GitHub Copilot

The AI coding assistant built into GitHub and your editor, run by a company that owns the place your code lives.

Benchmark review. Giants are reviewed rarely, to show what the tools in the directory are measured against. This one is not listed in the directory, and it is an example, not a recommendation. Scores are our opinion on the six questions, based on public sources and dated October 2026.

github.com/features/copilot

Image from github.com/features/copilot, taken 2026-10-30, shown to help you recognise the tool. It belongs to its maker. Ask us to remove it.

Copilot sits where many developers already work, and that is its great strength and the reason its data policy matters. In a March 2026 update GitHub said that from April 24 it would use interaction data from Copilot Free, Pro and Pro+ for model training unless you opt out under Privacy in your settings. It lists that data as the inputs and outputs, code snippets and context, including code around your cursor, file names, repository structure and your feedback, and says private repository content is excluded only at rest, so Copilot still processes it while you work. Business and Enterprise plans are not affected.

GitHub says the data may be shared with its affiliates, Microsoft among them, and not with third-party model providers, and that earlier opt-outs stay in force. Power is a 1 because one company hosts the service, sets the terms and owns the platform around it. We read the policy post and not the full terms. As of October 2026 this is our opinion, based on public sources, and if you spot an error, write to hello@toolsforconviviality.org and we will check it and correct it. Compare it with the tools in Coding agents.

What stands out

• Built into GitHub and your editor, run by the company that hosts your code
• From April 24 GitHub uses Free, Pro and Pro+ interaction data for training unless you opt out
• Business and Enterprise plans are not affected