Codex vs Copilot (2026): pricing, limits and models compared

Codex compared with Copilot
	Codex	Copilot
What it is	OpenAI's coding agent: a desktop app, open-source CLI, IDE extension, cloud tasks and code review.	GitHub's assistant: completions, chat and agent mode in your IDE, a CLI, the Copilot app and a cloud agent.
Where it runs	ChatGPT desktop app, CLI, IDE extension for VS Code, Cursor and Windsurf, Codex Cloud, iOS, GitHub, GitLab (beta), Slack and Linear.	VS Code, Visual Studio, JetBrains, Eclipse, Xcode, Neovim, CLI, Copilot app, GitHub.com and GitHub Mobile.
Free option	ChatGPT Free and Go: GPT-6 Luna in the desktop app, subject to rollout.	Copilot Free: 2,000 completions a month and a limited chat and agent allowance.
Cheapest full plan	ChatGPT Plus, $20/month.	Pro, $10/month with 1,500 AI credits.
Heavy-use plans	Pro at $100, $200 or $500/month, with no five-hour limit.	Pro+ $39 (7,000 credits) or Max $100 (20,000 credits).
How usage is counted	Five-hour and weekly limits that vary by model.	Monthly AI credits (1 credit = $0.01). Inline completions don't use credits on paid plans.
Models	OpenAI only: GPT-6 Astra, GPT-6.1 Sol, GPT-6.1 Terra and GPT-6 Luna.	Claude, GPT, Gemini, Grok, Kimi and Microsoft models, or Fusion's automatic routing.
Bring your own key	Yes: an OpenAI API key in the CLI, SDK and IDE extension, without cloud features.	Yes, in VS Code, JetBrains, Xcode, the CLI and the app, even without a subscription.
Teams	Business $20/user/month annual ($25 monthly).	Business $19/seat, Enterprise $39/seat.
Training on your code	Business, Enterprise and Edu not used by default. Individual plans: opt out in Data controls.	On by default for Free, Pro and Pro+ since April 24, 2026, with an opt-out. Not used on Business or Enterprise.

Codex

Copilot

What it is

OpenAI's coding agent: a desktop app, open-source CLI, IDE extension, cloud tasks and code review.

GitHub's assistant: completions, chat and agent mode in your IDE, a CLI, the Copilot app and a cloud agent.

Where it runs

ChatGPT desktop app, CLI, IDE extension for VS Code, Cursor and Windsurf, Codex Cloud, iOS, GitHub, GitLab (beta), Slack and Linear.

VS Code, Visual Studio, JetBrains, Eclipse, Xcode, Neovim, CLI, Copilot app, GitHub.com and GitHub Mobile.

Free option

ChatGPT Free and Go: GPT-6 Luna in the desktop app, subject to rollout.

Copilot Free: 2,000 completions a month and a limited chat and agent allowance.

Cheapest full plan

ChatGPT Plus, $20/month.

Pro, $10/month with 1,500 AI credits.

Heavy-use plans

Pro at $100, $200 or $500/month, with no five-hour limit.

Pro+ $39 (7,000 credits) or Max $100 (20,000 credits).

How usage is counted

Five-hour and weekly limits that vary by model.

Monthly AI credits (1 credit = $0.01). Inline completions don't use credits on paid plans.

Models

OpenAI only: GPT-6 Astra, GPT-6.1 Sol, GPT-6.1 Terra and GPT-6 Luna.

Claude, GPT, Gemini, Grok, Kimi and Microsoft models, or Fusion's automatic routing.

Bring your own key

Yes: an OpenAI API key in the CLI, SDK and IDE extension, without cloud features.

Yes, in VS Code, JetBrains, Xcode, the CLI and the app, even without a subscription.

Teams

Business $20/user/month annual ($25 monthly).

Business $19/seat, Enterprise $39/seat.

Training on your code

Business, Enterprise and Edu not used by default. Individual plans: opt out in Data controls.

On by default for Free, Pro and Pro+ since April 24, 2026, with an opt-out. Not used on Business or Enterprise.

Verdict

Pick Copilot if you want completions and an agent inside your IDE, whatever it is. It covers Visual Studio, JetBrains, Eclipse, Xcode and Neovim as well as VS Code, and Pro at $10 a month includes unlimited inline completions plus 1,500 AI credits for chat and agents across Claude, GPT, Gemini and other models.

Pick Codex if you already pay for ChatGPT, or you want an agent that works on whole tasks rather than line-by-line help. ChatGPT Plus gives you the desktop app, open-source CLI, cloud tasks and code review with OpenAI’s GPT-6.1 models, and Pro’s tiers remove the five-hour limit for heavy use.

They overlap less than it seems. Copilot is strongest as an always-on assistant in the editor; Codex is strongest at taking a task and running with it, locally or in the cloud. Copilot Pro and above can also run Codex as a third-party agent, so some teams use both through one bill.

On privacy, Copilot’s individual plans train on your interactions by default since April 2026, with an opt-out in settings. OpenAI’s help centre describes a similar opt-out for individual ChatGPT plans. Business tiers of both are excluded by default.

Frequently asked questions

Is Codex or Copilot cheaper?

Copilot Pro is cheaper at $10 a month and includes inline completions. Codex's full experience needs ChatGPT Plus at $20, but that also includes ChatGPT itself.

Can I use Codex inside Copilot?

Yes. GitHub lists Codex and Claude Code as third-party agents in Copilot from the Pro plan upwards.

Which is better for code review?

Both review pull requests on GitHub. Codex also reviews GitLab merge requests in beta and local changes; Copilot reviews local changes and pull requests inside GitHub.

Codex × Copilot

Verdict

Frequently asked questions

Sources