How much does GitHub Copilot cost?
- Topic
- github-copilot
- Answer depth
- 3 min read
- Reviewed by
- Mark Barclay
- Last reviewed
- July 2026
GitHub Copilot costs between $10 and $39 per user monthly depending on the scale of your organization and the depth of repository integration required. For the most cost-effective path, individual developers should select the monthly billing cycle, while large teams should utilize the Enterprise tier to leverage custom model fine-tuning and internal documentation indexing.
Key takeaways
- Individual Tier: Fixed at $10/month or $100/year for personal use, providing autocomplete and chat.
- Business Tier: Costs $19 per user/month, adding organization-wide policy management and enhanced security.
- Enterprise Tier: Priced at $39 per user/month, featuring personalized code suggestions based on your internal codebase.
- Free Access: Available for verified students, teachers, and maintainers of significant open-source projects.
Which plan is best for solo developers?
The Individual plan is the standard recommendation for freelancers and solo coders who need real-time autocomplete without corporate overhead. At $10 per month, it includes the core GitHub Copilot engine, which suggests code blocks in your IDE and provides a CLI interface. If you commit to a full year, the price drops effectively to $8.33 per month via the $100 annual billing option. This plan includes access to GitHub Copilot Chat, allowing you to debug and refactor code through a conversational interface directly inside VS Code or JetBrains environments.
What are the benefits of the Business tier?
The Business plan is designed for teams that require centralized billing and administrative control over AI usage. Costing $19 per user per month, this tier adds a critical layer of security by ensuring that code snippets from your private repositories are not used to train the underlying models. It also introduces proxy support and industry-standard security filtering to prevent the inclusion of vulnerable code patterns. For managers tracking these costs, using a Project Manager assistant can help forecast the ROI of these seats based on developer velocity improvements.
Is the Enterprise tier worth the $39 price tag?
The Enterprise tier is justified for large organizations that want the AI to "understand" their proprietary internal libraries and legacy systems. At $39 per user per month, GitHub Copilot Enterprise offers the ability to index your company's specific repositories, which significantly improves the relevance of code suggestions. It also integrates with GitHub.com for web-based chat, allowing non-developers to query the codebase. Organizations can use a Competitor Matrix Builder to analyze how this investment positions their software speed against market rivals.
Who qualifies for GitHub Copilot for free?
GitHub provides free access to its AI tools for verified students, educators, and maintainers of popular open-source software. To qualify as a student, you must be enrolled in a degree-granting program and verify your status through the GitHub Student Developer Pack. Open-source maintainers are evaluated based on their contribution history to projects that have a significant impact on the ecosystem. For those not in these categories but still needing help with complex technical reading, the Smart Document Explainer is an excellent alternative for unpacking API documentation without a subscription.
Comparison of GitHub Copilot Tiers
| Feature | Individual | Business | Enterprise |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly Price | $10 | $19 | $39 | Code Autocomplete | Included | Included | Included | Chat Interface | IDE & CLI | IDE & CLI | IDE, CLI & Web | Knowledge Base Indexing | No | No | Yes (Internal Docs) | Security Filtering | Standard | Enhanced | Customizable |
How to do this in SynaBot
- Determine your organizational needs by consulting the Project Manager to assess team size and budget.
- Research specific features of the GitHub Copilot tool to ensure it supports your preferred IDE.
- Use the Competitor Matrix Builder to compare the cost of GitHub's tiers against other AI coding tools.
- If you are working with complex legal or technical terms of service for these tools, run them through the Smart Document Explainer to identify hidden usage limits.
- Finalize your seat count and set up centralized billing in the GitHub settings dashboard under the "Billing and plans" section.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Ignoring Annual Discounts: Individual users often pay month-to-month, missing out on the 17% savings offered by the $100 annual plan.
- Over-provisioning Enterprise Seats: Companies often buy Enterprise seats for every employee, when only core developers need the repository-indexing features provided by GitHub Copilot Enterprise.
- Neglecting Security Settings: Failing to toggle the "don't use my data for training" setting on lower tiers can lead to intellectual property concerns.
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Frequently asked questions
Does GitHub Copilot offer a free trial?
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Yes, GitHub typically offers a 30-day free trial for new users of the Individual plan. You must provide payment details upfront, and the subscription will automatically renew at $10 per month unless canceled before the trial period ends.
Can I cancel my Copilot subscription at any time?
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Yes, subscriptions can be canceled at any time through your GitHub account settings. If you cancel, you will retain access to the tool until the end of your current billing cycle, whether monthly or annual.
Is there a difference in AI model quality between the $10 and $39 plans?
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The underlying LLM is largely the same; however, the $39 Enterprise plan performs better because it is personalized to your codebase. It uses your specific documentation and repositories to provide context that the $10 Individual plan cannot see.
Are there additional costs for using Copilot in different IDEs?
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No, a single subscription covers usage across all supported environments, including Visual Studio Code, Visual Studio, JetBrains IDEs, and Vim/Neovim. You do not need to pay extra to use it on multiple machines or platforms.