GitHub Copilot vs Microsoft Copilot: Which Is the Best AI Assistant?

This GitHub Copilot vs Microsoft Copilot comparison will help you understand which is the most suitable for functional coding.

Generative artificial intelligence programs have made their way into many fields of work, like writing, documentation, designing, website development, and software coding. However, tech giants like Microsoft and Google are developing all-encompassing AI tools to help you with all tasks in one user interface.

Two of the most popular ones are Microsoft Copilot and GitHub Copilot. If you’re primarily a software programmer with an occasional need for other tasks, read this in-depth comparison to make your decision. Let’s get into it!

What Is GitHub Copilot?

GitHub Copilot is a GitHub repository-linked AI coding suggestion app. It works as an IDE plugin for software development platforms, like JetBrains IDEs, Visual Studio, Visual Studio Code, and Neovim. Also, the AI is conversant in all programming languages available in public code repositories.

It extends the function of an AI from simply suggesting the next code line to more functional tasks, code explanations via chat, software documentation, etc.

According to a GitHub report, it increases the productivity of any software programmer by up to 55%. It does so by eliminating the need for coders to handle mundane tasks, import boilerplate functions, etc., to their project and managing the quality of those imported code lines. Instead, programmers can focus truly on writing new codes for their software.

Unlike other coding autocomplete services, GitHub Copilot doesn’t just copy-paste code lines from a central repository by looking up a codebase. Instead, the coding AI is integrated deep into the IDE and your projects. So, it analyzes the project’s ultimate goal and previously written codes to suggest suitable additions.

Pros and Cons

When you start using this tool, you’ll enjoy benefits as well as face some bottlenecks. Here are some of the advantages and drawbacks you should know:

Pros	Cons
It’s one of the most trusted AI code completion programs.	Since the coding AI has been trained on public codebases, you’ll still need to go through the final code before publishing.
It integrates with almost all standalone IDEs, thanks to its integration with the JetBrains IDE engine.	Inaccurate codes are possible, so manual quality control is mandatory.
You can get code explanations and suggestions in all software development scripts.	Many important automations, like Pull Request, Text Completion, Knowledge Bases, etc., are only available in the Copilot Enterprise package.
Besides working as a plugin in IDEs, it also works as a coding AI in command-line interface tools through API integration.	Sometimes, the coding AI might not suggest the next code lines until there is enough context.
It automates almost all coding tasks for coders, enterprises, and administrators.	It may consume considerable system resources, especially memory.
There’s a 14-day free trial.	It might import all the biases it learned from public repositories and make your project biased or harmful.
GitHub maintains elaborate documentation so you can get high-level support as a developer.	Using GitHub Copilot’s scripting suggestions come with the risk of copyright infringement.
It complies with various data protection laws, like GDPR and CCPA.	Offline coding automation isn’t possible.

What Is Microsoft Copilot?

Microsoft Copilot is a general-purpose AI assistant. It helps you to find focused answers to queries from the web with source links. Besides specialized web search, it also works as a generative AI chat for instant answers to any questions.

It uses advanced artificial intelligence models to offer interactive questions and answers through text, images, and audio inputs. Alongside general answers, it can also write program scripts in up to 20 languages, like Python, JavaScript, Java, C++, C#, Swift, and more.

Microsoft Copilot is primarily available for free for individual users. However, you can get cross-app intelligence by integrating it with most Microsoft 365 apps. For integration purposes, you’ll need a subscription to Copilot for Microsoft 365.

Pros and Cons

Here are the benefits and shortcomings of using Microsoft Copilot:

Pros	Cons
It accepts inputs in various forms, like text, image, or audio files.	It’s as efficient as GitHub Copilot when creating a functional script.
Microsoft encrypts all the data transmissions when using the tool.	It suffers from many glitches and its responses can be of poor quality. So, you must optimize the prompt to get better results.
For business subscription users, Microsoft Copilot uses secure data partitions.	All AI chats are limited to up to 5 threads.
Integrates easily with Microsoft 365 apps, like Teams, Excel, Word, and more.	It can’t integrate with public code repos, like GitHub.
Microsoft never uses your data to train the underlying AI model.	The work email edition of free Microsoft Copilot doesn’t save conversations.
Works directly from the web browser so you don’t need to install any software.	The individual version offers limited plugins or customizations. For extensive plugin choices, you need to buy a paid plan.
It’s accessible anonymously. However, you can register an account to save responses for the future.	Often, the AI copilot only generates responses when you’re on the webpage, so performance is limited.

GitHub Copilot vs Microsoft Copilot – Feature Comparison

Though both of these tools primarily integrate with a user interface and offer real-time AI responses, there are subtle differences that make them unique:

AI Code Generation

Both of these apps help you generate codes automatically with a prompt.

However, GitHub Copilot is intended specifically for software code generation. It has been trained on real coding projects from many public code repos. Also, the tool is conversant in all app development languages.

