GitHub Copilot vs ChatGPT: Which AI Tool Is Better? – eWeek
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Image: eWeek
GitHub Copilot and ChatGPT are leading AI tools built on OpenAI models, each serving a different purpose. Copilot is tailored for coding, while ChatGPT acts as a multipurpose conversational assistant. Knowing what each excels at can help you choose which tool best fits your needs.
GitHub Copilot: Best for real-time AI-powered software development within integrated development environments (IDEs).
ChatGPT: Best for providing explanations, brainstorming, and general-purpose conversational AI assistance across many knowledge domains, including coding.
Key takeaways
GitHub Copilot is an AI-powered coding assistant that boosts developer productivity by offering real-time, context-specific code suggestions, generating boilerplate code, and automating routine tasks. It supports a wide range of programming languages and integrates smoothly with popular IDEs, adapting to individual coding styles for improved workflows. By accelerating development speed, refining code quality, and providing intuitive documentation support, GitHub Copilot proves invaluable for developers.
ChatGPT is a generative AI tool that delivers human-like text responses across a wide range of topics. It can answer questions, summarize information, create content, and engage in clear, context-aware conversations. For developers, it supports tasks like writing code snippets, explaining concepts, and debugging. Its conversational approach and strong grasp of context make it especially effective for answering straightforward coding questions, bringing practical help to both beginners and experienced programmers.
ChatGPT wins on pricing thanks to its flexible and inclusive options. It offers a free tier with virtually unlimited coding usage using GPT-4o and o3-mini models, only downgrading response quality when usage caps are hit. Users can also upgrade to the ChatGPT Plus plan for $20 per month to access GPT-4.5, or opt for pay-as-you-go pricing through the OpenAI API — making it suitable for casual users, power users, and developers building custom tools.
GitHub Copilot, while offering transparent and straightforward pricing, is more limited in structure compared to ChatGPT. Its free plan includes 2,000 code completions and 50 chat messages per month. For users requiring more extensive usage, Copilot Pro is available at $10 per month or $100 per year, offering unlimited code completions and additional features.
Surprisingly, ChatGPT outperformed GitHub Copilot in coding tests, despite Copilot’s dedicated focus on coding, ChatGPT excelled in comprehensiveness, presented context-rich explanations, and gave more thorough responses. In addition, ChatGPT not only generates code effectively, but also helps with debugging, explaining concepts, and guiding users through various programming tasks — making it a more well-rounded tool.
For the sake of gauging their coding capabilities and effectiveness, I tested both GitHub Copilot and ChatGPT with prompts related to coding.
To test code generation, I used the prompt: “Write a Python function called calculate_factorial that takes a non-negative integer as input and returns its factorial. Include error handling for invalid inputs, clear variable names, and comments explaining each step.”
ChatGPT produced a well-structured solution with separate handling for TypeError and ValueError, which improves clarity and simplifies debugging. Its clear comments and organized logic follow best practices, making the output suitable for real-world use. The detailed explanation also makes it easier to understand, especially for collaborative or production-level projects.
GitHub Copilot took a simpler approach, combining type and value checks into a single condition. This results in shorter code, but might affect the precision that helps with troubleshooting. Its minimal comments and focus on efficiency make it great for quick tasks, though less ideal for complex or production-ready solutions.
Both ChatGPT and GitHub Copilot perform exceptionally well when it comes to understanding different prompt styles. They can handle natural language, shorthand instructions, inline comments, and full code snippets with ease. While their performance is comparable, the difference lies in how each tool responds to these prompts.
ChatGPT tends to favor detailed, well-documented code with clear structure and step-by-step logic, especially when given complex or ambiguous instructions. It even gave alternative ways to perform the task, and took into account the fact that I’m new to coding.
GitHub Copilot, on the other hand, focuses on brevity — generating concise, functional code that gets straight to the point. This makes ChatGPT better suited for learners or in-depth tasks, while Copilot is ideal for quick, efficient code generation.
To test how well each tool understands and adapts to existing code, I provided a simple script that sorts a list of numbers and asked for a version that could instead sort a list of tuples by the second value in each. I also requested error handling in case any tuple was missing a second item. This test checked how closely the assistant could follow instructions and apply changes based on a small code snippet.
ChatGPT came out ahead because it handled the task with more care and attention to detail. It checked that every item in the list was actually a tuple and made sure each one had at least two elements before trying to sort. If something was wrong, it gave a clear error message that pointed out exactly where the problem was, making it much easier to fix.
GitHub Copilot gave a working solution, but it didn’t check if the items were tuples — only if they had two elements. If something was wrong, the error message was vague and didn’t say what caused the issue. While the function did sort correctly when the input was clean, it didn’t have the extra checks that make the code more reliable and easier to troubleshoot.
