Github Copilot vs ChatGPT: Which Is The Better Coding This 2024

In this article, we compare GitHub Copilot and ChatGPT in terms of key features, pros & cons, pricing, and other comparisons to help you determine which tool best suits your needs. Let’s unravel the differences between these two AI-driven solutions.

Quick Comparison

What is GitHub Copilot?

GitHub Copilot is like having an intelligent friend who knows much about coding and is always ready to help you. It’s an AI tool created by GitHub and OpenAI that makes coding easier and faster. Imagine you’re writing code and stuck on how to proceed. GitHub Copilot jumps in with suggestions, almost like magic.

Here’s how it works: When typing away in Visual Studio Code, GitHub Copilot analyzes your work. If you need a function or a piece of code, ask Copilot, and it’ll suggest something that fits perfectly with your work. It’s like having a coding buddy who knows precisely what you need right when needed.

What’s remarkable is that Copilot doesn’t just give you one-line suggestions. It can offer entire blocks of code, saving you time and brainpower. And if you’re curious about how something works or need help fixing a bug, Copilot can explain it in plain language.

What is ChatGPT?

ChatGPT is like an intelligent buddy on the internet. It’s an AI, which means it’s a computer program that’s good at understanding and responding to what people say. When you talk to ChatGPT, you’re chatting with a computer that’s been taught a lot about how people talk and write.

So, why is ChatGPT excellent for coding or making software? Well, think about it like having a helpful friend who knows much about coding and software. When you’re stuck on a problem or need some ideas, you can ask ChatGPT for help. It can give you suggestions, explain tricky concepts, or even write some code for you based on what you tell it.

Github Copilot vs ChatGPT: Detailed Analysis

Pros & Cons

Github Copilot

Pros: 

• Integrates with existing coding ecosystems and resources. Built-in vulnerability prevention system. 
• Offers intuitive coding experience with real-time suggestions in popular IDEs, enhancing productivity. 
• Quickly generates code snippets and functions, speeding up development and reducing manual effort. 
• AI learns from developers’ styles for more accurate, tailored code suggestions.
• Leverages vast codebase for comprehensive suggestions.
• Streamlines code review process with suggested code improvements.

Cons:

• Limited chatbot capabilities for non-programming questions. 
• Occasional coding errors, especially with undivided code segments.
• Integration may falter with less common IDEs, affecting usability for some.

ChatGPT

Pros: 

• Multipurpose uses and capabilities. 
• Easy to access and use for all skill levels. 
• Excels in brainstorming and problem-solving, helping structure software projects. 
• Advanced NLP interprets various queries and is accessible to different expertise levels. 
• Simplifies complex concepts, aiding developer education across skill levels. 
• Assists in documentation, automation, and more, showcasing developmental versatility.

Cons: 

• Limited coding and image capabilities in the free plan. 
• Limited coding features compared to GitHub Copilot. 
• Generated code may not always align with precision and reliability standards.

The verdict

GitHub Copilot is the preferred choice for streamlined coding tasks and real-time support due to its deep integration with coding environments and comprehensive suggestions. 

Key features

Github Copilot

GitHub Copilot is a powerful coding tool with many features designed to make coding more accessible and more efficient. Let’s take a closer look at some of its key features:

• Learning Assistance: Copilot is a helpful companion for those learning new multiple programming languages. Copilot provides instant examples and guidance to support your learning journey, whether you’re tackling Python or delving into JavaScript. Copilot’s templates and examples help you grasp new concepts more quickly.
• Speedy Coding Sessions: Copilot accelerates coding by quickly completing functions and handling edge cases. This saves time and ensures precision in your code. Its ability to generate entire lines or blocks of code is beneficial for tasks where speed is crucial. With Copilot, you can breeze through coding tasks with ease.
• API Integration Made Easy: Integrating a new API into your project can be complex, but Copilot simplifies the process. By generating initial code structures based on API documentation, Copilot streamlines API integration. From authentication to request handling and response parsing, Copilot takes care of the details so you can focus on building your project.
• Test Case Generation and Complex Data Structures: GitHub Copilot provides ready-made code snippets for creating, manipulating, or traversing intricate data structures, saving you from implementation errors. Additionally, Copilot generates diverse test cases for complex functions, ensuring comprehensive test coverage.
• Dynamic UI Components and Cloud Integration: Copilot generates code for interactive UI elements, handles user input, and manages the state seamlessly. With Copilot’s assistance, you can focus on refining your application’s specific functionalities while it takes care of the underlying code.

ChatGPT

ChatGPT is a versatile tool with various features to assist users in their creative endeavors and problem-solving tasks. Let’s explore some of its key features:

• Understand Programming Concepts: ChatGPT helps users comprehend complex programming concepts by breaking them into simple analogies. For example, ChatGPT can explain it using relatable examples like Russian nesting dolls if you’re struggling to grasp recursion. 
• Explore Alternative Approaches: With ChatGPT, users can engage in dynamic conversations to explore different solutions to the same problem. To be specific, ChatGPT provides insights into factors like latency, ease of implementation, and scalability, helping users make informed decisions.
• Troubleshooting Assistance: When encountering bugs in existing code, ChatGPT assists in diagnosing issues by engaging in conversations about the underlying code and potential causes for the bug. For example, ChatGPT can provide steps to troubleshoot the issue, such as checking image file paths and server configurations.
• Data Structure Selection: Choosing the proper data structure is crucial, especially for data-intensive applications. ChatGPT helps users explore their applications’ requirements, discuss various data structure choices, and decide which one to use.
• Pseudocode Generation: ChatGPT can assist in crafting pseudocode, offering a high-level representation of algorithms. Structuring steps and clarifying logic help users iron out any issues before implementation. Generating pseudocode with ChatGPT ensures a smoother transition to writing actual code.

