GitHub Paused Copilot Pro Signups. What to Use Instead.
Copilot Pro and Pro+ closed to new users on April 20, 2026. Here's the real best alternative for each use case.
On April 20, 2026, GitHub paused new signups for Copilot Pro, Pro+, and student plans. Existing subscribers are unaffected. New individuals are stuck with the Free tier — or another vendor.
The fastest replacement for each Copilot use case
You used Copilot for autocomplete
The Copilot Free tier still works, and its autocomplete is fine for many workflows. If you outgrow it, the cheapest paid path is Sourcegraph Cody Pro at $9/mo. Windsurf Pro at $15 also includes unlimited Cascade Base for agentic edits.
You used Copilot Chat / agent mode
Move to Cursor Pro ($20) or Claude Code Pro ($20). Both outperform Copilot on multi-file edits in our usage.
You used Copilot inside JetBrains
Cursor doesn't ship a JetBrains plugin. Stay on Copilot Free, or consider Continue.dev (open-source, BYOK) which has solid JetBrains support.
You're a student
The student plan is also paused for new applicants. Use the Free tier plus Aider with a free-tier API key (Google AI Studio gives generous Gemini Flash quota at $0).
If you have a Copilot Business or Enterprise account through work
Stay there. You're getting $19-39/user/mo of value at zero personal cost. The Free vs Business gap on completion quality is meaningful for any non-trivial work.
What we recommend
If you'd just made up your mind to buy Copilot Pro and got blocked at checkout: the closest replacement at the same price-per-quality ratio in April 2026 is Windsurf Pro at $15. It's $5 more than what Copilot would have charged, and noticeably stronger on agentic tasks.
Browse all tools or use the calculator to find your fit.