---
id: blog-github-copilot-alternatives
slug: github-copilot-alternatives
date: 2026-07-12
title: "8 Best GitHub Copilot Alternatives in 2026 (Compared)"
summary: "GitHub Copilot switched chat and agents to usage-based AI Credits on June 1, 2026, and bills jumped 10–50x for agentic teams. The best GitHub Copilot alternatives in 2026, compared honestly — flat-fee IDEs, open-source agents, and gateway-backed setups with hard spend caps."
categories: ["Guides"]
image:
  src: "/blog/github-copilot-alternatives.png"
  alt: "The best GitHub Copilot alternatives in 2026 — coding agents and editors connecting to models through a central gateway"
  width: 1536
  height: 1024
---

On June 1, 2026, GitHub Copilot replaced its flat-fee model with usage-based AI Credits. Seats still cost $10–$39 per user per month, but Copilot Chat, agent mode, code review, and the CLI now bill by tokens consumed — at $0.01 per credit, with no spending ceiling unless you manually set one. Inline completions are the only part that stayed flat-fee.

For light users, little changed. For everyone else, the ceiling is gone: heavy chat users on premium models report $150–$250 per month in overages, and one three-developer team running agent mode projected their bill jumping from $50 to $3,000 per month.

That's why "GitHub Copilot alternatives" went from a curiosity search to a budgeting exercise. We compared the eight alternatives teams actually switch to in 2026 — on pricing model, model choice, spend control, and what happens to your completions workflow. We build one of them, so we're biased — but we'll tell you where each option genuinely wins.

## Why Teams Look for GitHub Copilot Alternatives

The complaints since June are consistent:

- **No default ceiling.** Usage-based AI Credits have no built-in cap — spending budgets exist, but they're off by default and manual. A runaway agent session is a real invoice.
- **The included credits don't cover real work.** Pro includes $15 of monthly credits, Pro+ $70, Max $200. A typical chat session on a premium Sonnet-class model — roughly 4,000 input and 800 output tokens — runs about $0.21 in credits; at 20 sessions a day across 20 working days, that's roughly $84 a month — before agent mode touches anything.
- **Opaque per-model math.** Costs vary by model, and the credit meter sits far from the editor. Developers discover the bill after the sprint, not during it.
- **Procurement whiplash.** Enterprises signed off on predictable per-seat pricing. Metered billing turns every seat into a variable cost that finance now asks engineering to justify.

If your team mostly uses inline completions, Copilot is still fine — completions didn't change. If chat and agents are where your value (and now your spend) lives, here are the alternatives.

## What to Look for in a Copilot Alternative

Four questions separate the options fast:

1. **Flat fee or metered?** Flat plans restore predictability; metered pass-through can be cheaper if you control routing. Know which failure mode you prefer.
2. **Whose models?** Copilot offers a GitHub-curated list. Alternatives range from single-vendor (Claude Code) to any-model (gateway-backed agents).
3. **Can you set a hard cap?** Not an alert — a cap. For teams, per-project and per-key budgets matter more than the sticker price.
4. **What happens to completions?** Some alternatives replace them, some don't. The hybrid answer — keep a cheap Copilot seat for completions only — is often the right one.

## Comparison Table

| Feature                | LLM Gateway                    | Cursor             | Windsurf   | Claude Code                 | Cline         | Continue      | Aider          | Codex CLI                |
| ---------------------- | ------------------------------ | ------------------ | ---------- | --------------------------- | ------------- | ------------- | -------------- | ------------------------ |
| **Type**               | Gateway + any agent            | IDE                | IDE        | Terminal agent              | IDE agent     | IDE + CLI     | Terminal agent | Terminal agent           |
| **Pricing model**      | Pass-through or flat (DevPass) | Flat + credit pool | Flat       | Flat plans                  | Free + tokens | Free + tokens | Free + tokens  | Free + tokens            |
| **Model choice**       | 200+ models, 40+ providers     | Curated            | Curated    | Anthropic (any via gateway) | Any           | Any           | Any            | OpenAI (any via gateway) |
| **Hard spend caps**    | Yes, per org/project/key       | Pool limit         | Plan limit | Plan limit                  | Via provider  | Via provider  | Via provider   | Via provider             |
| **Open source**        | Yes (AGPLv3)                   | No                 | No         | No                          | Yes           | Yes           | Yes            | Yes                      |
| **Inline completions** | Via Continue/Cline             | Yes                | Yes        | No                          | Yes           | Yes           | No             | No                       |

## 1. LLM Gateway (+ the coding agent of your choice)

**Best overall replacement for Copilot Chat and agent mode: any agent, any model, and a spending cap that actually caps.**

[LLM Gateway](https://llmgateway.io) isn't an editor — it's the infrastructure move. One OpenAI-compatible endpoint routes any coding agent (DevPass Code, Claude Code, Cline, Continue, Aider, Codex CLI) to 200+ models across 40+ providers, with provider token rates passed through at zero markup and budgets enforced per organization, project, and API key.

