GitHub Copilot vs Claude Code comes down to where the agent lives and how usage is paid for. GitHub Copilot works in GitHub and many editors, with individual plans from $0 to $100 a month that meter agent work in AI credits (GitHub Copilot plans). Claude Code is Anthropic’s agent for the terminal, IDE, desktop and web, included in paid Claude plans from $17 a month billed annually (Claude pricing).
Applies to: GitHub Copilot plans and documentation, Claude Code documentation and Claude plans and pricing as published on October 30, 2026. Last checked: October 30, 2026.
On this page
GitHub Copilot vs Claude Code at a glance
| GitHub Copilot | Claude Code | |
|---|---|---|
| What the vendor calls it | “An AI coding agent that helps you write, understand, and ship software” (Copilot plans page) | “An agentic coding tool that reads your codebase, edits files, runs commands, and integrates with your development tools” (Claude Code overview) |
| Where it runs | IDEs including VS Code, Visual Studio, JetBrains IDEs, Xcode, Vim, Neovim, Zed and Eclipse, plus the CLI, desktop app, web, mobile, Slack and Teams (Copilot plans page) | Terminal, IDE extensions, desktop app and web (Claude Code overview) |
| Free option | Copilot Free, with an allowance of AI credits and auto model selection only (GitHub Docs) | None; the free Claude plan does not include Claude Code (Claude Code setup) |
| Cheapest paid plan | Copilot Pro, $10 a month (GitHub Docs) | Pro, $17 a month billed annually or $20 monthly (Claude pricing) |
| How usage is counted | GitHub AI Credits, 1 credit = $0.01, monthly allowance per plan (Copilot plans page) | Shared limits with Claude chat: a five-hour session window plus weekly limits on paid plans (Claude pricing) |
| Models | Models from Anthropic, OpenAI, Google, xAI and others (Copilot plans page); auto model selection only on Free and Student (GitHub Docs) | Claude models, selected with aliases such as opus, sonnet and haiku (Claude Code model configuration) |
| Project instructions | .github/copilot-instructions.md, .github/instructions/**/*.instructions.md, and AGENTS.md, CLAUDE.md or GEMINI.md in some environments (GitHub Docs) | CLAUDE.md, or an existing AGENTS.md (Claude Code memory) |
Plans and prices
GitHub Copilot. GitHub lists Copilot Free and Copilot Student at no cost, Copilot Pro at $10, Copilot Pro+ at $39 and Copilot Max at $100 per month, and Copilot Business at $19 and Copilot Enterprise at $39 per granted seat per month (GitHub Docs). Paid individual plans include a monthly allowance of AI credits:
| Plan | Price per month | Base credits | Flex allotment | Total monthly AI credits |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Copilot Pro | $10 USD | 1,000 | 500 | 1,500 |
| Copilot Pro+ | $39 USD | 3,900 | 3,100 | 7,000 |
| Copilot Max | $100 USD | 10,000 | 10,000 | 20,000 |
Source: Plans for GitHub Copilot. GitHub says agent mode, code review, Copilot in the cloud, Copilot CLI and the Copilot app consume AI credits, while code completions and next edit suggestions do not and “remain unlimited with every paid plan”; Copilot Free is limited to 2,000 completions a month (Copilot plans page). When the allowance runs out you can wait for the monthly reset, set a budget for paid usage at $0.01 per credit, or switch to a lighter model (same page). Our Copilot AI credits guide covers the details.
Claude Code. Anthropic’s pricing page says “Claude Code is included in all paid plans” and that it “shares the same usage limits as the rest of your plan”. Pro costs $17 a month with the annual discount ($200 billed up front) or $20 billed monthly; Max starts at $100 a month with 5x or 20x more usage than Pro; Team Standard seats cost $20 per seat per month billed annually ($25 monthly) and Premium seats $100 ($125 monthly). Usage resets on a rolling five-hour session window, and paid plans add weekly limits on top (Claude pricing). For more, see how much Claude Code costs.
Where each agent runs
Copilot spans GitHub itself and many editors. Its plans page lists Visual Studio Code, Visual Studio, JetBrains IDEs, Xcode, Vim, Neovim, Zed and Eclipse, plus “the terminal/CLI, through the GitHub Copilot desktop app, on the web, on mobile, in Slack, and in Teams” (Copilot plans page). GitHub’s docs say all plans include Copilot CLI and the Copilot app (GitHub Docs).
