GitHub launches a free version of Copilot for VS Code developers. This GitHub Copilot free version will provide developers access to 2,000 code completions and 50 chat messages per month.
GitHub Copilot Free:
Before the launch of ChatGPT and Microsoft Copilot, GitHub launched its version of Copilot based on OpenAI’s Codex code completion model in 2022.
And finally, GitHub Copilot, a free, accessible version of a popular AI-powered coding assistant, has been introduced which is integrated directly into the Visual Studio Code(VS code) integrated developer environment (IDE).
The aim of this new free tier version is to expand the reach of AI-powered code completion assistants especially to developers who need light usage and have tight budgets.
Earlier, free repositories, continuous integration/continuous delivery (CI/CD) minutes and codespaces were offered by GitHub. This time, with the free tier, GitHub will add another layer to previous offerings for casual users or smaller-scale projects.
Features of GitHub Copilot Free:
After signing in to the GitHub account, developers will get access to 2,000 code completions and 50 chat messages per month.
Also, the free tier leverages advanced AI models for its users, that includes Anthropic’s Claude 3.5 Sonnet and OpenAI’s GPT-4o.
Developers can use these models consequently for coding questions, debug existing code, or implement edits across multiple files.
The new Copilot free tier includes:
- Multi-file editing: Copilot Edits combines conversational chat with code generation, using which users can make changes across multiple files.
- Terminal assistance: The free tier can help in interpreting errors, fixing failed commands, and even suggesting shell scripts through terminal chat.
- Custom instructions: coding preferences can be defined at the project or editor level by developers, and can get instructions.
- Voice commands: there is a built-in speech interface that allows users to use voice commands to prototype apps or debug code.
- Project context awareness: AI participants of Copilot can provide assistance on a comprehensive understanding of an entire codebase.
Availability and future plan:
- The new free tier is available in VS Code and GitHub.com. Developers can start using it by signing in to a GitHub account.
- Also, GitHub is previewing an advanced feature called Vision Copilot along with the free tier. Vision Copilot will help developers generate user interfaces from screenshots or markup, streamlining the design-to-code workflow.
- Interested users can explore the capabilities of the free tier in VS Code or via the GitHub dashboard.
As Vision Copilot is in preview, the API key of users is required for access to AI services.
Hence, the announcement of the free version of Copilot will really help in empowering Developers and the global developer community.
Above all, the integration of AI-powered tools into VS Code will help in practical solutions of challenges like debugging, naming conventions and commit message generation.
