them head to head. On price, Cursor Plus is $8/mo with Grok models only, and Copilot Pro is $10/mo with Claude, GPT, Gemini and Grok models listed.
Is Claude Code better than GitHub Copilot? We haven’t tested them head to head. On price, Claude Code comes with Claude Pro at $20/mo ($17/mo billed annually) and works as an agent rather than an editor, while Copilot Pro is $10/mo and runs inside VS Code, JetBrains and other editors.
What are GitHub AI Credits and how much do they cost? They’re how Copilot meters chat, agents, code review and the CLI. One credit is $0.01, and code completions don’t use credits on paid plans.
What is the best Copilot alternative for JetBrains IDEs? Gemini Code Assist lists JetBrains IDEs such as IntelliJ, PyCharm, GoLand and WebStorm, and Cline offers a JetBrains extension on its Enterprise plan. Copilot itself also supports JetBrains.
Is Gemini Code Assist still free? Google’s page says that for the unpaid individual tier, “Gemini CLI and Gemini Code Assist IDE extensions were replaced by Antigravity CLI and Antigravity on June 18th 2026.” The business plans start at $19/user/mo billed annually.
Sources
- GitHub Copilot plans: https://github.com/features/copilot/plans (checked 2026-10-15)
- GitHub Docs, Copilot plans: https://docs.github.com/en/copilot/get-started/plans (checked 2026-10-15)
- Cursor pricing: https://cursor.com/pricing (checked 2026-10-15)
- Claude pricing: https://claude.com/pricing (checked 2026-10-15)
- OpenAI Codex pricing: https://learn.chatgpt.com/docs/pricing (checked 2026-10-15)
- Devin pricing: https://devin.ai/pricing (checked 2026-10-15)
- Gemini Code Assist pricing: https://codeassist.google/products/business (checked 2026-10-15)
- Amazon Q Developer pricing: https://aws.amazon.com/q/developer/pricing/ (checked 2026-10-15)
- Kiro pricing: https://kiro.dev/pricing/ (checked 2026-10-15)
- Zed pricing: https://zed.dev/pricing (checked 2026-10-15)
- Cline pricing: https://cline.bot/pricing (checked 2026-10-15)
- JetBrains AI store: https://www.jetbrains.com/store/ai/ (checked 2026-10-15)
- Tabnine pricing (redirects to Tricentis contact page): https://www.tabnine.com/pricing/ (checked 2026-10-15)