💻 Coding
GitHub Copilot (Copilot Student)
By GitHub (Microsoft). Visit GitHub Copilot (Copilot Student)
Desk research from the maker's own pages. Not yet tried by us. Checked 2026-10-24.
GitHub's AI coding assistant, free for verified students through GitHub Education along with the Student Developer Pack of free developer tools. In a code editor or on GitHub, Copilot suggests code as you type, answers questions in chat, and can work as an agent that makes changes across a project. Students 13 and older who are enrolled in a degree- or diploma-granting program can apply, so high schoolers qualify with a school email or proof of enrollment.
Our take: A strong free option for high school and college students who already know some coding; beginners may lean on it too early.
| Ages it suits | about 13-18 and college |
|---|---|
| What its terms say about age | GitHub accounts require users to be at least 13, and accounts of under-13s are closed. The free student offer requires age 13+ and enrollment in a degree- or diploma-granting course, shown with a school email or dated proof of enrollment. (terms) |
| Price | Free. Free for verified students, with an allowance of AI credits. Otherwise Copilot Free is $0 with limits, Pro $10, Pro+ $39 and Max $100 a month (USD, Oct 2026). |
| Works on | Web, Windows, Mac |
| Account | The child's own account |
| Ads | Not stated |
| In-app purchases | Not stated |
| The AI in it | Large language models from several AI companies suggest and write code, explain it and act as coding agents. |
What's good
- Professional tool free for verified students
- Student Developer Pack adds other free tools
- Chat explains code, not just writes it
- Real-world skill used in industry
Watch for
- Can write homework code outright
- Interactions train AI unless you opt out
- Agent mode makes big changes quickly
- Needs a GitHub account and verification
Data and privacy
GitHub says it may use prompts, suggestions and code from individual Copilot plans to train AI models unless the user opts out in settings. It also warns that its model, trained on public code, has sometimes suggested text resembling personal data. Read the privacy policy.
Does it work?
No independent study of students using it was found; the maker says 5 million students use GitHub Education.
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Where these facts come from
- https://github.com/education
- https://github.com/education/students
- https://education.github.com/pack
- https://github.com/features/copilot/plans
- https://docs.github.com/en/copilot/get-started/plans
- https://docs.github.com/en/site-policy/github-terms/github-terms-of-service
- https://docs.github.com/en/site-policy/privacy-policies/github-general-privacy-statement
Prices, terms and features change. Nobody paid to be listed, nothing here is an affiliate link, and Peabody never rates itself. Where we and the maker disagree, the maker's own pages are the ones to trust.