From the archive
GitHub introduces a free Copilot plan
Copilot Free starts with a monthly allowance of code completions and chat messages through a personal GitHub account.
GitHub launched Copilot Free on December 18, 2024. The plan brought a monthly allowance of AI coding assistance to personal GitHub accounts without a paid Copilot subscription.
Completions and chat
The initial allowance included 2,000 code completions and 50 chat messages per month. Chat offered a choice between Anthropic's Claude 3.5 Sonnet and OpenAI's GPT-4o .
The announcement covered asking coding questions, explaining code, finding bugs, and making edits across files. Copilot Free was integrated into VS Code, with Copilot Chat also available on GitHub's dashboard.
A smaller monthly allowance
The free plan provided ongoing access within its limits, rather than only a short trial of a paid subscription. GitHub said existing free Copilot Pro access for eligible students, educators, and open-source maintainers continued separately. The release lowered the entry cost for testing AI assistance on ordinary coding tasks.