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.
GitHub Copilot CLI on opencode · 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).”
GitHub Copilot CLI and opencode, fact by fact
| Fact | GitHub Copilot CLI | opencode |
|---|---|---|
| Starsopencode has 201,089 more stars (19×). | 11,244Verified 8 Oct 2026 | 212,333Verified 8 Oct 2026 |
| Newest commitBoth committed on the same day. | 7 Oct 20260 days old when we read itVerified 8 Oct 2026 | 8 Oct 20260 days old when we read itVerified 8 Oct 2026 |
| Contributorsopencode has 428 more contributors (17×). | 26Verified 8 Oct 2026 | 454Verified 8 Oct 2026 |
| LicenseOther against MIT. | OtherVerified 8 Oct 2026 | MITVerified 8 Oct 2026 |
| Latest stable releaseBoth released on the same day. | v1.0.93published 7 Oct 2026Verified 8 Oct 2026 | v1.18.35published 6 Oct 2026Verified 8 Oct 2026 |
| npm downloadsopencode has 1,594,933 more npm downloads a week (1.9×). | 1,723,666 a week@github/copilotVerified 8 Oct 2026 | 3,318,599 a weekopencode-aiVerified 8 Oct 2026 |
| Homebrew installs | not tracked for GitHub Copilot CLI | 21,432 in 30 daysopencodeVerified 8 Oct 2026 |
| Repository | github/copilot-cliShellVerified 8 Oct 2026 | anomalyco/opencodeTypeScriptVerified 8 Oct 2026 |
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.”
What we know about opencode
OpenCode reaches 75+ LLM providers and local models from a single config file, because it resolves every model through the AI SDK and the Models.dev catalogue instead of a hand-written provider list.
“OpenCode uses the AI SDK and Models.dev to support 75+ LLM providers and it supports running local models.”
Explore an unfamiliar codebase before you change it: the built-in plan agent refuses file edits and asks before each bash command.
“**plan** - Read-only agent for analysis and code exploration · - Denies file edits by default · - Asks permission before running bash commands · - Ideal for exploring unfamiliar codebases or planning changes”
Run one task against two vendors' models in the same session: `/connect` adds a provider key and the model picker switches without a restart.
“Add the API keys for the provider using the /connect command.”
Run the agent inside CI on your own runner: mentioning /opencode or /oc on a GitHub issue or pull request executes the task in GitHub Actions.
“OpenCode integrates with your GitHub workflow. Mention /opencode or /oc in your comment, and OpenCode will execute tasks within your GitHub Actions runner.”
A fresh install edits files and runs shell commands with no approval prompt, because every permission except `doom_loop` and `external_directory` starts at allow.
“Most permissions default to "allow".”
Memory grows through a long terminal session: the maintainers opened a central memory thread on 2026-04-02, asked users for heap snapshots taken once the process reaches 1-2 GB, and the thread is still open 139 days later.
“We have scattered reports of memory issues so we are going to tackle them all in a central place.”
`/share` copies the transcript to OpenCode's servers, and the resulting link needs no password.
“Shared conversations are publicly accessible to anyone with the link.”
A team that must lock the agent down before its first run should choose Codex CLI, which starts inside an OS-enforced sandbox with the network switched off.
“By default, the agent runs with network access turned off.”
What opencode costs
OpenCode Go, the optional subscription, costs $5 for the first month and $10 a month after that, and one workspace can hold only one subscriber.
“OpenCode Go is a low cost subscription — $5 for your first month, then $10/month — that gives you reliable access to popular open coding models.”
A workspace can hold only one Go subscriber, so a second developer needs a second workspace.
“Only one member per workspace can subscribe to OpenCode Go.”
Questions people ask
- Are GitHub Copilot CLI and opencode still maintained?
- GitHub Copilot CLI committed to github/copilot-cli (main) on 7 Oct 2026. opencode committed to anomalyco/opencode (dev) on 8 Oct 2026. Both readings come from the default branch of each repository, on the date shown beside them.
- What do GitHub Copilot CLI and opencode cost?
- 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. opencode: OpenCode Go, the optional subscription, costs $5 for the first month and $10 a month after that, and one workspace can hold only one subscriber. A workspace can hold only one Go subscriber, so a second developer needs a second workspace. Every figure here is quoted from the vendor's own page and linked beside the claim.
- Is GitHub Copilot CLI or opencode open source?
- GitHub Copilot CLI's repository github/copilot-cli reports the Other licence. opencode's repository anomalyco/opencode reports the MIT 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 GitHub Copilot CLI and opencode carry claims we read, quoted and linked. So this page is offered to search engines.
Related comparisons
Pairs we can answer for come first.
