---
title: "Free GitHub Copilot Alternatives"
slug: "free-github-copilot-alternatives"
description: "Eight verified free ways to code with AI besides GitHub Copilot Free - Copilot Student, Cursor, Devin, Cline, Freebuff, Mistral, OpenCode and Kiro."
verifiedAt: "2026-10-31"
options: 8
canonical: "https://aifree.dev/compare/free-github-copilot-alternatives"
---

# Free GitHub Copilot Alternatives

> Eight verified free ways to code with AI besides GitHub Copilot Free - Copilot Student, Cursor, Devin, Cline, Freebuff, Mistral, OpenCode and Kiro.

GitHub Copilot Free is real but small: GitHub’s plans page limits it to 2,000 code completions a month, with auto model selection only, limited agent mode and an allowance of AI Credits it does not put a number on; Copilot Pro is $10 a month. The verified options below trade something else. Copilot Student is the same product free for verified students; Cursor and Devin give limited agent quotas with completions or inline edits; Cline, Freebuff and OpenCode Zen run rotating or ad-funded models; Mistral pairs a limited Vibe coding agent with rate-limited API access; and Kiro gives university students 1,000 credits a month for a year. Every row is a live offer from the same catalog as the [free AI coding tools directory](https://aifree.dev/free-ai-coding-tools), re-checked monthly; the [Cursor comparison](https://aifree.dev/compare/free-cursor-alternatives) goes deeper on the IDE route.

## Side by side

| Offer | What is free | Card | Status | The catch |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| [GitHub Copilot free for students](https://aifree.dev/offer/github-copilot-student) | Student program | no card | verified 2026-10-31 | This is Copilot Student, not Pro: auto model selection only, no third-party agents, and a limited AI Credits allowance. Eligibility is re-checked monthly. |
| [Cursor Free Plan](https://aifree.dev/offer/cursor-hobby-plan) | Free tier | no card | verified 2026-10-12 | Usage is limited on the Free plan; Plus ($8/month) covers Grok models only, and third-party models (billed at API list price), cloud agents and Bugbot code reviews start at Premium ($30/month). |
| [Devin Free Plan](https://aifree.dev/offer/devin-free-plan) | Free tier | no card | verified 2026-10-12 | Limited model availability and only a light agent quota; higher tiers (Pro $20/mo, Max $200/mo) unlock more. |
| [Cline Free Models](https://aifree.dev/offer/cline-free-models) | Free credits | no card | verified 2026-10-31 | Rotating, limited-time promotions with a usage quota; after the quota ends you need ClinePass ($9.99/mo), usage billing, or your own API key. |
| [Freebuff Free Coding Agents](https://aifree.dev/offer/freebuff-free-coding-agents) | 30 hours/day | no card | verified 2026-10-12 | Full access is limited to 25 countries - elsewhere (and on VPNs) you get limited mode with 4 models. Ad-funded: prompts may be analyzed to personalize ads, and some models train on your data. |
| [Mistral AI Free Plan](https://aifree.dev/offer/mistral-ai-free-plan) | Free tier | no card | verified 2026-10-12 | Free plan has limited messages, web searches, and coding sessions; Vibe access is limited compared with paid plans. |
| [OpenCode Zen Free Models](https://aifree.dev/offer/opencode-zen-free-models) | Free tier | card | verified 2026-10-12 | All free models are limited-time and you must add billing details and credits; Big Pickle, LL Alpha, Exo and MiMo data may be used to improve the models, and NVIDIA trial endpoints log use. |
| [Kiro for Students](https://aifree.dev/offer/kiro-for-students) | 1,000 credits/month | no card | verified 2026-10-12 | Only at select listed universities (133 on 2026-10-20), 18+, with a university email and SheerID check; credits do not roll over and no add-on credits on the student tier. |

## The 8 options, in detail

### [GitHub Copilot free for students](https://aifree.dev/offer/github-copilot-student.md)

Copilot Student plan free while you're a student

- Free while student status is active; GitHub reevaluates eligibility every month
- Auto model selection only; no manual choice of premium models
- Allowance of GitHub AI Credits; third-party agents excluded

**Catch:** This is Copilot Student, not Pro: auto model selection only, no third-party agents, and a limited AI Credits allowance. Eligibility is re-checked monthly.

### [Cursor Free Plan](https://aifree.dev/offer/cursor-hobby-plan.md)

Cursor Agent with limited agent and chat requests, $0/month

- Limited agent requests and limited chat requests
- Cursor Agent included; cloud agents, Bugbot reviews and third-party models are not
- Plus ($8/month) is Grok models only; third-party models start at Premium ($30/month), billed separately at API list price
- Paid tiers: Plus $8, Premium $30, Super $100, Ultra $200 per month

**Catch:** Usage is limited on the Free plan; Plus ($8/month) covers Grok models only, and third-party models (billed at API list price), cloud agents and Bugbot code reviews start at Premium ($30/month).

