GitHub is making their AI pair programmer, ‘called Copilot,’ generally available to everyone for $10 USD/month or $100 USD/year. The programmer will also be free for all verified students and maintainers of popular open source projects.
GitHub says that “for the first time in software history, AI can be broadly harnessed by developers to write and complete code. Just like the rise of compilers and open source, AI-assisted coding will fundamentally change the nature of software development, giving developers a new tool to write code easier and faster.”
GitHub Copilot was initially announced as a technical preview last year and was used by 1.2 million developers in this phase.
Copilot has been designed as an editor extension so that when the user types code or comments, GitHub Copilot may suggest the next word or line of code, a complete method, boilerplate code, whole unit tests, and even complex algorithms according to GitHub.
GitHub says that in files where it’s enabled, nearly 40% of code is being written by GitHub Copilot in popular coding languages, like Python.
Students who wish to use Copilot can apply for the GitHub Student Pack to get started. Open source maintainers can read GitHub’s FAQs to see if they qualify to start using GitHub Copilot at no cost.
Everyone else can try Copilot with a free 60-day trial. GitHub will also begin offering Copilot to companies later this year.