What each one says about the other
These sentences were written about each tool on its own, before this page existed, and each names the other tool by name. They are quoted, not composed.
Crush on GitHub Copilot CLI · not for
A team that needs an approval prompt on every shell command out of the box should pick Codex CLI or GitHub Copilot CLI.
“- **Full control:** Preview every action before execution — nothing happens without your explicit approval.”
GitHub Copilot CLI on Crush · not for
A developer with no GitHub Copilot subscription who wants an agent on day one should pick OpenCode or Crush; Copilot CLI needs an active Copilot plan.
“- An **active Copilot subscription**. See [Copilot plans](https://github.com/features/copilot/plans?ref_cta=Copilot+plans+signup&ref_loc=install-copilot-cli&ref_page=docs).”
Crush and GitHub Copilot CLI, fact by fact
| Fact | Crush | GitHub Copilot CLI |
|---|---|---|
| StarsCrush has 17,298 more stars (2.5×). | 28,542Verified 8 Oct 2026 | 11,244Verified 8 Oct 2026 |
| Newest commitBoth committed on the same day. | 6 Oct 20261 days old when we read itVerified 8 Oct 2026 | 7 Oct 20260 days old when we read itVerified 8 Oct 2026 |
| ContributorsCrush has 128 more contributors (5.9×). | 154Verified 8 Oct 2026 | 26Verified 8 Oct 2026 |
| LicenseBoth ship under Other. | OtherVerified 8 Oct 2026 | OtherVerified 8 Oct 2026 |
| Latest stable releaseGitHub Copilot CLI released 8 days more recently. | v0.97.1published 29 Sep 2026Verified 8 Oct 2026 | v1.0.93published 7 Oct 2026Verified 8 Oct 2026 |
| npm downloadsGitHub Copilot CLI has 1,715,893 more npm downloads a week (222×). | 7,773 a week@charmland/crushVerified 8 Oct 2026 | 1,723,666 a week@github/copilotVerified 8 Oct 2026 |
| Repository | charmbracelet/crushGoVerified 8 Oct 2026 | github/copilot-cliShellVerified 8 Oct 2026 |
What we know about Crush
Crush is configured by a `crushrc` that is Bash, and it runs that Bash identically on Windows because Crush embeds its own Bash interpreter rather than calling the host shell.
“Because Crush has a native, built-in Bash interpreter, Bash-based config works identically across all platforms, including Windows.”
Code in a terminal on a platform the other agents skip: Crush ships first-class builds for Android, FreeBSD, OpenBSD and NetBSD as well as macOS, Linux and Windows.
“- **Works Everywhere:** first-class support in every terminal on macOS, Linux, Windows (PowerShell and WSL), Android, FreeBSD, OpenBSD, and NetBSD”
Work in a typed language where the compiler knows more than the file: Crush attaches language servers, so `lsp add go --command "gopls"` feeds gopls output into the agent's context.
“- **LSP-Enhanced:** Crush uses LSPs for additional context, just like you do”
Start a task on an expensive model and finish it on a cheap one: Crush swaps the model mid-session and keeps the context.
“- **Flexible:** switch LLMs mid-session while preserving context”
Crush is not open source today: it ships under the Functional Source License 1.1, which bars any competing commercial use until each version turns MIT two years after release.
“A Permitted Purpose is any purpose other than a Competing Use. A Competing Use · means making the Software available to others in a commercial product or · service that: · 1. substitutes for the Software;”
A new model reaches Crush only when a separate repository merges it, because the default model list lives in Catwalk, not in Crush.
“Crush’s default model listing is managed in [Catwalk](https://github.com/charmbracelet/catwalk), a community-supported, open source repository of Crush-compatible models, and you’re welcome to contribute.”
Crush has no read-only planning mode: the request for Build and Plan modes has been open since 2025-12-28 with 61 reactions.
“Build / Plan Modes”
A team that needs an approval prompt on every shell command out of the box should pick Codex CLI or GitHub Copilot CLI.
“- **Full control:** Preview every action before execution — nothing happens without your explicit approval.”
What Crush costs
Charm Hyper, the provider built for Crush, gives 100 Hypercredits a month at $0 and 250 a day on a $20 monthly subscription; 1 Hypercredit is 5 cents.
“Hypercredits are the core of Hyper's usage-based pricing model, where credits map directly to token costs. 1 Hypercredit is currently 5¢, and they're distributed based on your subscription tier.”
