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GitHub Copilot vs OpenAI Codex

Features, pricing, ratings, and pros and cons, side by side.

GitHub Copilot logo

GitHub Copilot

AI coding assistant for code completion, chat and cloud agents across IDEs, terminal and GitHub

Freemium
Visit websiteView details
OpenAI Codex logo

OpenAI Codex

OpenAI's coding agent that writes, reviews and runs code from terminal, IDE, desktop or cloud

Freemium
Visit websiteView details

Verdict

GitHub Copilot and OpenAI Codex are both Coding AI tools. Both have a free plan or trial. Only OpenAI Codex is available on Windows and Linux and offers an API.

Best overall

GitHub Copilot

  • Software developers
  • Engineering teams
  • Enterprise organizations
  • Students

Choose GitHub Copilot if

  • You want a tool built for inline code completion in popular IDEs.
  • Works in VS Code, Visual Studio, JetBrains, Xcode, Neovim and Eclipse, plus the terminal and GitHub.com.
  • Free plan with 2,000 inline suggestions and agent mode, and Pro at $10 per month.

Choose OpenAI Codex if

  • You want a tool built for delegating coding tasks to an agent.
  • Included with ChatGPT plans, with a free tier and an $8 Go tier.
  • Open-source CLI under the Apache-2.0 license.
Best for beginners
GitHub Copilot
Best for business
GitHub Copilot

Features

20 features compared.

  • Code completions
    GitHub Copilot
    Available
    OpenAI Codex
    Not available
  • Copilot Chat
    GitHub Copilot
    Available
    OpenAI Codex
    Not available
  • Agent mode
    GitHub Copilot
    Available
    OpenAI Codex
    Not available
  • Cloud agent
    GitHub Copilot
    Available
    OpenAI Codex
    Not available
  • Third-party agents
    GitHub Copilot
    Available
    OpenAI Codex
    Not available
  • Copilot code review
    GitHub Copilot
    Available
    OpenAI Codex
    Not available
  • Copilot CLI
    GitHub Copilot
    Available
    OpenAI Codex
    Not available
  • Model choice
    GitHub Copilot
    Available
    OpenAI Codex
    Not available
  • Custom agents and MCP
    GitHub Copilot
    Available
    OpenAI Codex
    Not available
  • Copilot Spaces
    GitHub Copilot
    Available
    OpenAI Codex
    Not available
  • Codex CLI
    GitHub Copilot
    Not available
    OpenAI Codex
    Available
  • IDE extension
    GitHub Copilot
    Not available
    OpenAI Codex
    Available
  • Desktop app
    GitHub Copilot
    Not available
    OpenAI Codex
    Available
  • Cloud tasks
    GitHub Copilot
    Not available
    OpenAI Codex
    Available
  • Code review
    GitHub Copilot
    Not available
    OpenAI Codex
    Available
  • Non-interactive mode
    GitHub Copilot
    Not available
    OpenAI Codex
    Available
  • MCP, skills and plugins
    GitHub Copilot
    Not available
    OpenAI Codex
    Available
  • Subagents and web search
    GitHub Copilot
    Not available
    OpenAI Codex
    Available
  • Session resume and images
    GitHub Copilot
    Not available
    OpenAI Codex
    Available
  • Mobile remote control
    GitHub Copilot
    Not available
    OpenAI Codex
    Available

Pricing

Plans as listed by each vendor. Check their sites for current prices.