### [Devin Free Plan](https://aifree.dev/offer/devin-free-plan.md)

Unlimited tab completions and inline edits plus a light agent quota

- Light agent coding quota
- Limited model availability
- Unlimited inline edits and Tab completions included

**Catch:** Limited model availability and only a light agent quota; higher tiers (Pro $20/mo, Max $200/mo) unlock more.

### [Cline Free Models](https://aifree.dev/offer/cline-free-models.md)

Try select models free in Cline via rotating promotions with a usage quota

- Rotating, limited-time free model promotions
- Limited usage quota per promotion (amount not published)
- Requires a Cline account
- Free models work only in the IDE extension and CLI, not the Cline API

**Catch:** Rotating, limited-time promotions with a usage quota; after the quota ends you need ClinePass ($9.99/mo), usage billing, or your own API key.

### [Freebuff Free Coding Agents](https://aifree.dev/offer/freebuff-free-coding-agents.md)

Free coding agents across CLI, desktop, web, cloud, and chat, funded by ads

- Usage is measured in hours; models other than MiMo v2.6 Flash Slow carry a multiplier (an hour on a 3x model uses three)
- Free plan: 30 hours refilled daily, reset at midnight in your local timezone; unused daily hours do not roll over
- Where the app shows sessions: limited mode includes 6 one-hour sessions per day, earnable up to 7
- Muse Spark 1.3 is rate limited and shared by all users; it queues when busy

**Catch:** Full access is limited to 25 countries - elsewhere (and on VPNs) you get limited mode with 4 models. Ad-funded: prompts may be analyzed to personalize ads, and some models train on your data.

### [Mistral AI Free Plan](https://aifree.dev/offer/mistral-ai-free-plan.md)

Free Vibe agent and rate-limited Studio API access; no monthly API credits

- Studio Free mode: API access with no card, within per-model usage and rate limits
- No API credits on the Free plan; API credits start on Pro ($25.5/month) or the education plan ($15/month)
- Limited messages and web searches
- Limited coding sessions

**Catch:** Free plan has limited messages, web searches, and coding sessions; Vibe access is limited compared with paid plans.

### [OpenCode Zen Free Models](https://aifree.dev/offer/opencode-zen-free-models.md)

Free coding LLMs including Big Pickle, MiMo, DeepSeek, and Nemotron

- Limited time — every free model is marked 'available on OpenCode for a limited time'
- Free models: Big Pickle, GLM-5.3-Flash, DeepSeek V4.1 Flash, MiniMax M3.1 Flash, Beam, LL Alpha, LongCat 2.5 Preview, Exo, MiMo-V2.6-Flash, MiMo-V2.5, Nemotron 3 Ultra, Nemotron 3.5 Lightning, Nemotron 3.5 Super VL, Jev 1.13 (all "Free" variants)
- Sign in to the OpenCode Console, add billing details and credits, and copy an API key to use the models
- Free models carry data-retention exceptions to the zero-retention policy

**Catch:** All free models are limited-time and you must add billing details and credits; Big Pickle, LL Alpha, Exo and MiMo data may be used to improve the models, and NVIDIA trial endpoints log use.

### [Kiro for Students](https://aifree.dev/offer/kiro-for-students.md)

1,000 free Kiro credits a month for a year for university students

- 1,000 credits/month for 12 months
- Credits do not roll over month to month
- No add-on credits while on the student tier
- Must be 18+ and use a university-affiliated email (.edu, .ca, etc.)

**Catch:** Only at select listed universities (133 on 2026-10-20), 18+, with a university email and SheerID check; credits do not roll over and no add-on credits on the student tier.

## Frequently asked questions

### Is GitHub Copilot free?

Partly. Copilot Free is available to individual developers and is limited to 2,000 code completions a month, with auto model selection only, limited agent mode and an unspecified allowance of AI Credits; Copilot in the cloud and third-party agents are not included. Verified students get the Copilot Student plan free, and Copilot Pro is $10 a month. These plan details come from GitHub Docs, which we read on November 1, 2026.

### What is the best free alternative to GitHub Copilot?

If you are a student, Copilot Student itself, since it is the same product at no cost while you are enrolled. Otherwise Devin’s free plan is the closest in feel: unlimited tab completions and inline edits plus a light agent quota, with no card. Cursor’s free plan adds limited agent and chat requests.

### Which free Copilot alternatives need a credit card?

Only OpenCode Zen: you must add billing details and credits before the free models work, and every free model there is limited-time. The other seven rows ask for no card.

### Are there free AI coding tools with no quota?

Not truly. Devin gives unlimited tab completions and inline edits, but its agent quota is light. Freebuff refills 30 hours of usage daily, funded by text ads, and full access is limited to 25 countries. Cline’s free models rotate and come with an unpublished quota.

### How current is this comparison?

Every row is generated from the aifree.dev catalog, whose Verified offers are re-checked monthly. Free coding plans change often - promotions end, quotas shrink - so a row changes or disappears when the vendor does.

HTML page: https://aifree.dev/compare/free-github-copilot-alternatives