**What sets it apart:**

- **The cap Copilot doesn't have** — hard spend limits per org, project, and key, so an agent can never outrun its budget
- **Zero token markup** — pay provider rates, with a flat 5% fee on credits or 0% with your own provider keys
- **Prompt caching built in** — agentic tools resend the same context constantly; caching absorbs it automatically
- **Flat-fee option** — [DevPass](https://devpass.llmgateway.io) plans (from $29/month) give each developer a predictable monthly allowance across coding agents, with [DevPass Code](/guides/devpass-code) as the zero-config terminal agent
- **Per-request analytics** — cost, latency, and cache hits for every request, attributable to the team that spent it
- **Open source (AGPLv3)** — self-host the whole platform if procurement requires it

**Pricing:** Free to self-host. Managed usage is pay-as-you-go with no token markup (5% fee on credits, 0% BYOK). DevPass flat plans from $29/month.

**Best for:** Teams that liked Copilot's convenience but need model choice and enforceable budgets. See the [full comparison](/compare/github-copilot) or the [migration guide](/migration/github-copilot).

---

## 2. Cursor

**The most popular IDE-first alternative.**

Cursor is a VS Code-fork editor with AI built into every surface — tab completions, chat, and its Composer agent. Pro is $20/month with a usage-credit pool; Ultra is $200/month with roughly 20x the pool.

**Strengths:**

- Polished end-to-end experience; completions, chat, and agent in one product
- Flat entry price with a generous built-in allotment
- Fast iteration and strong community

**Weaknesses:**

- Credit pools are still metered underneath — heavy agent use hits limits
- Curated model list; you can't bring arbitrary providers or self-host
- Per-editor licensing adds up across large teams

**Pricing:** Pro $20/month; Ultra $200/month (as of July 2026).

**Best for:** Individual developers and small teams who want the best packaged IDE experience and are happy to switch editors.

---

## 3. Windsurf

**Flat-fee pricing that stays flat.**

Windsurf is an AI-native editor whose pitch in 2026 is predictability: Pro at $20/month covers most developers on a genuinely flat basis, with Max at $200/month bundling autonomous agents.

**Strengths:**

- Flat per-seat economics that compare well to Copilot Business once overages are factored in
- Capable agentic features (Cascade) included in the flat fee
- Team plans with centralized billing

**Weaknesses:**

- Another editor switch, like Cursor
- Model catalog is curated by the vendor
- Fewer governance controls than gateway- or enterprise-focused options

**Pricing:** Pro $20/month; Max $200/month (as of July 2026).

**Best for:** Teams whose main objection to Copilot is bill unpredictability and who want a flat number per seat.

---

## 4. Claude Code

**The strongest terminal agent, on flat plans.**

Claude Code is Anthropic's terminal-native coding agent. Plans run $17–$100/month, with usage limits doubled across tiers in May 2026. It's the reference point for deep, long-running agentic sessions.

**Strengths:**

- Excellent at large, multi-file changes with extended context
- Flat monthly plans instead of raw metering
- Works in any editor's terminal — no editor switch

**Weaknesses:**

- Anthropic models only, out of the box — though [pointed at LLM Gateway](/guides/claude-code), it can run GPT-5, Gemini, or any gateway model
- Plan limits still exist; heavy teams hit session windows
- No inline completions — pair it with something else

**Pricing:** Pro $20/month, or $17/month equivalent with annual billing; Max tiers from $100/month (as of July 2026).

**Best for:** Developers who live in the terminal and want the most capable single agent at a known monthly price.

---

## 5. Cline

**Open-source agent inside VS Code, pay only for tokens.**

Cline is a free, open-source VS Code extension with agentic editing, browser use, and autocomplete. You bring API keys — or one gateway key — and pay only for the tokens you use.

**Strengths:**

- Free software; total cost equals your token spend
- Any model via OpenAI-compatible endpoints — works with [LLM Gateway](/guides/cline) for routing and caps
- Stays inside VS Code; no editor migration

**Weaknesses:**

- Raw token billing without a platform means no budgets or team analytics on its own
- Setup and model selection are on you
- No managed support contract

**Pricing:** Free; you pay your model provider (or gateway) for tokens.

**Best for:** VS Code users who want Copilot-style agent powers with full control over cost and models.

---

## 6. Continue

**The open-source path that also replaces completions.**

Continue is an Apache-licensed assistant with IDE extensions (VS Code, JetBrains) and a CLI. It's one of the few open options that covers inline completions as well as chat and agents.