  • Pricing model
    GitHub Copilot
    Freemium
    OpenAI Codex
    Freemium
  • Free plan
    GitHub Copilot
    Yes
    OpenAI Codex
    Yes
  • Starting price
    GitHub Copilot
    $0
    OpenAI Codex
    $0
  • Plans
    GitHub Copilot
    6 plans
    OpenAI Codex
    7 plans

GitHub Copilot plans

  • Free

    $0

    For trying Copilot with limited usage

    • 2,000 inline suggestions per month
    • Limited chat and agent usage
    • Agent mode
    • Copilot CLI
    • MCP support

  • Pro

    Most popular

    $10/month

    For individual developers

    • Unlimited inline suggestions
    • 1,500 AI credits per month
    • Cloud agent
    • Code review
    • Model choice

  • Pro+

    $39/month

    For heavier individual use and premium models

    • Everything in Pro
    • 7,000 AI credits per month
    • Premium models
    • Third-party agents including Claude and Codex

  • Max

    $100/month

    For the highest individual usage

    • Everything in Pro+
    • 20,000 AI credits per month
    • Priority access to premium models

  • Business

    $19/user/mo

    For teams that need central management

    • 1,900 AI credits per user
    • Policy control
    • Audit logs
    • Centralized management
    • No training on organization data

  • Enterprise

    $39/user/mo

    For organizations on GitHub Enterprise Cloud

    • 3,900 AI credits per user
    • Everything in Business
    • Priority access to premium models
    • Enterprise capabilities

OpenAI Codex plans

  • Free

    $0

    Quick coding tasks

    • GPT-6 Luna in the desktop app
    • Subject to rollout

  • Go

    $8/month

    Lightweight coding tasks

    • GPT-6 Luna in the desktop app

  • Plus

    Most popular

    $20/month

    Focused coding sessions

    • Web
    • CLI
    • IDE and iOS access
    • Automatic code review and Slack
    • GPT-6.1 Sol and GPT-6 Luna
    • Can add credits

  • Pro

    $100/month

    Plans at $100, $200 or $500 per month

    • Everything in Plus
    • No five-hour limit currently
    • Ultrafast mode on the $500 plan

  • Business

    $25/user/mo

    2 or more users; $20 per user per month when billed annually

    • Desktop and mobile apps
    • Larger cloud VMs
    • Add-on credits
    • SAML SSO and MFA
    • No training on business data by default

  • Enterprise & Edu

    Custom/user/mo

    Contact sales

    • Priority request processing
    • SCIM
    • EKM and RBAC
    • User analytics
    • Compliance API audit logs
    • Retention and residency controls

  • API Key

    Pay-as-you-go/usage

    Billed at OpenAI API pricing

    • Codex in the CLI
    • SDK and IDE extension
    • No cloud features
    • Models depend on the API key

Our ratings

Scored out of 10 by the Finder Atlas editorial team. Last reviewed November 2026.

GitHub Copilot
8.6overall
OpenAI Codex
8.5overall

  • Inline Autocomplete Speed

    GitHub Copilot
    9.0
    OpenAI Codex
    Not rated

  • IDE Integration

    GitHub Copilot
    9.4
    OpenAI Codex
    Not rated

  • Multi-Language Support

    GitHub Copilot
    9.0
    OpenAI Codex
    Not rated

  • Agent Capability

    GitHub Copilot
    8.3
    OpenAI Codex
    Not rated

  • Pricing Predictability

    GitHub Copilot
    7.3
    OpenAI Codex
    Not rated

  • Code Generation

    GitHub Copilot
    Not rated
    OpenAI Codex
    9.0

  • Agentic Autonomy

    GitHub Copilot
    Not rated
    OpenAI Codex
    8.8

  • Ease of Use

    GitHub Copilot
    Not rated
    OpenAI Codex
    8.3

  • Value for Money

    GitHub Copilot
    Not rated
    OpenAI Codex
    8.0

  • Ecosystem & Integrations

    GitHub Copilot
    Not rated
    OpenAI Codex
    8.5

Scores weigh documented features, plan value, platform coverage, integrations and user feedback. A missing score means we have not rated that area yet.

