Github Copilot vs ChatGPT: Which one is better for coding?

Emre Çitak
Apr 18, 2023
Development
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As the technology landscape continues to evolve, the use of AI tools has become increasingly prevalent. Among these tools are GitHub Copilot and ChatGPT, both of which offer a range of capabilities for generating code, text, images, and more. However, it is essential to understand the key differences between these AI assistants to determine which one is best suited for your specific needs.

GitHub Copilot is a paid tool that is recommended for professional developers due to its ability to learn from habits and suggest lines of code accordingly. This AI assistant uses machine learning to constantly analyze your code and behavior, improving its suggestions over time. Copilot can streamline repetitive code and allow you to focus on the project at hand. The AI assistant supports a range of programming languages, making it a versatile tool for most users.

GitHub Copilot is a paid service for developers

On the other hand, ChatGPT is a free and generalized solution that can help generate code with explanations, making it ideal for beginners and users learning to code. The AI chatbot is an impressive tool that can undertake a variety of tasks, including producing executable code.

ChatGPT uses OpenAI's popular large language models, GPT-3.5, and GPT-4, to generate text and content based on provided prompts. The chatbot can also assume different roles and respond accordingly to your messages, making it a versatile tool for professionals looking to automate mundane and repetitive tasks.

Supported languages

Programming languages supported by ChatGPT include:

  • Python
  • Java
  • JavaScript
  • C++
  • Ruby
  • PHP
  • Swift
  • Kotlin
  • Rust
  • TypeScript
  • Go
  • Perl
  • SQL

While GitHub Copilot supports a similar list of programming languages, it is constantly adding more languages to the AI assistant. Therefore, the list of programming languages supported by Copilot can change in the future.

Github Copilot vs ChatGPT

When comparing the two tools, it is clear that GitHub Copilot is the recommended AI assistant for professional developers. The AI assistant's ability to learn from habits and suggest lines of code accordingly makes it invaluable once you have been using it for a while. However, it is worth noting that GitHub Copilot requires a paid subscription, while ChatGPT is completely free to use if its services are not down.

In contrast, ChatGPT is a generalized solution that can help generate code with explanations, making it ideal for beginners and users learning to code. The AI chatbot can explain the suggested code and make corrections based on your feedback.

While ChatGPT is great for learning how to code, GitHub Copilot is clearly the better choice for professional programmers

If you wish to learn more about ChatGPT's coding capabilities check out our writing titled how to utilize ChatGPT to write great codes.

Furthermore, ChatGPT can help you generate code and follow up on it in a particular conversation. However, once the conversation is lost or deleted, you won't be able to continue on the project unless you create a special prompt in the previous conversation so that ChatGPT can remember and follow up on the project.

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Comments

  1. hellonearthis said on April 24, 2023 at 1:26 am
    Reply

    There is another free option. code whisperer https://aws.amazon.com/codewhisperer/
    It has an extension so you can use it in VScode and is like Copilot.

  2. The Mighty Buzzard said on April 18, 2023 at 5:59 pm
    Reply

    Neither. If you need AI to help your coding, you don’t need to be coding anything anyone will use. If you don’t need it but use it anyway, using it is allowing you to get out of practice.

    1. Luke said on April 24, 2023 at 5:09 pm
      Reply

      this take is hot garbage

    2. David said on April 18, 2023 at 9:05 pm
      Reply

      I have been programming for 25 years, I write extremely clean and efficient code, and I use ChatGPT because it increases productivity and allows me to have a draft code to start from instead of starting from scratch.

    3. basingstoke said on April 18, 2023 at 6:20 pm
      Reply

      Totally agree

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