Codeium vs. Copilot: A Full Review of AI Coding Assistants

Are you a programmer looking for the next game-changing tool to boost your productivity? Look no further.

Recently, I discovered Codeium, a fantastic (and free) AI coding assistant that seriously improved my coding process.

In this blog post, I'll compare its capabilities with the well-known GitHub Copilot, helping you decide on the best tool for your needs. Let's dive in 🚀

What is Codeium?

Codeium is an AI coding assistant designed to boost developers' productivity by providing code generation and navigation tools. Its primary features, Autocomplete and Search, streamline the coding process and simplify complex tasks, allowing programmers to code much more efficiently.

Codeium is entirely free for personal use, and you can use it almost everywhere!

Besides that, they have their own in-house models and infrastructure, so it is not just an API wrapper but a much more powerful technology.

All apps where you can use Codeium — Image credit: Codeium

Codeium Features

Take a look at the most important Codeium features 👇

Autocomplete

This feature predicts the code you want to type, providing intelligent suggestions that save you time on everything from boilerplate code to unit tests.

See the example below of how Codeium Autocomplete helped me write the function that converts the time to minutes 👇

Codeium's autocomplete feature helps me write quicker

As you write, Autocomplete considers the context of your code, allowing for more accurate and relevant suggestions. This helps you speed up your coding process and maintain consistency and quality throughout your project.

Search

The Search feature enables you to navigate your repository using natural language questions without the need to remember exact file names or use complex regex patterns.

This approach to code navigation lets you quickly find relevant code snippets, making it easier to track down specific functions or implementations. With Codeium's Search feature, you can spend less time searching and more time focusing on the critical aspects of your project.

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I couldn't test the Search feature since it was temporarily disabled, but it seems promising. I'm excited to try it in future projects.

Chat

Codeium Chat is an impressive feature that allows you to have conversations with a chatbot inside your IDE. It offers interactions similar to ChatGPT while providing smart suggestions for everyday tasks like adding documentation or refactoring code.

Take a look at the example below of how Codeium Chat helps me convert JavaScript function to TypeScript and provides an explanation 👇

Codeium Chat currently relies on OpenAI APIs for inferences instead of using its own models like Autocomplete and Search. Developers are planning to change that in the future.

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Also: Read an article on how to use ChatGPT for coding.

What is GitHub Copilot?

GitHub copilot website — Image credit: GitHub

GitHub Copilot is another complex AI tool - a programming assistant designed to help developers code more efficiently and with less effort. By leveraging OpenAI Codex, GitHub Copilot provides real-time code and function suggestions based on the context derived from comments and existing code.

GitHub Copilot offers features such as:

Real-time code suggestions that transform natural language prompts into functional code.
Compatibility with numerous languages, thanks to its extensive training on billions of lines of code.
Context-aware recommendations tailored to your project's style and patterns.
Two pricing plans: Copilot for Individuals ($10/month or $100/year) and Copilot for Business ($19/user/month), each with added benefits catered to their respective user bases.
Integration with popular editors like Neovim, JetBrains IDEs, Visual Studio, and Visual Studio Code makes it an accessible tool for developers.

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Also: Take a look a the GitHub Copilot and Amazon Code Whisperer comparison.

Codeium vs. Copilot: Key Differences

Here is a summary table for a clearer comparison so you know what tool is better for your needs:

	Codeium	GitHub Copilot
Real-time Suggestions	✅	✅
In-built Chat	✅	Currently, no, but it will be available in Copilot X
Search feature	✅	❌
Supported Languages	Supports all popular languages ✅	Supports all popular languages ✅
Supported IDEs	JetBrains, Vim, Neovim, Visual Studio Code, Chrome, and more	Neovim, JetBrains IDEs, Visual Studio, and Visual Studio Code
Price	Free for individual developers	$10/month or $100/year for individuals, $19/user/month for businesses

Which Tool Is for You?

Personally, I like to use Codeium right now, but I am also keeping my eye on GitHub Copilot X, as it is coming soon. It will have new interesting features like voice command recognition and Copilot AI integration in CLI. I suggest you watch these updates because they might convince you to use Copilot X in the future.

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Codeium is always free for personal use, while GitHub Copilot has a free trial and different pricing plans for various users. You can always try both tools for free to see which works best for you.

FAQ

What Programming Languages Does Codeium Support?

Codeium supports a lot of programming languages. Some of the most popular languages supported by Codeium include JavaScript, Python, C++, and Rust, but there is a lot more. You can find the entire list on Codeium's official website.

Is Codeium Free?

Yes, Codeium is free for individual developers, and this is really awesome. The creators believe that every developer should have access to such tools to maintain a level playing field.

What Is the Difference Between Codeium and Tabnine?

Codeium is free and offers more features like in-IDE chat and search. Both Codeuim and Tabnine support multiple IDEs and languages, but Codeium supports over 70 languages and works with more IDEs.