Bottom Line: GitHub Copilot is the best AI coding assistant available and it's not particularly close. After 90 days of daily use across Python, JavaScript, and SQL projects, we estimate it saved 2-3 hours of coding time per day. At $10/month for individuals, it's one of the highest-ROI subscriptions in tech.
What is GitHub Copilot?
GitHub Copilot is an AI-powered coding assistant developed by GitHub and OpenAI. It integrates directly into your code editor — VS Code, JetBrains, Neovim, and others — and provides real-time code suggestions, function completions, and inline documentation as you type. Think of it as autocomplete that understands context, intent, and programming patterns.
We used Copilot daily for 90 days across multiple programming languages and project types. The productivity gains were measurable and significant.
Key Features
Inline Code Completion
The core feature. As you type, Copilot suggests completions — from single lines to entire functions — based on your current file context, comments, and surrounding code. The suggestions appear in gray ghost text; press Tab to accept, Escape to dismiss, or Alt+] to cycle through alternatives.
The quality of suggestions is impressive. For common patterns — API calls, database queries, loop structures, error handling — Copilot produces correct code on the first suggestion 70-80% of the time in our testing. For more complex logic, you'll usually get something close that needs minor adjustment.
Copilot Chat
The chat interface (available in VS Code and JetBrains) lets you ask questions about your codebase, request refactors, explain what selected code does, and generate tests. It's aware of your open files and project context, making it significantly more useful than using ChatGPT in a separate window.
Code Explanation
Select any block of code, right-click, and ask Copilot to explain it. For developers working with legacy code or unfamiliar codebases, this alone saves hours. The explanations are clear and accurate even for complex nested logic.
Test Generation
Ask Copilot to write unit tests for a function and it produces a comprehensive test suite covering happy paths and edge cases. In our testing, the generated tests caught 2 actual bugs in production code that our manual test writing had missed.
Languages Tested
| Language | Suggestion Accuracy | Our Rating |
|---|---|---|
| Python | Excellent — best supported language | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ |
| JavaScript/TypeScript | Excellent — second best | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ |
| SQL | Very good — handles complex queries | ⭐⭐⭐⭐½ |
| HTML/CSS | Good — excellent for boilerplate | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ |
| Go/Rust | Good — less training data, still useful | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ |
GitHub Copilot Pricing
| Plan | Price | Key Features |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | 2,000 completions/mo, 50 chat messages/mo, limited models |
| Individual ⭐ | $10/mo | Unlimited completions, unlimited chat, all models |
| Business | $19/user/mo | + Admin controls, audit logs, IP indemnity |
| Enterprise | $39/user/mo | + Custom models, fine-tuning, Copilot Workspace |
The free plan added in 2024 is genuinely useful for light use. 2,000 completions per month covers casual coding sessions. For anyone coding professionally — even part-time — the Individual plan at $10/mo is worth it without question.
Ratings
Pros & Cons
- Best AI coding tool available — by a clear margin
- Integrates directly into your editor
- Saves 2-3 hours/day for active developers
- Free plan available (2,000 completions/mo)
- Excellent Python and JavaScript support
- Test generation catches real bugs
- Chat is context-aware of your codebase
- Sometimes suggests deprecated patterns
- Can be wrong confidently — always review suggestions
- Privacy concerns for proprietary code
- Free plan has message/completion limits
- Less useful for niche/new languages
Final Verdict
GitHub Copilot is the highest-ROI subscription in software development. At $10/month, even saving 30 minutes per day of coding time pays for it many times over. For professional developers, it's become as essential as a linter or debugger. Start with the free plan to test integration, then upgrade — you'll never want to code without it.
After 90 days of daily use, removing Copilot felt like removing spellcheck. The productivity regression was immediately noticeable.