GitHub Copilot vs OpenAI Codex
GitHub Copilot and OpenAI Codex side by side: what each one is, verified plan pricing and install commands where we have them, and the full review of each.
GitHub Copilot
328K viewsGitHub's AI coding assistant. Inline completions, chat, and agent mode in VS Code and JetBrains, plus a coding agent that turns issues into pull requests. Free tier, Pro from $10/mo.
OpenAI Codex
AgentOpenAI's coding agent for terminal, cloud, IDE, GitHub, Slack, and Linear workflows. Reads repos, edits files, runs commands, and returns reviewable diffs.
At a glance
| Field | | |
|---|---|---|
| Category | AI Coding | AI Coding |
| Website | github.com | developers.openai.com |
| Pricing | Free - $0: 2,000 completions/mo, limited chat and agent usage, Copilot CLI, Auto model selection only; Pro - $10/mo: unlimited completions and next edit suggestions, cloud agent and code review, model selection, $15/mo in GitHub AI Credits; Pro+ - $39/mo: premium models including Opus, $70/mo in GitHub AI Credits; Max - $100/mo: priority access to new models and features, $200/mo in GitHub AI Credits; Business - $19 per granted seat/mo, 1,900 credits per user per month; Enterprise - $39 per granted seat/mo, 3,900 credits per user per month; GitHub AI Credits - 1 credit = $0.01; additional usage billed against a budget you set | Free - $0 and Go - $8/mo: GPT-6 Luna at Standard speed in the desktop app, subject to rollout; Plus - $20/mo: Codex on the web, in the CLI, IDE extension, and iOS, plus cloud code review and Slack; GPT-6.1 Sol and GPT-6 Luna; Pro - $100, $200, or $500/mo: everything in Plus, currently no five-hour limit; Ultrafast mode on Pro $500; Business - $20/user/mo billed annually ($25 monthly), 2+ users; Enterprise and Edu - contact sales; API key - pay per token at OpenAI API rates; no cloud features such as GitHub code review or Slack |
| Install | npm install -g @github/copilot or brew install --cask copilot-cli or curl -fsSL https://gh.io/copilot-install | bash | curl -fsSL https://chatgpt.com/codex/install.sh | sh or npm install -g @openai/codex or brew install --cask codex |
| Models | Pick a model in the model picker in VS Code, Visual Studio, JetBrains, Xcode, Eclipse, Copilot CLI, and the coding agent, from OpenAI (GPT-6.1 Sol, GPT-6 Astra, Sol, Luna), Anthropic (Claude Opus, Sonnet, Haiku 5.5, Fable 5.1), Google (Gemini 4 Argon, Gemini 3.8 Flash), xAI (Grok 4.7), Moonshot Kimi K3, and Microsoft MAI-Code-1.1-Flash; Free and Student plans get Auto model selection only. HydraFusion can orchestrate several models into a single response instead. | GPT-6.1 Sol is the recommended model for complex coding and the CLI default, with GPT-6 Astra, GPT-6 Sol, and GPT-6 Luna also available and GPT-5.6 Sol, Terra, and Luna kept during the rollout. Switch with /model in a session, codex --model (or -m) at launch, or a model entry in config.toml; API-key sessions get whatever models the key can access. |
| Last verified | October 25, 2026 | October 17, 2026 |
In Depth
GitHub Copilot
GitHub Copilot is one of the most widely adopted AI coding tools. It runs inside VS Code and JetBrains, offering real-time code completions as you type. Copilot Chat adds conversational editing, agent mode makes multi-file changes in the editor, the Copilot CLI works in the terminal, and the coding agent can take a GitHub issue and open a pull request. Copilot Spark (announced at GitHub Universe) is their no-code app builder competitor. Plans moved to a credit-based structure (August 2026): Free $0, Pro $10/mo, Pro+ $39/mo, Max $100/mo - chat, agent mode, code review, CLI and cloud agent usage draw down GitHub AI Credits, while inline completions stay unlimited on every paid plan. My Copilot intro video hit 328,000 views - my most-viewed video ever. It's still the default recommendation for developers new to AI coding tools.