GitHub Copilot clearly wins when it comes to integration. It offers official support for major IDEs such as Visual Studio Code (VS Code), Visual Studio, and JetBrains, making it easy to use directly in the coding environment developers already rely on. Copilot also integrates with GitHub and even has a command-line interface (CLI) tool, giving it a strong presence across key parts of a developer’s workflow.
ChatGPT, although powerful, falls short in comparison. It can help with coding through third-party plugins for IDEs and can generate useful content for CI/CD, testing, and Git workflows — but none of these are officially integrated. This means it’s more flexible in what it can talk about, but less connected to the actual tools developers use every day.
ChatGPT stands out in this category because it’s ready to use with no setup — just open it in a browser or app. Its simple, natural-language interface lets you describe problems or tasks in plain English and get clear, helpful answers. It’s especially beginner-friendly, offering step-by-step explanations along with code, and its clean layout keeps the focus on the conversation without distractions.
GitHub Copilot is also accessible through the browser via GitHub.com, but its full capabilities are unlocked when integrated into supported IDEs such as VS Code or JetBrains. This setup adds an extra step that may be unfamiliar to beginners. While it has a flexible, comprehensive interface ideal for experienced developers, it can feel complex for new users. Additionally, GitHubCopilot doesn’t provide much explanation alongside its code suggestions, unlike ChatGPT.
ChatGPT takes the lead in customer support because of its multiple support channels. You have access to a help chatbot, extensive documentation, and active community forums. Most importantly, both free and paid users can submit support tickets when they need direct assistance.
In contrast, GitHub Copilot only provides direct email support to paid users. Free users only have access to self-help options like documentation and community forums, which may not be sufficient for resolving more complex issues.
Both GitHub Copilot and ChatGPT are robust AI tools, but each has its unique strengths and weaknesses. Depending on your scenario, one might be better suited than the other.
GitHub Copilot isn’t the best fit for:
ChatGPT may not be ideal for:
If neither GitHub Copilot nor ChatGPT suits your needs, you can consider the following AI tools:
Claude AI, developed by Anthropic, is a leading generative AI tool that can write high-quality code, debug, and explain programming concepts across multiple languages. It also performs general-purpose tasks, such as summarization, content creation, and multilingual communication, making it a strong choice for diverse applications. On the downside, according to multiple users, Claude’s performance drops with very long code (over 500 lines), reducing effectiveness on complex projects.
Gemini Code Assist is an AI-powered coding tool developed by Google, delivering intelligent code suggestions, debugging assistance, and code block generation across more than 20 programming languages. It integrates seamlessly with popular IDEs like Visual Studio Code and JetBrains, adapting to user preferences over time for personalized coding efficiency. However, being a relatively new tool, launched in February 2025, it may still face challenges with refinement and stability compared to more established alternatives.
Tabnine is an AI coding assistant that delivers real-time code completions, trained on open-source code with permissive licenses. It supports more than 600 programming languages and frameworks, integrating directly into IDEs like VS Code, IntelliJ, and WebStorm to enhance development workflows. This AI tool emphasizes speed and privacy, with local and on-prem deployment options for teams with strict data policies. That said, it doesn’t have native support for CLIs, which limits its usefulness for developers who rely heavily on terminal-based workflows.
To compare GitHub Copilot and ChatGPT fairly and thoroughly, I looked at five key areas: core features, integrations, pricing, ease of use, and customer support. These categories cover both how the tools perform and how practical they are in real-world use.
In a direct comparison as AI tools, ChatGPT’s multi-purpose capabilities and wider range of use cases give it a clear edge over GitHub Copilot. It goes beyond coding, handling writing, research, and productivity tasks. Copilot, however, remains dedicated to helping developers write code. It thrives in IDEs, offering real-time assistance that streamlines coding tasks without distraction. In short, if you’re looking for an AI that can support you within and beyond programming, ChatGPT is the stronger pick; but if you want a tool dedicated entirely to coding, GitHub Copilot is a smart, specialized choice.
Read our article on the top AI companies to discover the leaders shaping the future of artificial intelligence and how their tools can support your workflow.
Liz Ticong is a tech industry expert with hands-on experience in AI, software testing, and product analysis. Specializing in AI news, software reviews, and buyer’s guides, she rigorously tests and experiments with the latest AI and tech tools to provide in-depth, practical insights. As a contributor to eWeek and TechRepublic, she simplifies complex topics, helping readers make well-informed decisions.
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The rapid acceleration of AI innovation presents a challenge for many organizations. Some are actively addressing this shift, while others lack direction, and there are those choosing to delay their response. But no matter where your business stands, one fact is clear: AI-ready data is the holy grail of modern innovation. Every AI journey begins […]
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