Amo and Pimi: Which one to choose between these two
Pimi
Hey Amo, did you know? Copilot's free version is super generous — 2,000 code completions plus 50 chats per month, way more than the average person could ever use up!
Amo
Don't pop the champagne yet. Starting 2026-06-24, the Free and Student plans are locked to "Auto" model selection only — want to pick a model manually? No such option.
Pimi
That's exactly why aider won't do that to you — it doesn't care at all which model you use, you bring your own API key and connect to whichever one you want.
Amo
You said the word 'free' too fast – aider's API fees come out of your own pocket, while Copilot Free is a quota issued directly by the provider. That's not the same kind of 'free.'
Pimi
Don't even get me started on the paid tiers — Copilot Pro is only US$10/month, while heavy aider usage can run anywhere from US$50 to US$200+ — it's obvious which is the better deal.
Amo
I'll concede this round. If you just need a fixed quota for everyday coding, Copilot Pro's US$10 is genuinely great value; but if you want to freely switch models and calculate costs precisely yourself, that's when aider comes in.
Pimi
So in one sentence: pick Copilot if you want convenience and no hassle, pick aider if you want control and don't mind handling the API yourself.
So the conclusion is
GitHub Copilot's free tier offers 2,000 completions + 50 chats per month (as of 2026-06-24, Free and Student plans are restricted to Auto mode only, with no manual model selection), while the paid Pro version costs US$10/month. Aider is completely open-source and free, but requires users to pay for LLM API fees, which can range from approximately US$10-30/month for light usage to US$50-200+/month for heavy usage. If only a fixed quota of daily coding assistance is needed, Copilot Pro's US$10 price is significantly cheaper than aider's heavy usage; however, if the freedom to choose and switch between different LLM models is required, aider provides more model autonomy, but the cost will fluctuate based on API usage.
本則評論查證於 2026-08-08 22:19
（14 天前）
，價格與額度以官方最新公告為準。
They also argued about these things on another page.
Completely open-source and free (Apache 2.0), with no subscription model; uses local models (such as Ollama) at zero cost; API call fees depend on the chosen LLM provider
The general user free tier includes 2,000 completions and 50 chats per month. Open-source maintainers and teachers can upgrade to Pro for free. The free student plan has reopened for new applications since 2026-06-17, after being suspended since 2026-04-20 for 58 days. As of 2026-07-27, the model selection for Free and Student plans has been limited to only Auto, and manual model specification is no longer available, while Pro and above plans are not affected.
Aider itself is free, the cost of LLM API is determined by the provider chosen by the user, usually ranging from US$10-30 per month (light usage) to US$50-200+ per month (heavy usage)
GitHub Copilot
Plan
Price
What you get
Pro
US$10 / mo
Pro+
US$39 / mo
Max
US$100 / mo
新增方案，內含約 US$200/月 GitHub AI Credits
Business
US$19 / Person / mo（5 Person ≈ US$95/mo）
Each seat/month, new plan added; seat fee equivalent to monthly AI Credits quota (1:1, standard 1,900 points/seat); 10/25/50 seats have 5%/10%/15% bulk discounts (third-party source); promotion: official docs.github.com confirms that existing customers will automatically receive 3,000 points/seat AI Credits (originally standard 1,900 points) during the transition period from 2026-06-01 to 2026-09-01, with the deadline corrected from previously only knowing "August" to the specific date 2026-09-01, and was still in effect as of 2026-07-27.
Enterprise
US$39 / Person / mo（5 Person ≈ US$195/mo）
Per seat/month, a new plan is added; the seat fee is equivalent to the monthly AI Credits quota (1:1, standard 3,900 points/seat); promotion: according to the official docs.github.com, during the transition period from 2026-06-01 to 2026-09-01, existing customers automatically receive 7,000 points/seat AI Credits (originally standard 3,900 points), the deadline has been corrected from previously only knowing "August" to the specific date 2026-09-01, and was still in effect as of 2026-07-27
Which one should you pick?
Both offer a free plan. Compare paid tiers against your needs.
aider has no public paid plan; GitHub Copilot starts at about US$10 / mo.
FAQ
Is there a free version of aider?
Yes. Completely open-source and free (Apache 2.0), with no subscription model; uses local models (such as Ollama) at zero cost; API call fees depend on the chosen LLM provider
How much does aider cost?
The cheapest is the plan from aider named API cost (self-selected provider), at about 官方報價（洽詢）.
Does aider support Chinese?
aider only partially supports Chinese.
Is there a free version of GitHub Copilot?
Yes. The general user free tier includes 2,000 completions and 50 chats per month. Open-source maintainers and teachers can upgrade to Pro for free. The free student plan has reopened for new applications since 2026-06-17, after being suspended since 2026-04-20 for 58 days. As of 2026-07-27, the model selection for Free and Student plans has been limited to only Auto, and manual model specification is no longer available, while Pro and above plans are not affected.
How much does GitHub Copilot cost?
The cheapest is the plan from GitHub Copilot named Pro, at about US$10 / mo.
Does GitHub Copilot support Chinese?
GitHub Copilot has no Chinese interface at this time.
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