OpenAI Codex
Codex is OpenAI's autonomous coding agent for local CLI work and cloud task delegation. It can inspect a repository, make multi-file edits, run tests, and create reviewable diffs or pull requests depending on the workflow. Use the CLI when local services and immediate feedback matter. Use cloud tasks when branch isolation, async completion, and GitHub review loops matter more.
FAQ
Answers taken from each tool's verified fact sheet, with the date it was last checked.
How much does GitHub Copilot cost?
As of October 25, 2026: Free - $0: 2,000 completions/mo, limited chat and agent usage, Copilot CLI, Auto model selection only; Pro - $10/mo: unlimited completions and next edit suggestions, cloud agent and code review, model selection, $15/mo in GitHub AI Credits; Pro+ - $39/mo: premium models including Opus, $70/mo in GitHub AI Credits; Max - $100/mo: priority access to new models and features, $200/mo in GitHub AI Credits; Business - $19 per granted seat/mo, 1,900 credits per user per month; Enterprise - $39 per granted seat/mo, 3,900 credits per user per month; GitHub AI Credits - 1 credit = $0.01; additional usage billed against a budget you set. Source: GitHub Copilot plans, GitHub Docs: Plans for GitHub Copilot, GitHub Docs: Installing Copilot CLI, GitHub Docs: Supported AI models, Changelog: models deprecated on October 19, 2026, Changelog: upcoming model deprecations, Changelog: HydraFusion updates and Max option, Changelog: Gemini 4 Argon in GitHub Copilot.
How do I install GitHub Copilot?
Official install commands as of October 25, 2026: npm install -g @github/copilot or brew install --cask copilot-cli or curl -fsSL https://gh.io/copilot-install | bash.
Which models does GitHub Copilot use?
As of October 25, 2026: Pick a model in the model picker in VS Code, Visual Studio, JetBrains, Xcode, Eclipse, Copilot CLI, and the coding agent, from OpenAI (GPT-6.1 Sol, GPT-6 Astra, Sol, Luna), Anthropic (Claude Opus, Sonnet, Haiku 5.5, Fable 5.1), Google (Gemini 4 Argon, Gemini 3.8 Flash), xAI (Grok 4.7), Moonshot Kimi K3, and Microsoft MAI-Code-1.1-Flash; Free and Student plans get Auto model selection only. HydraFusion can orchestrate several models into a single response instead.
How much does OpenAI Codex cost?
As of October 17, 2026: Free - $0 and Go - $8/mo: GPT-6 Luna at Standard speed in the desktop app, subject to rollout; Plus - $20/mo: Codex on the web, in the CLI, IDE extension, and iOS, plus cloud code review and Slack; GPT-6.1 Sol and GPT-6 Luna; Pro - $100, $200, or $500/mo: everything in Plus, currently no five-hour limit; Ultrafast mode on Pro $500; Business - $20/user/mo billed annually ($25 monthly), 2+ users; Enterprise and Edu - contact sales; API key - pay per token at OpenAI API rates; no cloud features such as GitHub code review or Slack. Source: Codex pricing, Codex changelog, Models, Codex CLI docs, openai/codex README.
How do I install OpenAI Codex?
Official install commands as of October 17, 2026: curl -fsSL https://chatgpt.com/codex/install.sh | sh or npm install -g @openai/codex or brew install --cask codex.
Which models does OpenAI Codex use?
As of October 17, 2026: GPT-6.1 Sol is the recommended model for complex coding and the CLI default, with GPT-6 Astra, GPT-6 Sol, and GPT-6 Luna also available and GPT-5.6 Sol, Terra, and Luna kept during the rollout. Switch with /model in a session, codex --model (or -m) at launch, or a model entry in config.toml; API-key sessions get whatever models the key can access.