Furthermore, it integrates into a specific coding project and starts suggesting code lines automatically as you build features and functions. In a nutshell, it writes scripts just like a software coder but learns continually and can think much faster than a human programmer.

Contrarily, Microsoft Copilot writes codes as a generative AI tool. It’s not designated for professional coding in software development projects. In most scenarios, the AI will simply populate a script from a web search if it finds a match. So, you can’t use that code as is for commercial use because you’ll violate software program copyright laws.

Moreover, it can generate codes in only 20 coding languages and can’t integrate with an ongoing programming project.

You can see that Microsoft Copilot has also generated a script for mobile app button coding but referenced published articles or websites.

AI Copilot Chat

The chat feature of GitHub Copilot has been designed specifically for programming-related assistance. You can ask the AI to explain a codebase, generate a unit test for a function, add a code line to a documentation with explanations, and more.

Furthermore, the Copilot Enterprise edition can create pull request summaries, text completion for pull request description writing, create a knowledge base of prompts, etc.

On the other hand, Microsoft Copilot chat is for general purposes. You can ask it to write a VBA script for Excel, small Python scripts for data analysis, create AI-generated stock images, or synthesize AI music. This AI assistance won’t be able to help you with specialized coding tasks like GitHub Copilot.

Integration With Other Apps

You’ll have to integrate GitHub Copilot with your preferred IDE, like Visual Studio, Visual Studio Code, and Neovim. If you’re using any other coding tool, it must be based on the JetBrains IDE engine for GitHub Copilot integration. For example, you can integrate the AI coding plugin in Android Studio since it’s a JetBrains IDE-compliant development platform.

On the contrary, the Microsoft Copilot free edition only allows a select few plugins, like Search, Instacart, Klarna, Phone, etc. If you get the Microsoft Copilot for Microsoft 365 subscription, you can integrate the service with Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Teams, Outlook, and more. However, for coding purposes, it won’t integrate with any IDE.

Technical Support

GitHub Copilot offers technical assistance to individual and business users in various ways. You can choose one or more from the list provided below:

• GitHub Docs: This is technical documentation you can use as a developer to understand the tool from the ground up.
• Community Forum: This channel is specifically for active users. You can go through existing forum discussions or post a new issue if you can’t find any relevant resolution.

• GitHub Support Ticket: You can use the Get help with GitHub form to create a ticket related to billing or technical issues.
• The GitHub Expert Services Team: You can contact this specialized team to get training materials on topics like GitHub Copilot for Business, GitHub Copilot for Business Administration and Security, GitHub Copilot for Business Adoption at Scale, and more.
• GitHub Premium Support: You can opt for a paid technical support plan for a dedicated Technical account manager, Phone support, Screenshare support, Guaranteed service level agreements, Priority ticket handling, Escalation management, and more.

Microsoft Copilot also offers functional support through the following channels:

• Copilot Support for Individuals: Here you’ll get online support articles for DIY troubleshooting.

• Copilot Support for Businesses: This link takes you to the Microsoft 365 Admin Center for dedicated chat or email support.

Security and Privacy Features

GitHub Copilot collects various data, like Prompts, Feedback Data, User Engagement Data, and Suggestions when you use the service on your IDE. However, it processes in encrypted mode so no one can know what you’re actually working on. Also, it doesn’t use your data to train the AI engine.

Moreover, it has data privacy and protection certificates, like GDPR and CCPA to help you stay compliant.

Since the program has been trained from public codebase platforms, it might sometimes populate personally identifiable data. However, the chances of such occurrences are very low.

On the other hand, Microsoft Copilot uses general security and privacy features for the free edition subscribers. For example, the app has data transmission encryption so hackers can’t intercept your work. You can log in with a Microsoft Account to keep a copy of all of your work. Moreover, Microsoft doesn’t use your data to train its large language models.

For business subscribers and premium users, Microsoft uses dedicated disk partitions for work data. Also, it applies the same content and access restrictions as configured in your Microsoft 365 Admin Center.

In a nutshell, both of these AI tools are safe from prying eyes so you can work with business or confidential data.

Pricing

GitHub Copilot isn’t available for free for individual developers. You can get a 14-day free trial period but you must sign up with a credit or debit card. You can cancel the subscription before the trial ends or you’ll get charged.

The Copilot Individual subscription starts at $10/ user/ month and could go up to $39/ user/ month for the Enterprise plan.

Contrarily, the basic version of Microsoft Copilot is free forever for registered and visitor users. You could get a Copilot Pro subscription for $20/ user/ month. Alternatively, if you need to use the AI assistance in the Microsoft 365 suite, you can subscribe to the $30/ user/ month premium package.

GitHub Copilot vs Microsoft Copilot: Verdict

So, here are my thoughts:

If you’re a trainee, expert, or business-level software programmer looking to reduce manual work, you should go for GitHub Copilot.

However, if you code as a hobby or are just in the learning phase, you can start with Microsoft Copilot. It’ll help you get answers to theoretical content related to programming.

Hopefully, this GitHub Copilot vs Microsoft Copilot will help you make up your mind.