Microsoft will make its GitHub AI developer assistant, Copilot, available for free. This means anyone can create apps with the help of AI. It can also be used as a chatbot.

GitHub Copilot was launched about a month earlier than ChatGPT, coming out in October 2021 and allowing developers to automate the tedious part of writing code. Since then, it has expanded and now allows you to do much of the work yourself.

The free plan includes GPT-4o and Claude 3.5 Sonnet, but allows only 50 messages and interactions with the AI per month. For unlimited access, you must pay $10 per month to purchase Pro. You also have access to OpenAI's o1.

This follows Microsoft's announcement of GitHub Spark earlier this year. This is an AI agent-type service that allows users to create mini-apps from a single prompt; Spark is not yet widely available, but may be an extension of GitHub's plans in the future.

GitHub Copilot is like ChatGPT, but clearly built for code. It can be used in many ways. One is to complete that line of code as you write it, and the other is a simple chat interface where you can ask questions about the code.

Copilot Chat can be used within the GitHub dashboard. All you need is a free GitHub account. It can also be used with many code editors, including Visual Studio Code, Apple Xcode, and JetBrains.

One example shared on GitHub showed how to clone Conway's Game of Life using Copilot. I have personally used it to create word games, puzzles, and even simple to-do list apps.

If you've ever wanted to learn to build an app or improve your coding skills, the free launch of GitHub Copilot is a good place to start.