**Strengths:**

- Covers the full Copilot surface: completions, chat, agent workflows
- Any model through one [config file pointed at a gateway](/guides/continue)
- JetBrains support — rare among alternatives

**Weaknesses:**

- Completions quality depends on the model you pick and your latency budget
- More configuration than packaged products
- Team features are young

**Pricing:** Free and open source; you pay for tokens.

**Best for:** Teams that want to drop the Copilot seat entirely, including completions, without adopting a new editor.

---

## 7. Aider

**Minimalist, scriptable pair programming in the terminal.**

Aider is a free, open-source terminal agent known for tight git integration — every change lands as a commit — and for being easy to script into CI.

**Strengths:**

- Free, mature, and model-agnostic
- Git-native workflow; clean diffs and commits
- Scriptable for automation and CI use

**Weaknesses:**

- Terminal-only; no completions, no IDE surface
- Less autonomous than Claude Code or Cline for long tasks
- You manage keys and spend yourself unless you front it with a gateway

**Pricing:** Free; you pay for tokens.

**Best for:** Developers who want a fast, predictable pair programmer and version control they can read.

---

## 8. Codex CLI

**OpenAI's open-source terminal agent.**

Codex CLI is OpenAI's answer to Claude Code: an open-source terminal agent that runs on ChatGPT plans or API keys, strongest with OpenAI's own frontier models.

**Strengths:**

- First-class support for OpenAI's latest coding models
- Open source and scriptable
- Covered by ChatGPT subscriptions many developers already have

**Weaknesses:**

- OpenAI-centric out of the box — multi-provider routing requires [a gateway in front](/guides/codex-cli)
- No completions or IDE integration
- Usage limits tied to your ChatGPT plan tier

**Pricing:** Free software; runs on ChatGPT plans or API/token billing.

**Best for:** Teams standardized on OpenAI models who want an agent without another subscription.

---

## How to Choose

**You want Copilot's convenience with a real budget cap:** [LLM Gateway](https://llmgateway.io) plus the agent your team already likes — flat DevPass plans per developer or pass-through billing with hard limits.

**You want the best packaged product and will switch editors:** Cursor, or Windsurf if flat pricing is the priority.

**You want the strongest single agent at a fixed price:** Claude Code — and point it at a gateway if you need non-Anthropic models.

**You want open-source tools and token-only costs:** Cline for VS Code, Continue if you also need completions and JetBrains, Aider for the terminal.

**You're already paying for ChatGPT:** Codex CLI covers agentic work at no extra subscription.

Whichever you pick, run your own numbers first — the [Copilot cost calculator](/copilot-cost-calculator) estimates what your team's chat and agent usage costs under AI Credits versus pass-through token pricing.

## Migrating Off Copilot

The good news: unlike a database, there's no data to move. Migration is choosing a replacement for each workflow — completions, chat, agents, code review — and pointing it at models you control. Most teams keep a cheap Copilot seat for completions and move everything else. The [GitHub Copilot migration guide](/migration/github-copilot) maps each Copilot feature to its gateway-backed replacement, including budget setup so the new stack can't reproduce the old bill.

## Frequently Asked Questions

### Why did GitHub Copilot get so expensive in 2026?

On June 1, 2026, GitHub moved Copilot Chat, agent mode, code review, and CLI from flat-fee plans to usage-based AI Credits (1 credit = $0.01, varying by model). Seat prices stayed at $10–$39/user/month, but usage above the included credits bills without a ceiling unless you manually set a budget.

### What is the cheapest GitHub Copilot alternative?

Open-source tools — Cline, Continue, and Aider — are free; you pay only token costs. Routed through LLM Gateway with prompt caching and a cheap default model, a typical developer's chat usage runs a few dollars a month. Flat-fee options start at $17–$29/month.

### Can I cap what my team spends on AI coding tools?

Yes, with a gateway. LLM Gateway enforces hard budget limits per organization, project, and API key, so an agent stops at the cap instead of billing past it. Copilot's spending budgets exist but are off by default; most flat-fee products cap by throttling your own usage.

### Is GitHub Copilot still worth keeping for completions?

Often, yes. Inline completions weren't moved to AI Credits — they're still effectively flat-fee, and Copilot's completions remain excellent. The common hybrid: keep Copilot Free (2,000 completions/month) or a $10 Pro seat for completions, and run chat and agents through a gateway you control.

---

## Try the Top Pick

If you want Copilot's workflows without the open-ended bill:

- **[Try LLM Gateway free](https://llmgateway.io/signup)** — no credit card required, point any coding agent at `https://api.llmgateway.io/v1`
- **[Estimate your Copilot costs](/copilot-cost-calculator)** — see what AI Credits pricing means for your team
- **[LLM Gateway vs GitHub Copilot](/compare/github-copilot)** — the detailed head-to-head if you're still deciding