Claude Code “runs on several surfaces: the terminal, IDE extensions, a desktop app, and the web”. Its IDE options are a VS Code extension (also installable in Cursor) and a JetBrains plugin that requires the Claude Code CLI (Claude Code overview).
Install the CLIs
GitHub Copilot CLI, from Installing GitHub Copilot CLI. It needs an active Copilot subscription, and npm installs need Node.js 22 or later:
npm install -g @github/copilot
winget install GitHub.Copilot
brew install --cask copilot-cli
curl -fsSL https://gh.io/copilot-install | bash
On first launch, the CLI prompts you to use the /login slash command if you are not logged in to GitHub (same page). For more, see our GitHub Copilot CLI guide.
Claude Code, from the Claude Code overview.
macOS, Linux and WSL:
curl -fsSL https://claude.ai/install.sh | bash
Windows PowerShell:
irm https://claude.ai/install.ps1 | iex
Homebrew:
brew install --cask claude-code
WinGet:
winget install Anthropic.ClaudeCode
Then start it in a project; Claude Code prompts you to log in on first use (Claude Code overview):
cd your-project
claude
Instruction files
Copilot’s support depends on the surface. In Copilot CLI, GitHub lists repository-wide instructions in .github/copilot-instructions.md, path-specific instructions in .github/instructions/**/*.instructions.md, agent instructions in AGENTS.md, CLAUDE.md or GEMINI.md, and personal instructions in ~/.copilot/copilot-instructions.md. Copilot cloud agent also reads AGENTS.md, CLAUDE.md or GEMINI.md, while for Copilot Chat in VS Code the table lists AGENTS.md as the only agent instructions file (GitHub Docs).
Claude Code reads ./CLAUDE.md or ./.claude/CLAUDE.md for project instructions and can read a repository’s AGENTS.md in place of CLAUDE.md (Claude Code memory). Our CLAUDE.md vs AGENTS.md guide compares the files across agents.
MCP servers
Both CLIs add remote servers with a similar command. Copilot CLI, from Adding MCP servers for GitHub Copilot CLI:
copilot mcp add --transport http notion \
https://mcp.notion.com/mcp
Claude Code, from the Claude Code MCP docs:
claude mcp add --transport http notion https://mcp.notion.com/mcp
Copilot CLI stores user-level servers in ~/.copilot/mcp-config.json and reads project-level configuration from .mcp.json or .github/mcp.json, which take precedence when names conflict (Copilot CLI configuration directory). It also comes with the GitHub MCP server already configured (GitHub Docs). Claude Code keeps server definitions in .mcp.json for a project or ~/.claude.json (Claude Code MCP).
Claude inside GitHub Copilot
GitHub supports third-party coding agents, Anthropic Claude and OpenAI Codex, in public preview. You can assign them an issue, start a task from a repository’s Agents tab, mention @AGENT_NAME on a pull request, or start a session in VS Code (GitHub Docs). The Anthropic Claude coding agent “uses the Claude Agent SDK and can be powered by your existing Copilot subscription” (GitHub Docs).
Third-party agents are available on all paid Copilot plans and must be enabled under “Partner agents” in your Copilot cloud agent settings (GitHub Docs). They consume GitHub Actions minutes and AI credits (GitHub Docs). This is a GitHub-hosted agent that works on GitHub tasks and pull requests; the Claude Code CLI, IDE extensions and desktop app still need a Claude plan or Console account (Claude Code setup).
Which to choose
Based on what each vendor documents:
- GitHub Copilot fits if you want a free tier to start, completions in many editors (including Xcode, Visual Studio and Eclipse), a choice of models from several labs, and agents that work from GitHub issues and pull requests (GitHub Docs, Copilot plans page).
- Claude Code fits if you already pay for a Claude plan, want one usage pool shared with Claude chat, and work mainly in the terminal, VS Code, a JetBrains IDE, the desktop app or the browser (Claude pricing, Claude Code overview).
- Both is possible: Copilot can run the Anthropic Claude coding agent on GitHub from a Copilot subscription (GitHub Docs), and a repository’s
AGENTS.mdcan be read by Claude Code and by Copilot CLI (Claude Code memory, GitHub Docs). For another editor-centred comparison, see Claude Code vs Cursor.