The verdict

There is a tie between GitHub Copilot and ChatGPT when assessing the core features. While ChatGPT provides a broader range of content generation options, including text, images, and basic code segments, GitHub Copilot excels in code generation and integrates seamlessly with various IDEs and developer tools. Despite their distinct areas of focus, both tools effectively cater to the needs of their respective user bases.

Pricing

Github Copilot

• Free Plan: Ideal for individuals and organizations, this plan provides unlimited public/private repositories, automatic security and version updates, 2,000 CI/CD minutes/month, 500MB of Package storage, issues and project management, and community support, all at no cost.
• Team Plan: $3.67/user/month for the first 12 months when paid annually. This plan is designed for advanced collaboration and includes all the features of the free plan. It adds access to GitHub Codespaces, protected branches, multiple reviewers in pull requests, draft pull requests, code owners, required reviewers, etc.
• Enterprise Plan: $19.25/user/month for the first 12 months when paid annually. Geared towards security, compliance, and flexible deployment, it encompasses all features of the team plan plus enterprise-managed users, user provisioning through SCIM, enterprise account for central management, environment protection rules, repository rules, audit log API access, etc.

ChatGPT

For ChatGPT Plus plans, there are two options available:

• Plus Plan: Priced at $20 per month, it includes everything in the Free plan, along with access to GPT-4, additional tools like DALL·E, Browsing, Advanced Data Analysis, and more.
• Team Plan: Priced at $25 per person per month, it offers all the features of the Plus plan, with higher message caps on GPT-4 and tools like DALL·E, Browsing, Advanced Data Analysis, and more. 

Additionally, users can create and share GPTs within their workspace, and there’s an admin console for workspace management. Team data is excluded from training by default.

The verdict

The verdict on pricing for ChatGPT and GitHub Copilot depends on your specific needs. The choice between the two depends on your requirements, user count, and scalability plans. If you want a cheaper paid plan, Copilot is the better option.

ChatGPT offers a free plan with unlimited messages but limited functionality. In contrast, paid plans start at $20 per user per month and offer enhanced features and priority access. 

On the other hand, GitHub Copilot offers more affordable paid plans, starting at $3.67 per month for Copilot Team and $19.25 per user per month for Copilot Enterprise. 

Github Copilot vs ChatGPT: Other Comparisons

Best for Ease of use

Comparing GitHub Copilot and ChatGPT, ChatGPT is the easier choice for most users. It offers a simple interface accessible through the OpenAI website or mobile apps, catering to free and paid users while maintaining conversational history across platforms. 

With a plaintext approach to coding and content generation, ChatGPT is beginner-friendly, making it ideal for new developers and basic problem-solving. 

Best for Chatbot functionality

The best for chatbot functions is ChatGPT. ChatGPT excels as a chatbot, adept at automating customer service, providing information, and engaging users in conversation across various topics. It can analyze data, make recommendations, schedule appointments, and even interpret images for tasks like creating websites or suggesting recipes. 

Best for Output Accuracy & Relevance

The best for output accuracy and relevance depends on what you’re aiming to do. ChatGPT and GitHub Copilot both have their strengths and weaknesses. ChatGPT can be pretty accurate and relevant in its responses, but it may occasionally make mistakes due to outdated information. 

On the other hand, GitHub Copilot can generate code in a better way, especially in popular languages like Python and JavaScript. Still, it’s not always perfect and might rely on outdated libraries. Ultimately, the choice between them depends on whether you need text generation or coding assistance.

Best for Coding

The best for coding capabilities is GitHub Copilot. It outperforms ChatGPT in coding tasks by providing more accurate code outputs, completions, snippets, and contextualized explanations. Copilot seamlessly integrates into coding environments like VS Code and offers dedicated support for developers.

So, who is the final winner?

In simple terms, if you’re just starting with coding, don’t code frequently, and aren’t part of the GitHub community, ChatGPT could be the preferable choice. However, GitHub Copilot is the top recommendation for developers aiming to enhance their coding speed and efficiency. 

Unlike ChatGPT, which serves as a more general-purpose AI with limited coding capabilities, Copilot is tailor-made for coding tasks, ensuring it’s better suited for streamlined code generation. 

While ChatGPT offers broader functionality, including multimodal content output and chat capabilities alongside basic coding assistance, Copilot’s specialized focus on coding sets it apart as the preferred tool for developers seeking optimal coding support.

FAQs

In conclusion

When comparing GitHub Copilot and ChatGPT, the choice ultimately depends on your specific needs and preferences. GitHub Copilot is a specialized tool for streamlined coding tasks, offering real-time support and comprehensive suggestions tailored to developers’ needs. 

On the other hand, ChatGPT provides a broader range of functionalities, catering to various creative endeavors and problem-solving tasks beyond coding.