Pros and cons

GitHub Copilot

Pros

  • Works in VS Code, Visual Studio, JetBrains, Xcode, Neovim and Eclipse, plus the terminal and GitHub.com
  • Free plan with 2,000 inline suggestions and agent mode, and Pro at $10 per month
  • Cloud agent turns assigned tasks into pull requests inside GitHub
  • Models from several vendors can be chosen, including Claude and GPT models
  • Business and Enterprise add policy control and audit logs, and their data is not used for training

Cons

  • Chat and agent use is credit-based, so heavy use can exceed the monthly allowance
  • Premium models and third-party agents need Pro+ at $39 per month or higher
  • Free, Pro and Pro+ interaction data may be used for training unless the user opts out
  • Not available for GitHub Enterprise Server

OpenAI Codex

Pros

  • Included with ChatGPT plans, with a free tier and an $8 Go tier
  • Open-source CLI under the Apache-2.0 license
  • Available in the terminal, VS Code-based editors, the ChatGPT desktop app and the cloud
  • Supports MCP, skills, plugins and subagents
  • API-key option lets teams pay at API rates instead of a subscription

Cons

  • Plus has message limits per five hours that vary widely by model
  • Cloud features are not available on the API Key plan
  • Higher usage needs Pro, which starts at $100 per month
  • Free and Go plans offer only GPT-6 Luna in the desktop app

Platforms

  • Web
    GitHub Copilot
    Supported
    OpenAI Codex
    Supported
  • Windows
    GitHub Copilot
    Not supported
    OpenAI Codex
    Supported
  • macOS
    GitHub Copilot
    Supported
    OpenAI Codex
    Supported
  • iOS
    GitHub Copilot
    Not supported
    OpenAI Codex
    Not supported
  • Android
    GitHub Copilot
    Not supported
    OpenAI Codex
    Not supported
  • API
    GitHub Copilot
    Not supported
    OpenAI Codex
    Supported
  • Browser Extension
    GitHub Copilot
    Not supported
    OpenAI Codex
    Not supported
  • VS Code Extension
    GitHub Copilot
    Supported
    OpenAI Codex
    Supported
  • JetBrains Plugin
    GitHub Copilot
    Supported
    OpenAI Codex
    Supported
  • CLI
    GitHub Copilot
    Supported
    OpenAI Codex
    Supported
  • Linux
    GitHub Copilot
    Not supported
    OpenAI Codex
    Supported

Integrations

GitHub Copilot

8 integrations
  • Visual Studio
  • Xcode
  • Neovim
  • Eclipse
  • Raycast
  • GitHub
  • GitHub Actions
  • MCP servers

OpenAI Codex

8 integrations
  • GitHub
  • Slack
  • Visual Studio Code
  • Cursor
  • Windsurf
  • Xcode
  • JetBrains IDEs
  • MCP

Company

  • Company
    GitHub Copilot
    GitHub
    OpenAI Codex
    Not listed
  • Founded
    GitHub Copilot
    2008
    OpenAI Codex
    Not listed
  • Headquarters
    GitHub Copilot
    San Francisco, CA
    OpenAI Codex
    Not listed
  • Monthly users
    GitHub Copilot
    Not listed
    OpenAI Codex
    4M+ weekly users
  • Listing
    GitHub Copilot
    Claimed
    OpenAI Codex
    Not claimed

Frequently asked questions

Is GitHub Copilot better than OpenAI Codex?

It depends on your workflow. GitHub Copilot is built for inline code completion in popular IDEs. OpenAI Codex is built for delegating coding tasks to an agent.

What are the key feature differences between GitHub Copilot and OpenAI Codex?

GitHub Copilot: AI coding assistant for code completion, chat and cloud agents across IDEs, terminal and GitHub. OpenAI Codex: OpenAI's coding agent that writes, reviews and runs code from terminal, IDE, desktop or cloud.

Does GitHub Copilot or OpenAI Codex have a free plan?

Yes, both do. GitHub Copilot is freemium and OpenAI Codex is freemium, and each has a free plan or trial.

Which is cheaper, GitHub Copilot or OpenAI Codex?

Both can be used for free. Paid plans differ in limits and features, so compare the tiers in the pricing table above.