What we know about GitHub Copilot CLI
Copilot CLI bills the agent from a dollar-denominated credit balance rather than per token: Pro carries $15 of GitHub AI Credits a month, Pro+ $70 and Max $200.
“Credits used when interacting with Copilot features. Chat, agent mode, code review, Copilot cloud agent, Copilot CLI, and Copilot Apps consume GitHub AI Credits. Free plan supports CLI and agent mode.”
Work across code and GitHub state — issues, pull requests, repositories — in one session, because the agent ships with GitHub's MCP server enabled.
“- **MCP-powered extensibility:** Take advantage of the fact that the coding agent ships with GitHub's MCP server by default and supports custom MCP servers to extend capabilities.”
Hold one very long session: at 95% of the token limit Copilot compacts the history in the background instead of stopping.
“Auto-compaction : When your conversation approaches 95% of the token limit, Copilot automatically compresses your history in the background without interrupting your workflow. This enables virtually infinite sessions.”
Agree the scope before any code is written: plan mode asks clarifying questions and produces a plan first.
“In plan mode, Copilot analyzes your request, asks clarifying questions to understand scope and requirements, and builds a plan before writing any code.”
Your employer can switch the tool off: when Copilot comes from an organization, an administrator must enable the Copilot CLI policy first.
“GitHub Copilot CLI is available with all Copilot plans. If you receive Copilot from an organization, the Copilot CLI policy must be enabled in the organization's settings.”
You cannot bring an arbitrary model: one that lacks tool calling or streaming makes the CLI return an error, and GitHub asks for a 128k context window.
“Models used with Copilot CLI must support tool calling (function calling) and streaming . If the model does not support these capabilities, Copilot CLI will return an error. For best results, the model should have a context window of at least 128k tokens.”
Model access fails in the field: a 403 on listing models is open with 30 comments, and sporadic policy blocking on model retrieval is open with 29.
“Failed to list models: 403 : unauthorized: not authorized to use this Copilot feature”
A developer with no GitHub Copilot subscription who wants an agent on day one should pick OpenCode or Crush; Copilot CLI needs an active Copilot plan.
“- An **active Copilot subscription**. See [Copilot plans](https://github.com/features/copilot/plans?ref_cta=Copilot+plans+signup&ref_loc=install-copilot-cli&ref_page=docs).”
What GitHub Copilot CLI costs
Copilot CLI is on the $0 Free plan; paid plans are Pro at $10 per user per month, Pro+ at $39 and Max at $100.
“Pro · For everyday coding with agents in GitHub Copilot. · $ 10 USD per user / month”
The Max plan is built for sustained agent work and carries $100 a month of GitHub AI Credits.
“GitHub Copilot Max is built for heavy Copilot usage, including sustained agent-driven workflows, and includes $100/month in GitHub AI Credits.”
Questions people ask
- Are Crush and GitHub Copilot CLI still maintained?
- Crush committed to charmbracelet/crush (main) on 6 Oct 2026. GitHub Copilot CLI committed to github/copilot-cli (main) on 7 Oct 2026. Both readings come from the default branch of each repository, on the date shown beside them.
- What do Crush and GitHub Copilot CLI cost?
- Crush: Charm Hyper, the provider built for Crush, gives 100 Hypercredits a month at $0 and 250 a day on a $20 monthly subscription; 1 Hypercredit is 5 cents. GitHub Copilot CLI: Copilot CLI is on the $0 Free plan; paid plans are Pro at $10 per user per month, Pro+ at $39 and Max at $100. The Max plan is built for sustained agent work and carries $100 a month of GitHub AI Credits. Every figure here is quoted from the vendor's own page and linked beside the claim.
- Is Crush or GitHub Copilot CLI open source?
- Crush's repository charmbracelet/crush reports the Other licence. GitHub Copilot CLI's repository github/copilot-cli reports the Other licence. We read the licence GitHub reports for the repository, which is not the same question as whether the hosted product is free.
How we check this page
- Machine facts. Stars, contributors, the newest commit on the default branch, the licence GitHub reports and the latest stable release come from the GitHub API, and download counts from npm, PyPI, Homebrew and the VS Code Marketplace. Each value carries the day it was last confirmed, never the day this page was built. The line under each label is arithmetic on those two values.
- Judgments. Every claim about what a tool suits, what it is bad at and what it costs is quoted from a page we read, and that page is linked beside the claim. Where there is no link, we wrote no claim.
- Index status. Both Crush and GitHub Copilot CLI carry claims we read, quoted and linked. So this page is offered to search engines.
Related comparisons
Pairs we can answer for come first.
