Copilot is an editor assistant that grew an agent. Claude Code is an agent with no autocomplete. Copilot also runs Claude's models, so the real choice is the meter: Copilot sells credits at published token prices, Claude Code runs on a flat Claude plan whose allowance Anthropic never states.
also searched as: claude code vs github copilot · github copilot vs claude code · claude code vs copilot · copilot vs claude code · claude vs github copilot · github copilot vs claude · claude code or github copilot
Pick Claude Code if an agent writes most of your code for hours a day, you already pay for Claude, or your repos are not on GitHub, because a flat Claude plan absorbs heavy agent use that Copilot bills token by token.
Pick GitHub Copilot if you mostly want fast completions in your editor with an agent for the occasional task, your code lives on GitHub, or you want Claude and GPT models side by side without a second subscription.
Pick neither if you cannot read the code either one writes, because both assume someone checks the diff before it merges, and an app builder that hosts the result is the honest tool then.
prices checked 2026-10-13 · by dan scutaru
| Claude Code | GitHub Copilot | |
|---|---|---|
| price | from $20/mo | free tier · from $10/mo |
| free tier | None. Claude's Free plan does not include Claude Code. | 2,000 code completions per month plus a limited, unpublished allowance of AI credits for chat, agent mode and the CLI. Automatic model selection only, no cloud agent, no pull request reviews. |
| runs on | web, ios, android, mac, windows, linux, api | web, mac, windows, linux, ios, android |
| top individual plan | Claude Max, $100 (5x Pro) or $200 (20x) | Copilot Max, $100 with $200 of credits |
| what the entry plan buys | No number. A 5-hour and a weekly limit, shared with Claude chat | 1,500 AI credits ($15 of usage) plus unlimited completions |
| past the limit | Wait for the reset, or usage credits at API rates | $0.01 per credit, a cheaper model, or wait for the 1st |
| models | Claude only | Claude, OpenAI, Google, xAI and more. Free gets auto selection only |
| inline code completions | None | Unlimited on paid plans, 2,000 a month on Free |
| trains on individual plans | Only if you allowed it (then kept up to 5 years) | Free, Pro and Pro+, unless you opt out |
Copilot is cheaper to start and dearer to run hard. Pro is $10 for 1,500 AI credits, which is $15 of usage, and completions cost no credits. It bills Claude Opus 5.5 at $4 per million input tokens and $20 per million output, Anthropic's own API list price.
Claude Code starts with Claude Pro at $20, or $17 a month billed annually, with no published allowance. Anthropic says API-billed Claude Code averages about $13 per developer per active day. Used like that, Copilot Pro's credits last about a day and Copilot Max's about two weeks.
In the terminal they do the same job: read the repo, edit files, run commands, plan mode, MCP servers, a scriptable -p mode, on macOS, Linux and Windows. Both read a CLAUDE.md, so one repo setup serves both.
Copilot CLI's edge is choice. Switch models mid-session with /model, or point it at your own provider, including a local model, and it works on the Free plan. Claude Code's edge is one engine across your IDE, desktop and browser, with a flat plan behind it.
Copilot runs Claude two ways. In chat, agent mode and the CLI you can pick Claude models, Opus 5.5 included, at Anthropic's API prices in credits. And Copilot's Claude coding agent, built on Anthropic's Agent SDK, takes a github.com issue and opens a pull request. It is in preview, and GitHub's plans page lists it for Pro+ and Max while its docs say every paid plan.
What Copilot does not give you is Claude Code's own tooling or a flat plan behind the tokens.
Since June the threads are mostly about the meter. Developers in more than one thread say the move to credits pushed them to Claude Code. One said their department started "chewing through the monthly budget every 2-3 days".
It goes the other way too. A developer whose repos live on GitHub moved to the Copilot app for its pull request workflow. And Copilot still gets credit for tab autocomplete and for mixing models within one task.
Not at everything. Claude Code is the better buy if an agent writes most of your code, because a flat plan absorbs heavy use. Copilot is better at completions, model choice and pull requests, and it runs the same Claude models, so the gap is smaller than the names suggest.
No. Claude's Free plan does not include it. It starts with Pro at $20 a month, or $17 billed annually, or you pay per token with an API key. The full answer →
Yes, with limits. Copilot Free has 2,000 completions a month and a small, unpublished allowance of AI credits for chat, agent mode and the CLI, with automatic model selection only. Pro is $10 a month. The full answer →