GitHub Copilot alternative: options after the credit change

Most people searching for a GitHub Copilot alternative right now are reacting to the billing change: since 1 June 2026, Copilot chat and agent use draws on GitHub AI Credits, and when they run out there is no fallback to a cheaper model. Before you switch, check whether bringing your own model key fixes it; it works without a Copilot subscription. If you want a different tool, Cursor, Claude Code, Codex, OpenCode and Cline are the common picks, and Contenox is a free desktop app for agent work with your own provider and explicit permission rules. If your team lives on GitHub, Copilot’s integration is hard to replace.

What changed with Copilot billing

• Premium requests became AI Credits. Usage is now counted by the tokens a model processes, not by the number of requests.
• Chat, the CLI, the cloud agent and code review use credits. So do Spaces, Spark and third-party coding agents.
• Completions do not. Code completions and next edit suggestions are not billed in credits and stay unlimited on paid plans.
• No more fallback. When your included credits are gone, you upgrade, pay for more usage within a budget you set, or wait for the monthly reset. Agents no longer drop to a lower-cost model.

See Copilot plans for current allowances.

Can you fix it without switching?

Often, yes:

• Bring your own key. In VS Code, JetBrains IDEs, Xcode, Copilot CLI and the GitHub Copilot app, you can add models from a compatible cloud provider or a model server on your own machine. User-configured keys do not need a Copilot subscription. On Business and Enterprise, your organization can turn this off in IDEs.
• Set a budget. Paid individual plans can keep working after the allowance with a budget for additional usage, and budgets send email alerts as you approach them.
• Keep Copilot for completions only. If you mainly liked the inline suggestions, they are not affected by credits on paid plans. Use another tool for agent work.

The main alternatives

How Contenox differs from Copilot

GitHub now has its own desktop app for agent work, the GitHub Copilot app, so compare like with like. It runs on Windows, macOS and Linux, uses your Copilot plan or your own key, and offers parallel workspaces on git worktrees, cloud sessions, and Interactive, Plan and Autopilot modes. Its strength is GitHub: issues, pull requests, reviews and CI checks in one place.

Contenox is different in three ways:

• No GitHub account or Copilot plan needed. Connect the provider you already pay, sign in with a ChatGPT subscription, or run a local model with Ollama. It works on any folder, wherever the code is hosted.
• Rules you can read. Copilot’s app lets you choose how much autonomy an agent gets, mainly through its session modes. In Contenox you set Allow, Ask me first or Block for reading files, changing files and running commands, with path and command exceptions. Rules apply to All workspaces or to one workspace, and they are checked before every action.
• Sessions stay on your machine. There is no Contenox service between you and your model provider.

A typical rule set in Permissions:

Change files    Ask me first
  Never allow these paths: .env, .env.*
Run commands    Ask me first
  Allow without asking: commands that start with: npm test
  Never allow these programs: rm

Every edit waits for you, env files can’t be changed, tests run without a prompt, and rm never runs.

What Contenox does not have: completions in your editor, a cloud agent that works from an issue and opens a pull request, pull request review, parallel worktrees, or the admin controls and audit options companies expect. It is a younger, smaller project.

Moving from Copilot to Contenox

1. Download Contenox from the download section. It runs on Windows, macOS and Linux.
2. Open Backends → Providers and connect a model. To keep paying through Copilot, turn on Allow unofficial sign-ins in Settings first, then sign in with your GitHub Copilot subscription; GitHub has not approved this sign-in and may block it. The safer route is another provider, such as a ChatGPT subscription or an API key.
3. Add your repository folder with New project.
4. Open Permissions and set Read files, Change files and Run commands before your first session.
5. Contenox does not load .github/copilot-instructions.md or AGENTS.md on its own. Start your first task with “Read .github/copilot-instructions.md first”, or put the conventions that matter into the task.
6. Choose New session and describe the outcome.

Who should stay with GitHub Copilot

• Your team works in GitHub issues and pull requests, and you want agents that start from an issue and open a pull request, or review one.
• You want completions in VS Code, Visual Studio, JetBrains IDEs and other editors.
• Your company already approved Copilot and manages seats and policies centrally.
• Your own key or a budget solves the credit problem for you.

You can also mix: keep Copilot for completions and use another tool for longer agent tasks.

Related guides

• AI coding costs: subscriptions, credits, API keys and local models compared
• Run local LLMs for coding: the no-credits option
• Use your GitHub Copilot subscription in other agents: OpenCode and Codex on your Copilot plan; Contenox as an unofficial sign-in
• AI agent permissions: what to allow, ask and block
• Contenox vs Cursor and Contenox vs Cline