GitHub Copilot vs. Codeium: Which AI Code Assistant is Right for You?

Copilot Logo Codenium Logo

GitHub Copilot (Paid)

Price: $10/month or $100/year

Features:

  • Powered by OpenAI's GPT-3
  • Seamlessly integrates with Visual Studio Code, JetBrains, and more
  • Suggests entire lines or blocks of code
  • Supports a wide range of languages
  • Provides contextual code suggestions based on comments and code context

Pros:

  • High accuracy in code suggestions
  • Strong support and continuous updates from GitHub
  • Advanced contextual understanding

Cons:

  • Paid subscription
  • Occasional over-reliance on AI-generated code



Codeium (Free)

Price: Free

Features:

  • Powered by open-source AI models
  • Integrates with popular code editors like VS Code and JetBrains
  • Offers line-by-line code suggestions
  • Supports multiple languages
  • Regularly updated by the community

Pros:

  • Completely free
  • Community-driven improvements (open-source)
  • Lightweight and easy to set up

Cons:

  • May lack some advanced features of Copilot
  • Community support can be variable



Conclusion

Both tools have their strengths, but as of 06/27/2024, GitHub Copilot is a far superior choice for developers looking for advanced features and reliable support, while Codeium is an excellent free open-source alternative for those who want to explore AI code assistance without wanting to add another subscription to their monthly bill. I belive that as the coenium open source community continues to grow and evolve it could possibly be a direct competiitor to copilot. Codeium's code suggestions are decent but sometimes include unnecessary elements like headers and footers with random numbers, and can also be repetitive. This is not a problem I've encountered with Copilot.

Overall, both tools are valuable additions to a developer's toolkit, and the choice between them will depend on your specific needs and budget. I recommend trying both to see which one works best for you.

I will write a blog on how I got GitHub Copilot and much more useful web development resources for free so stay tuned!