{
    "title": "GitHub Copilot Alternatives 2027: 9 Paid, Free & Open-Source",
    "url": "https://zekaiwork.com/alternatives/github-copilot/",
    "summary": "The best GitHub Copilot alternatives in 2027 are Claude Code (best overall, $20/mo), Zed (best free plan: Unlimited with own API keys) and Cline (best open source, Apache-2.0). GitHub Copilot itself starts at $10/mo. Zekai checked these prices on vendor pages on 11 Nov 2026; 6 more are compared below, including 4 with a free plan and 2 open source.",
    "tool": {
        "name": "GitHub Copilot",
        "starting_price": "$10/mo",
        "free_plan": "2,000 completions per month",
        "price_checked": "2026-11-11",
        "pricing_url": "https://github.com/features/copilot/plans"
    },
    "task": "AI coding assistant (IDE plugin)",
    "prices_checked": "2026-11-11",
    "date_modified": "2026-11-11",
    "alternatives": [
        {
            "name": "Claude Code",
            "type": "Paid",
            "starting_price": "$20/mo",
            "free_plan_limit": "No free plan",
            "best_for": "Terminal-first agentic coding across large repos",
            "difference": "Runs as a terminal CLI, desktop app and web agent, and also installs as a VS Code or JetBrains extension, with scheduled cloud tasks and subagents; it needs a Claude subscription or API account.",
            "price_checked": "2026-11-11",
            "pricing_url": "https://claude.com/pricing",
            "website": "https://code.claude.com/docs/en/overview",
            "zekai_score": 9,
            "zekai_review": "https://zekaiwork.com/ai-tools/claude-code/"
        },
        {
            "name": "Cursor",
            "type": "Free plan + paid",
            "starting_price": "$8/mo",
            "free_plan_limit": "Limited agent and chat requests",
            "best_for": "Agent-first editor with multi-vendor models",
            "difference": "Ships its own desktop editor plus CLI, web and mobile agents, and lets you pick models from OpenAI, Anthropic, Gemini and Cursor; usage tiers run Plus, Premium, Super and Ultra.",
            "price_checked": "2026-11-11",
            "pricing_url": "https://cursor.com/pricing",
            "website": "https://cursor.com",
            "zekai_score": 9.5,
            "zekai_review": "https://zekaiwork.com/ai-tools/cursor/"
        },
        {
            "name": "Windsurf (now Devin Desktop)",
            "type": "Free",
            "starting_price": "Free plan; paid price not published",
            "best_for": "Agent command center for local and cloud agents",
            "difference": "Renamed Devin Desktop; it manages local and cloud agents from one Agent Command Center over the Agent Client Protocol and hands sessions between your machine and Devin Cloud.",
            "price_checked": "2026-11-11",
            "pricing_url": "https://windsurf.com/pricing",
            "website": "https://devin.ai/desktop"
        },
        {
            "name": "Kiro",
            "type": "Free plan + paid",
            "starting_price": "$20/mo",
            "free_plan_limit": "50 credits",
            "best_for": "Spec-driven development with agents",
            "difference": "Turns prompts into requirement, design and task specs before code is written, then verifies results; offered as IDE, CLI, web and Crew apps, billed in credits rather than requests.",
            "price_checked": "2026-11-11",
            "pricing_url": "https://kiro.dev/pricing/",
            "website": "https://kiro.dev",
            "zekai_score": 7.6,
            "zekai_review": "https://zekaiwork.com/ai-tools/kiro/"
        },
        {
            "name": "Zed",
            "type": "Free plan + paid",
            "starting_price": "$10/mo",
            "free_plan_limit": "Unlimited with your own API keys or external agents",
            "best_for": "Fast Rust editor using your own agents",
            "difference": "A Rust-built editor for macOS, Linux and Windows whose free Personal plan is unlimited with your own API keys or external agents like Claude Agent and Codex CLI; Zed-hosted AI needs Pro.",
            "price_checked": "2026-11-11",
            "pricing_url": "https://zed.dev/pricing",
            "website": "https://zed.dev",
            "zekai_score": 8,
            "zekai_review": "https://zekaiwork.com/ai-tools/zed/"
        },
        {
            "name": "Amazon Q Developer (formerly CodeWhisperer)",
            "type": "Free plan + paid",
            "starting_price": "$19/user/mo",
            "free_plan_limit": "50 agentic requests per month",
            "best_for": "AWS-centred teams upgrading Java",
            "difference": "Includes Java upgrade and .NET porting agents (1,000 lines a month free); AWS says IDE plugins end on April 30, 2027 and recommends Kiro for similar capabilities.",
            "price_checked": "2026-11-11",
            "pricing_url": "https://aws.amazon.com/q/developer/pricing/",
            "website": "https://aws.amazon.com/q/developer/",
            "zekai_score": 6.8,
            "zekai_review": "https://zekaiwork.com/ai-tools/amazon-codewhisperer/"
        },
        {
            "name": "Cline",
            "type": "Open source",
            "starting_price": "Free (self-hosted)",
            "free_plan_limit": "No limit (self-hosted)",
            "licence": "Apache-2.0",
            "best_for": "Open agent with any model provider",
