How to Get GitHub Copilot for Free: All Eligible Plans and Limits

How GitHub AI Credits Work

Under the new billing model, usage is calculated based on token consumption, which measures input, output, and context tokens. When you use advanced features like chat or agentic coding, the system subtracts credits from your monthly allocation. If you run out of credits, your access to these features is restricted until the monthly reset or until you purchase additional credits. This usage-based approach allows developers to pay only for what they consume, but it requires careful tracking of your credit balance.

The Token-Metered Structure

For users on the free tier, the limits are strictly enforced. The 2,000 code completions and 50 chat requests are reset on a monthly cycle. Unlike paid tiers, which offer unlimited basic completions, the free tier meters all activities. If you reach your limit, your IDE extension will display a notification prompting you to either upgrade to a paid tier or wait for the next billing cycle.

GitHub Student Developer Pack Verification

Verified students can apply for the GitHub Copilot Student benefit by submitting proof of enrollment through the GitHub Education portal. Once approved, students receive access to a specialized plan that includes unlimited code completions and an allowance of AI credits. GitHub re-evaluates student eligibility on a monthly basis, requiring users to maintain an active academic status to keep their free access.

Free Copilot Pro for Teachers and Educators

Teachers who are verified through GitHub Education are eligible for free access to GitHub Copilot Pro. This plan matches the standard professional tier, providing educators with the tools needed to teach modern coding workflows. To qualify, teachers must apply with their school-issued email address or official school documentation.

Open-Source Maintainer Automated Evaluation

For open-source maintainers, the eligibility evaluation is automated. GitHub scans public repositories to identify active maintainers of popular projects based on contribution metrics and repository popularity. To see if you are eligible, navigate to your Copilot settings in your GitHub profile. If you qualify, the system will display a notice allowing you to activate your free Copilot Pro subscription.

The Difference in Model Selection

A key difference between the free plan and paid plans is model selection. The free tier uses automatic model selection only, meaning the system decides which LLM powers your completions and chat based on current network capacity. Paid users, however, can manually select from premium models, including Claude 3.5 Sonnet, GPT-4o, and Gemini 1.5 Pro. The Pro+ tier also grants access to advanced models like Opus 4.7, allowing power users to match the model to the complexity of the task.

Understanding Code Review Overage Costs

Paid plans also support advanced workflows like Copilot code reviews, which are billed based on token consumption and execution time. These reviews consume GitHub AI Credits for the model inputs and outputs, and they consume GitHub Actions minutes for running the code review agents in private repositories. The free plan does not support these automated review features, making paid tiers essential for team automation.

Version History and Concurrent AI Access

When several developers and AI agents write to the same files, tracking changes is critical. Fast.io maintains a complete, per-file version history that allows you to restore prior versions if an agent introduces a bug. Unlike simple cloud storage folders, the workspace automatically indexes all files using Intelligence Mode, making them queryable through chat and semantic search.

Using MCP for Workspace Context

Fast.io is designed to expose Streamable HTTP at Fast.io MCP Server and legacy SSE at the endpoint /sse to connect your workspace directly to AI agents. If you are building automated scripts or setting up team workflows, agents can perform work in the workspace and then transfer ownership to a human contributor once the task is complete.

For teams looking to coordinate human and agent efforts, Fast.io offers structured workspace organization. Fast.io has NO permanent free plan and NO free agent tier. Creating a user account is free, but doing real work requires an organization, and every org runs on a paid subscription. Each org gets a 14-day free trial that REQUIRES a credit card. You can start a 14-day free trial for the Starter (29 USD monthly), Business (99 USD monthly), or Growth (299 USD monthly) plans on the Fast.io pricing page.

To process large sets of documents, you can use Fast.io Metadata Views to turn folders of PDFs, images, or spreadsheets into a structured database. Unlike general search indexing, Metadata Views extract specific typed columns (such as Text, Integer, or Date & Time) without manual data entry, providing a clean data source that you can search by metadata value or feed directly to your IDE agents. Learn more about setting up these agents on the Fast.io developer page.

Zero-Setup Autocomplete: Codeium

Codeium is the most direct plug-and-play alternative, offering a forever-free plan for individual developers. It provides high-quality autocomplete and chat features across most popular editors. Because it does not require you to configure API keys or host models locally, it is an excellent option for developers who want a zero-cost experience with zero setup.

Open-Source and Local AI: Continue.dev

For developers who want full control over their models and data privacy, Continue.dev is an open-source extension for VS Code and JetBrains. You can connect it to local models running on your machine via Ollama, giving you a completely free coding assistant that runs offline. You can also connect it to cloud APIs using a Bring Your Own Key approach, paying only for the raw tokens you use.

Agentic Coding Extensions: Cline and Aider

If you need an assistant that can perform multi-file editing and run terminal commands, agentic tools like Cline and Aider are top options. Cline is a VS Code extension, while Aider is a terminal-based tool that integrates with Git to handle commits automatically. Both are free, open-source software, but they operate on a Bring Your Own Key model, meaning you pay the model provider directly for API consumption.

Privacy-focused Self-hosting: Tabby

Tabby is an open-source, self-hosted AI coding assistant designed for developers and teams who cannot send their code to cloud providers. You run Tabby on your own hardware, ensuring complete data privacy. While the software is free, you must have the local hardware capacity to run the underlying model.