Pick GitHub Copilot if your team lives on GitHub and wants a low seat price with many models: it starts free, Pro is $10 a month, it works in your editor, on GitHub.com and in the terminal, and its cloud agent turns an assigned issue into a pull request. Pick Claude Code if you want Anthropic's agent for long, autonomous work on Claude models, with 33 hook events and cloud routines. Copilot Pro+ and Max can even run Claude as a third-party agent, so the two are not exclusive.
Copilot and Claude Code at a glance
As of October 2026, from github.com/features/copilot/plans, GitHub Docs and claude.com.
| GitHub Copilot | Claude Code | |
|---|---|---|
| Individual plans | Free; Pro $10; Pro+ $39; Max $100 a month | Pro $20 ($17 billed annually); Max $100 or $200 a month |
| Team plans | Business $19, Enterprise $39 per user a month | Team $25 per seat ($125 Premium); Enterprise $20 per seat plus usage |
| How use is metered | GitHub AI Credits ($0.01 each): Pro includes $15 a month, Pro+ $70, Max $200 | Five-hour usage windows plus weekly limits |
| Models | Claude, GPT, Gemini, Grok, Kimi and Microsoft models | Claude only |
| Where it runs | IDEs, GitHub.com, GitHub Mobile, Copilot CLI, Windows Terminal, GitHub Copilot app | Terminal, VS Code, JetBrains, desktop app, web, mobile app, Slack |
| Cloud agent | Copilot cloud agent in a GitHub Actions environment, opens PRs (Pro and up) | Cloud sessions on claude.ai/code, routines |
| Code review | On pull requests and diffs (Pro and up) | GitHub Code Review and GitHub Actions integration |
| Skills, MCP, hooks | Yes, in Copilot CLI, plus custom agents and plugins | Yes, plus subagents and plugins; 33 hook events |
| Starting work | Assign an issue to @copilot, or delegate from the IDE | Prompt any surface; routines start on a schedule, API call or GitHub event |
Price and how usage is counted
Copilot now counts model use in GitHub AI Credits, where one credit is one cent. Pro's $10 buys $10 of base credits plus a $5 flex allotment; Pro+ ($39) includes $70 a month and Max ($100) $200. You can buy more on any paid plan. Free gets 2,000 inline suggestions and 50 chat requests a month with limited agent use. Business seats come with 1,900 credits a user per month and Enterprise with 3,900.
Claude Code is included in Claude plans and metered by five-hour sessions and weekly caps rather than per request. If you mostly run long agent sessions on one model family, a flat Claude plan is easy to reason about. If you want many developers on a modest budget, with inline completions and the occasional agent task, Copilot's seat prices are hard to beat.
Editor and GitHub vs terminal and cloud
Copilot started in the editor and still shines there: inline suggestions as you type, chat, and agent mode, which is included even on Free. On GitHub.com you assign an issue to @copilot and the cloud agent works in a GitHub Actions environment, pushes commits and opens a pull request for you to review; comment @copilot on the PR to ask for changes. You can also delegate a task from VS Code.
Claude Code started in the terminal and spread to VS Code, JetBrains, a desktop app, the web and Slack. On the web it runs cloud sessions against your GitHub repositories. Routines add what Copilot doesn't advertise: a saved task that runs on a schedule (hourly at most), from an HTTP call, or when a pull request or release event fires, for example a nightly dependency audit that opens a PR.
Copilot CLI vs Claude Code
In the terminal the two look similar. GitHub's docs list these Copilot CLI customizations: custom instructions, skills, custom agents (run as subagents with their own context), hooks, MCP servers and plugins. Claude Code has the same set, with CLAUDE.md for instructions.
The differences: Copilot CLI is in every Copilot plan, Free included, so it is the cheapest way to try a terminal agent; Claude Code goes further on automation, with hooks on 33 events, including permission requests, and handlers that can be a command, HTTP call, MCP tool call, prompt or subagent. Our Claude Code hooks guide has examples.
If you run both CLIs, Briefkin's installer adds a hook to each, so Copilot CLI and Claude Code sessions show up on one board and ping you when one is waiting on a permission.
Claude inside Copilot
This is the part many comparisons miss. Copilot Pro+ and Max list third-party agents (Claude and OpenAI Codex, in preview). Every plan also lists Claude models for Copilot's own agent, from Haiku to Opus 5.5 and Fable. So a GitHub-first team can try Claude without a separate subscription, and switch to Claude Code later if it wants the full toolset.
Which to choose
- Your team works in GitHub issues and PRs all day: Copilot, for the cloud agent and code review where the work already is.
- You want inline completions plus an agent, cheaply: Copilot Pro at $10.
- You want model choice under one bill: Copilot.
- You run long autonomous tasks and want Claude at its fullest: Claude Code.
- You want scheduled or event-driven agents without writing CI: Claude Code routines.
- Still deciding: compare Codex vs Claude Code, Cursor vs Claude Code, or the full list of Claude Code alternatives.
Questions
Can I use Claude models in GitHub Copilot?
Yes. As of October 2026, every Copilot plan lists Claude models, including Sonnet 5.5 and Opus 5.5, next to OpenAI, Google and xAI models. Usage is paid from your plan's GitHub AI Credits.
Can Copilot run Claude Code itself?
Copilot Pro+ and Max include third-party agents, listed as Claude and OpenAI Codex, in preview. Pro and Free don't.
Is Copilot cheaper than Claude Code?
At the entry level, yes: Copilot Pro is $10 a month and Copilot Free costs nothing, while Claude Code starts with Claude Pro at $20. What you get for the money differs, since Copilot meters model use in AI credits and Claude Pro meters it in five-hour usage windows.
What is the difference between Copilot CLI and Claude Code?
Both are terminal agents with skills, custom agents, hooks, MCP servers and plugins. Copilot CLI is included in every Copilot plan, including Free, and can use several model families; Claude Code runs Claude only and adds cloud routines and more hook events.