Copilot was formerly known as Bing Chat. (Image: Microsoft)
Software developer platform GitHub has achieved a significant milestone: The Microsoft-backed company announced on Thursday, December 19 that its global community now has more than 150 million developers. This historic step is accompanied by the launching of a new free tier of GitHub Copilot inside of Visual Studio Code (VS Code), a transformative step for the developer ecosystem.
Thomas Dohmke, CEO of GitHub, shared a wonderful vision for the platform’s future. “In VS Code with GitHub Copilot Free, India can fuel the development community to be the largest developer community in the world in the timeline.” If we make it happen, the only way it exists, was Dohmke’s statement. He further emphasized the potential of democratizing coding tools: Now, let us empower every person in India to build and create code in natural language and code with Copilot.”
So What Does GitHub Copilot Free Have?
GitHub Copilot in the VS Code free tier is built to help developers of all levels use AI-driven development to become more productive. Here’s what it includes:
Code Completions: With more than 2,000 code completions per month, users can write faster and smarter with code completion enhancements.
Chat Messages: The AI tool gives developers 50 monthly chat messages to ask coding-related questions, debug errors or learn.
Multi-File Edits: This means users save time by being able to easily execute edits on multiple files without the wait.
Third-Party Agents and Custom Extensions: Copilot’s third-party agents give developers the ability to tap into their extensions to customize them even more.
Choice of AI Models: Anthropic’s Claude 3.5 Sonnet or OpenAI’s GPT-4o: developers have a choice.
A Boost for an Indian Developer Community
These developments will be a boon to India, which already boasts of being a rising hub of technology talents. Free access to AI with GitHub Copilot in VS Code gives developers everywhere access to harness AI to accelerate innovation, streamline workflows, and build advanced applications easily. Dohmke’s mission is to make India the largest developer community in the world, by making cutting-edge tools more accessible and democratized.
Students and Educators Expanded Access
In addition to the free tier, GitHub responded to the backlash by adding that they ‘will continue to support students, educators, and Lead Open Source Project contributors with their Copilot Pro accounts at no additional cost.’ Fueled by this initiative, the next generation of developers is empowered and the open source is allowed to innovate.
GitHub Copilot is the future of coding whatever your level of experience as a developer your time with GitHub Copilot in VS Code is a free one and will enrich your coding experience like never before.
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