Open Source Alternatives to GitHub Copilot

Switching from GitHub Copilot to an open source alternative removes the dependency on a GitHub account and Copilot’s fixed model lineup in favor of tools you can point at any LLM provider, including local models run entirely on your own hardware. Aider and Cline both offer mature multi-file, git-aware editing comparable to Copilot’s agent mode, while OpenHands adds sandboxed autonomous task execution for larger, less-supervised jobs. If what you actually want is Copilot’s core inline-completion experience rather than an agentic editor, Tabby is the closer match — it’s a self-hosted completion server that runs the model on your own GPU and plugs into VS Code, JetBrains, or Vim/Neovim, without sending code to any vendor’s cloud. Of the options below, Continue is no longer actively maintained (its team was acquired by Cursor in June 2026); it still works, but Aider, Cline, OpenHands, and Tabby receive ongoing development. None require a subscription, and all let you audit exactly what code and data leaves your machine.