Does Continue or GitHub Copilot have a free plan?

Continue is available for free. GitHub Copilot is available for free with a free trial. Always verify current pricing directly with the vendor.

Continue vs GitHub Copilot

Q: Can I use Continue and GitHub Copilot together?

Yes, many teams use both tools together for different purposes. Use the Stack Builder section above to combine Continue and GitHub Copilot with other tools and save your AI toolkit.

Comprehensive side-by-side comparison — features, pricing, performance, and more.

Updated May 2026

Continue

Continue, Inc.

Source-controlled AI checks on every pull request for software quality control.

0.0(0)

FREEMIUM

95% data quality

GitHub Copilot

GitHub

Write better code with AI

0.0(0)

FREEMIUM

91% data quality

Trust & Reliability

Continue

Uptime:99.983%Status page

Users:100K-1M

GitHub Copilot

Customers (per vendor):Duolingo, Figma, Mercedes-Benz +7

GDPR

Overall Winner: GitHub Copilot

7.5/10 vs Continue at 6.8/10

Leads in:

Support

Ease of Use

Value for Money

AI Comparison Summary

Continue

6.8

avg score

GitHub Copilot

7.5

avg score

GitHub Copilot leads overall — particularly in Ease of Use and Support & Ecosystem.

Based on 6 dimensions

How scores are calculated

Overall Winner

GitHub Copilot

7.5 / 10

Continue

Best For

Automating code quality enforcement for development teams

Maintaining consistent engineering standards across projects

Streamlining pull request reviews with AI-suggested fixes

Designing and deploying custom AI agents for code analysis

Not Ideal For

Creative content generation (e.g., marketing copy, images)

Non-technical users without coding or CI/CD pipeline knowledge

General purpose AI chatbot interactions

GitHub Copilot

Best For

Developers seeking to accelerate coding

Learning new programming languages or frameworks

Automating repetitive coding tasks

Improving code quality and reducing bugs

Not Ideal For

Developers who prefer to write all code manually

Projects with extremely strict, custom coding standards not understood by AI

Situations requiring offline coding assistance

* Verdict is based on our algorithmic scoring of publicly available data. Learn about our methodology

Continue is best for

✍️Writing & Content7.0💬Chat & Conversation7.0🤖Automation & Agents7.0

GitHub Copilot is best for

🤖Automation & Agents8.0🔍Research8.0🎧Customer Support8.0

Filter by your use case:

Pros & Cons

Continue

Pros

Enforces specific, human-defined engineering standards with AI
Provides suggested fixes directly within GitHub pull requests
Scales with development factory speed, checking every PR automatically
Offers centralized management and control over AI agents for teams
Open-source CLI and IDE extensions available for local use

Cons

Pricing is usage-based, which can be unpredictable for high-volume use
Requires defining checks in markdown, which might have a learning curve
Focuses on code quality and enforcement, not broad creative generation
Limited information on specific AI models used, beyond "frontier models"

GitHub Copilot

Pros

Significantly speeds up coding
Reduces boilerplate code
Helps discover new APIs and patterns
Improves code quality and consistency
Integrates seamlessly into popular IDEs
Offers AI-powered chat for coding assistance

Cons

Can sometimes generate incorrect or inefficient code
Requires an active internet connection
May not always understand complex project contexts
Potential for code suggestions to be overly verbose or repetitive

Weighted Score — Adjust What Matters to You

Pick a profile or drag sliders — scores and radar update instantly on the right.

Quick profiles:

Ease of Use5

Output Quality5

Value for Money5

Customizability5

Support & Ecosystem5

Integration Power5

Dimension Comparison

Continue

6.8

/ 10

GitHub Copilot

7.5

/ 10

Your pick

Dimension Breakdown

Ease of Use

How easy it is to get started and use daily

Continue

6.0

GitHub Copilot

8.0▲ +2.0

Output Quality

Quality and accuracy of generated results

Continue

7.0

GitHub Copilot

7.0

Value for Money

Cost vs. features and output quality

Continue

6.0

GitHub Copilot

7.0▲ +1.0

Customizability

Calculated

Ability to tailor to specific needs

Continue

8.0

GitHub Copilot

8.0

Support & Ecosystem

Documentation, community, and support quality

Continue

7.0

GitHub Copilot

9.0▲ +2.0

Integration Power

Calculated

Ability to connect with other tools and workflows

Continue

7.0▲ +1.0

GitHub Copilot

6.0

Calculated = derived from verified integration count and API/open-source signals. AI = LLM-assessed from public website content. Methodology

Task Performance

Continue

Task

GitHub Copilot

6.0

Code Completion

9.0

7.0

Bug Detection

7.0

5.0

Code Explanation

8.0

6.0

Refactoring

8.0

4.0

Test Generation

7.0

Multi Language Support

8.0

7.0

Context Understanding

7.0

5.0

Documentation Generation

6.0

Performance Optimization

6.0

7.0

Security Scanning

7.0

* Task scores (1–10) are algorithmically generated from publicly available data.

Data is sourced from public information and vendor websites. It may not always be up-to-date — verify pricing and features directly with the vendor before purchasing.Report inaccuracy

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is better, Continue or GitHub Copilot?

Both are strong options. Continue has a rating of 0.0/5 (0 reviews), while GitHub Copilot has a rating of 0.0/5 (0 reviews). The best choice depends on your specific use case, budget, and workflow requirements.

Is Continue cheaper than GitHub Copilot?

Continue starts at $3/month (freemium model). GitHub Copilot starts at free (freemium model) with a free trial. Use the Cost Calculator above for a detailed estimate.

What are the main differences between Continue and GitHub Copilot?

Continue — "Source-controlled AI checks on every pull request for software quality control.". GitHub Copilot — "Write better code with AI". Key differences include their pricing models, platform support, integrations, and technical capabilities. See the Feature Comparison table above for a complete side-by-side breakdown.

Can I use Continue and GitHub Copilot together?

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