            "difference": "Not tied to one provider: connects to Anthropic, OpenAI, Google, OpenRouter, Bedrock, Ollama and any OpenAI-compatible API; the JetBrains plugin is not open source.",
            "price_checked": "2026-11-11",
            "website": "https://github.com/cline/cline",
            "repository": "https://github.com/cline/cline",
            "zekai_open_source_page": "https://zekaiwork.com/free-open-source/cline/",
            "last_release": "2026-10-26",
            "zekai_score": 8.1,
            "zekai_review": "https://zekaiwork.com/free-open-source/cline/"
        },
        {
            "name": "Kilo Code",
            "type": "Open source",
            "starting_price": "Free (self-hosted)",
            "free_plan_limit": "No limit (self-hosted)",
            "licence": "MIT",
            "best_for": "Open agent for VS Code, JetBrains and CLI",
            "difference": "MIT-licensed agent that runs in VS Code, JetBrains, a CLI and a browser Cloud Agent, with access to 500+ models billed at the provider's rate with no markup.",
            "price_checked": "2026-11-11",
            "website": "https://github.com/Kilo-Org/kilocode",
            "repository": "https://github.com/Kilo-Org/kilocode",
            "zekai_open_source_page": "https://zekaiwork.com/free-open-source/kilocode/",
            "last_release": "2026-09-06",
            "zekai_score": 8.7,
            "zekai_review": "https://zekaiwork.com/free-open-source/kilocode/"
        },
        {
            "name": "Qwen Code",
            "type": "Open source",
            "starting_price": "Free (self-hosted)",
            "free_plan_limit": "No limit (self-hosted)",
            "licence": "Apache-2.0",
            "best_for": "Terminal agent for Qwen and other models",
            "difference": "A terminal coding agent that supports OpenAI, Anthropic, Gemini and Qwen APIs and local models through Ollama or vLLM, switchable at runtime; installs with npm or Homebrew.",
            "price_checked": "2026-11-11",
            "website": "https://github.com/QwenLM/qwen-code",
            "repository": "https://github.com/QwenLM/qwen-code",
            "zekai_open_source_page": "https://zekaiwork.com/free-open-source/qwen-code/",
            "zekai_score": 8.7,
            "zekai_review": "https://zekaiwork.com/free-open-source/qwen-code/"
        }
    ],
    "faq": [
        {
            "q": "What is the best alternative to GitHub Copilot in 2027?",
            "a": "Claude Code is the best overall GitHub Copilot alternative on this page ($20/mo). For no cost, Zed has a free plan (Unlimited with your own API keys or external agents). To self-host, Cline is open source (Apache-2.0)."
        },
        {
            "q": "Is there a free version of GitHub Copilot?",
            "a": "Yes. GitHub Copilot has a free plan: 2,000 completions per month. Paid plans start at $10/mo, checked on 11 Nov 2026."
        },
        {
            "q": "Is there a 100% free alternative to GitHub Copilot?",
            "a": "Yes. Cline, Kilo Code, Qwen Code are open source and free to self-host. Cursor, Windsurf (now Devin Desktop), Kiro, Zed, Amazon Q Developer (formerly CodeWhisperer) have a free plan with limits, shown in the table."
        },
        {
            "q": "What is cheaper than GitHub Copilot?",
            "a": "Cursor starts at $8/mo, against $10/mo for GitHub Copilot, as listed on each vendor's pricing page on 11 Nov 2026."
        },
        {
            "q": "How much do GitHub Copilot alternatives cost for a team of 5?",
            "a": "If each of 5 people buys the entry paid plan, at the prices Zekai checked on 11 Nov 2026, the monthly cost is Cursor $40/mo, Zed $50/mo, Amazon Q Developer (formerly CodeWhisperer) $95/mo, against GitHub Copilot $50/mo for GitHub Copilot. Team and business plans can cost more per seat. The Zekai Cost Finder on this page recalculates for any team size."
        },
        {
            "q": "Which is better, Claude Code or GitHub Copilot?",
            "a": "Runs as a terminal CLI, desktop app and web agent, and also installs as a VS Code or JetBrains extension, with scheduled cloud tasks and subagents; it needs a Claude subscription or API account. Choose Claude Code if you want an agent that edits many files, runs commands and opens pull requests from the terminal. Stay with GitHub Copilot if inline completions inside your current IDE matter more than long agentic sessions."
        },
        {
            "q": "Why are people leaving GitHub Copilot?",
            "a": "The documented reasons are: GitHub moved Copilot from premium requests to usage-based AI Credits from 1 June 2026, charging by token at each model's API rate (27 Apr 2026); The same announcement removed fallback to a cheaper model once allowances run out; usage is now limited by remaining credits and admin budgets (27 Apr 2026). Each is sourced in the section above."
        },
        {
            "q": "What is better than GitHub Copilot?",
            "a": "It depends on the job. Claude Code suits terminal agent work, Cursor suits an agent-first editor, and Cline suits people who want open source with their own model keys."
        }
    ],
    "publisher": "Zekai (zekaiwork.com) — independently reviewed; prices read on vendor pages on the dates shown.",
    "licence": "Free to quote with a link to https://zekaiwork.com/alternatives/github-copilot/. Bulk copying or republishing the dataset is not permitted."
}