Claude Code
Anthropic's agentic coding tool for the terminal, included with Claude Pro and Max subscriptions.
Pricing FreemiumPaid from $20 a month (Claude Pro, monthly) or $17 a month billed annuallyOpen source noStars 150knpm a week 15M
GitHub Copilot alternatives
13 tools you can use instead of GitHub Copilot, ranked by live GitHub stars and npm downloads. Claude Code, Open Interpreter and GPT Engineer are the most used. Stats updated 5 hours ago.
Cursor is the closest alternative: an AI code editor built on VS Code with a free Hobby plan. JetBrains AI is built into JetBrains IDEs, Amazon Q Developer suits teams on AWS, and Claude Code and Aider work from the terminal.
When GitHub Copilot is not a good fit
GitHub Copilot is GitHub and Microsoft's AI coding assistant, offering inline code completions, chat, code review and autonomous coding agents inside editors like VS Code, JetBrains IDEs and the command line. It moved to a credits-based billing model, where chat, agent and CLI use consume AI credits while code completions stay unlimited on paid plans. Plans range from a free tier to Pro at $10 a month up to Enterprise at $39 a user a month.
It is a weaker choice for:
- Users who want a single flat price with no usage-based component, since chat and agent use is billed in AI credits beyond the included allowance
- Teams that need a fully self-hosted or open source coding assistant
- Very light users who might be well served by the free plan's 2,000 completions and 50 chat requests a month
The alternatives
Most used first.
View Claude Code
Open Interpreter
Open source coding agent for running code locally with low-cost and open-weight AI models.
Pricing Open sourceOpen source yesStars 68.5k
GPT Engineer
Early open source tool for generating an entire codebase from a natural-language prompt.
Pricing Open sourceOpen source yesStars 55.1k
Aider
Open source AI pair programming tool that runs in the terminal and edits your codebase with git commits.
Pricing Open sourceOpen source yesStars 49.4k
smol-developer
Early open source, single-file AI agent for scaffolding a small application from a prompt.
Pricing Open sourceOpen source yesStars 12.2k
Amazon Q Developer
AWS's AI coding and cloud assistant, successor to Amazon CodeWhisperer, with a free and $19 a month Pro tier.
Pricing FreemiumPaid from $19 per user a month (Pro tier)Open source no
Cody
Sourcegraph's AI coding assistant, built on large-scale code search across an entire codebase.
Pricing PaidPaid from $16,000 minimum annual contract (Enterprise)Open source no
Cursor
AI-powered code editor built on VS Code, made by Anysphere.
Pricing FreemiumPaid from $20 a month for IndividualOpen source no
Cursor 3
AI-first code editor with agentic coding features, plans from free Hobby to $40 a user a month for Teams.
Pricing FreemiumPaid from $20 a month (Individual plan)Open source no
Google Antigravity
Google's agentic development platform for building with AI agents, free for individual developers.
Pricing FreePaid from Contact Google for Enterprise pricingOpen source no
JetBrains AI
AI coding assistant built into JetBrains IDEs, priced through a monthly AI Credit system.
Pricing FreemiumPaid from $10 a month (AI Pro, 10 AI Credits per 30 days)Open source no
Supermaven
Fast AI code completion tool with a large context window, owned by Cursor's maker Anysphere.
Pricing FreemiumPaid from $10 a month for the Pro planOpen source no
Tabnine
AI code completion tool, acquired by Tricentis in 2026 to power enterprise AI testing agents.
Pricing FreemiumPaid from Contact Tabnine or Tricentis for current pricingOpen source no
GitHub Copilot and its alternatives, side by side
| Tool | Pricing | Free plan | Paid from | Open source | GitHub stars |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GitHub Copilot | Freemium | Yes: 2,000 code completions and 50 chat requests a month, no AI credits included | $10 a month for Copilot Pro | No | None |
| Claude Code | Freemium | No standalone free tier; included with paid Claude Pro and Max subscriptions | $20 a month (Claude Pro, monthly) or $17 a month billed annually | No | 150k |
| Open Interpreter | Open source | Yes, fully free and open source | Not listed | Yes, AGPL-3.0 | 68.5k |
| GPT Engineer | Open source | Yes, fully free and open source | Not listed | Yes, MIT | 55.1k |
| Aider | Open source | Yes, Aider itself is free; you pay your chosen LLM provider directly for API usage | Not listed | Yes, Apache-2.0 | 49.4k |
| smol-developer | Open source | Yes, fully free and open source | Not listed | Yes, MIT | 12.2k |
| Amazon Q Developer | Freemium | Yes: 50 agentic requests a month and 1,000 lines of code transformation a month | $19 per user a month (Pro tier) | No | None |
| Cody | Paid | A free trial is available; contact Sourcegraph for current details | $16,000 minimum annual contract (Enterprise) | No | None |
| Cursor | Freemium | Yes (Hobby): limited agent requests and access to Composer, no credit card required | $20 a month for Individual | No | None |
| Cursor 3 | Freemium | Yes: Hobby plan with limited agent requests and access to Composer, no credit card required | $20 a month (Individual plan) | No | None |
| Google Antigravity | Free | Yes, available at no charge for individual developers | Contact Google for Enterprise pricing | No | None |
| JetBrains AI | Freemium | Yes: AI Free tier includes 3 AI Credits per 30 days, no top-ups | $10 a month (AI Pro, 10 AI Credits per 30 days) | No | None |
| Supermaven | Freemium | Yes: fast code suggestions, large codebase support, 7-day data retention | $10 a month for the Pro plan | No | None |
| Tabnine | Freemium | Historically yes, with a free tier for individual developers; confirm current availability on Tabnine's site | Contact Tabnine or Tricentis for current pricing | No | None |
Pricing facts come from each tool's official pricing page, with the checked date on the tool's own page.
Questions
What is the most popular alternative to GitHub Copilot?
By GitHub stars, Claude Code is the most used alternative to GitHub Copilot listed on ScratchDB, with 150k stars.
Which GitHub Copilot alternatives are open source?
Open Interpreter, GPT Engineer, Aider and smol-developer are open source.
Which GitHub Copilot alternatives have a free plan?
Open Interpreter, GPT Engineer, Aider, smol-developer, Amazon Q Developer, Cursor, Cursor 3, Google Antigravity, JetBrains AI and Supermaven have a free plan. The table on this page shows what each one includes.