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GitHub Copilot vs Codex CLI
Copilot is GitHub's assistant for your editor, terminal and pull requests. Codex CLI is OpenAI's open-source terminal agent that runs on your ChatGPT plan or an API key.
Side by Side
| GitHub Copilot | OpenAI Codex CLI | |
|---|---|---|
| What It Is | GitHub's AI pair programmer with completions, chat and coding agent across popular editors. | OpenAI's open-source (Apache-2.0) coding agent that runs locally in your terminal: it reads your repo, edits files and runs commands, with codex exec for scripts and CI. Sign in with ChatGPT or use an API key. |
| Category | AI Editors & Agents | AI Editors & Agents |
| Where It Runs | Agent mode in VS Code, Visual Studio, JetBrains, Eclipse and Xcode, plus the Copilot CLI and github.com. | Terminal on macOS, Linux and Windows. The same plan covers the Codex IDE extension, desktop app and Codex cloud. |
| Models | Claude, GPT, Gemini, Grok and more. Agent mode, chat, code review and the CLI spend GitHub AI Credits, at a rate that varies by model. | Sign in with ChatGPT, or use an API key, where model access follows your key. Open source under Apache-2.0. |
| Free Option | Copilot Free: limited chat and agent usage, with agent mode, MCP and the CLI. | The CLI is free to install. Using it starts with ChatGPT Plus, or an API key billed at API rates. |
| Cloud Agents | Pro and up: assign work to Copilot and it opens a pull request. Pro+ and Max can also hand tasks to Claude and Codex agents (preview). | Codex cloud comes with your ChatGPT plan. codex exec runs non-interactive tasks in scripts and pipelines. |
| Tags | ||
| Pricing | Pro $10/mo, Pro+ $39/mo, Max $100/mo. They include $15, $70 and $200 of GitHub AI Credits a month, part of it a flex allotment that may change. Paid plans can buy more. | Included with ChatGPT Plus at $20/mo: CLI, IDE extension, web and iOS. Pro is $100, $200 or $500 a month. Business is $25 per user a month billed monthly. Or bring an API key and pay API rates. |
| Website | github.com | developers.openai.com |
| On Digidle |
Pricing and plan details checked October 29, 2026 on each vendor's official pages: Copilot plans, Codex pricing, Codex CLI, openai/codex on GitHub. Plans change, so confirm before you buy.
Which One to Pick
Pick GitHub Copilot If
You want to keep your editor, live on GitHub, and assign work that comes back as a pull request, starting at $10 a month.
More on GitHub CopilotPick Codex CLI If
You want OpenAI's own open-source agent in the terminal, already pay for ChatGPT, or want codex exec running in CI.
More on Codex CLIBuilt a tool in AI Editors & Agents? Get it featured at the top of its category for 30 days.
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