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6 Alternatives to GitHub Copilot in 2026

People look for GitHub Copilot alternatives when credit metering, the training default on individual plans or the pull of a more agent-centered editor starts to bother them. Most land on Cursor for an editor-first experience, Claude Code for terminal work, or JetBrains AI Assistant when their day is spent inside an IntelliJ-based IDE.

Sebastiaan Smits By Sebastiaan Smits, editor · Updated

Why people look for an alternative to GitHub Copilot

Credits make cost harder to predict

Copilot plans now include a dollar allowance of AI credits at one cent each, so a month of heavy agent use can exceed what the $10 or $39 headline suggests and trigger extra purchases.

Training on individual data by default

GitHub says interaction data from Free, Pro and Pro+ users trains its models from April 24, 2026 unless the user opts out, which some developers and employers do not accept.

Wanting a deeper agent workflow

Developers who run long multi-file tasks often prefer an editor built around the agent or a terminal agent, rather than an assistant that arrives as a plug-in in someone else's IDE.

The best GitHub Copilot alternatives

  1. 1

    Cursor

    Anysphere, United StatesFree plan$20 per month (Pro)

    Cursor is a standalone editor where completion, chat and agent share one interface, with usage metered in a Cursor-model pool and a third-party pool. It has a free Hobby tier, and Privacy Mode blocks training on free and Pro accounts.

    Switch if you Switch if you will change editors and want the agent to be the center of the workflow.

  2. 2

    Claude Code

    Anthropic, United StatesPaid only$20 per month (Claude Pro, or $17 billed annually)

    Claude Code is a terminal-first agent, also available as IDE extensions, a desktop app and on the web, running Anthropic models and drawing on the limits of a Claude plan. It does not provide inline autocomplete the way Copilot does.

    Switch if you Switch if you mostly delegate whole tasks and review diffs from git.

  3. 3

    JetBrains AI Assistant

    JetBrains, Czech RepublicFree plan

    JetBrains AI Assistant is integrated into IntelliJ-based IDEs and uses AI Credits worth one dollar each, with a small free allowance. Copilot also runs in JetBrains, so the case rests on tighter IDE integration and billing through JetBrains.

    Switch if you Switch if you work in JetBrains IDEs and already hold a JetBrains license.

  4. 4

    Cline

    Cline, United StatesFree planFree, plus your model provider's usage fees

    Cline is an Apache 2.0 open source agent for VS Code, with a CLI and early-access JetBrains support. You bring your own provider keys or local models, so there is no seat price and no markup beyond the model provider's charges.

    Switch if you Switch if you want control over keys and models and accept managing the cost yourself.

  5. 5

    Kiro

    Amazon Web Services, United StatesFree plan$20 per month (Pro, 1,000 credits)

    Kiro is AWS's agentic IDE with a spec-first workflow and credit-based plans from $20 to $200 per month. Individual-tier content may be used for service improvement unless you opt out, similar in spirit to Copilot's individual terms.

    Switch if you Switch if your infrastructure is on AWS and you like writing specs before code.

  6. 6

    Tabnine

    Tabnine (acquired by Tricentis), IsraelPaid only

    Tabnine has been positioned for private deployment, with on-premises, VPC and air-gapped options described. It was acquired by Tricentis in July 2026, and public pricing could not be confirmed, so it fits only regulated buyers who will negotiate.

    Switch if you Switch if policy forbids sending code to a vendor cloud and you can buy by quote.

Before you switch away from GitHub Copilot

Export what is yours before you cancel. Copy custom instructions and prompt files from the repositories, list the MCP servers you connected, and note any organization policies set in GitHub. Check whether your code review and pull request workflows depend on Copilot features that the replacement lacks. Then run the candidate for a week on a real branch and compare credit or quota burn against your Copilot invoice. If you used the training opt-out, confirm the new vendor's equivalent setting is off by default for your account tier.

The full ranking of this category is in Best AI Coding Assistants in 2026.

Frequently asked questions

Is there a free alternative to GitHub Copilot?

Cline is open source and free, with you paying only the model provider for API use or running local models. Cursor and Kiro have free tiers with limited agent usage, and JetBrains AI Assistant has a small free credit allowance. Free tiers are best for evaluation, since agent usage runs through them quickly.

Which Copilot alternative keeps my code out of training?

Cursor with Privacy Mode on states that it does not train on customer data. Claude Code does not train on data under Anthropic's commercial terms, though consumer Pro and Max accounts follow a settings-based choice. Copilot Business and Enterprise are also excluded, so the issue is mainly individual plans.

Can I keep using the VS Code extension I have while switching?

Mostly yes. Cursor is built to run VS Code extensions, and Cline and Claude Code ship VS Code extensions, so editor habits carry over. Copilot itself is a plug-in, which makes it easy to run side by side with a candidate during a trial.

Do I lose pull request review if I leave Copilot?

You lose Copilot's own code review, but other tools cover it. Cursor offers Bugbot for pull request review on paid plans, and Claude Code integrates with GitHub Actions and has a code review feature. Check that the replacement posts comments where your team already reads them.