With the recent pricing changes to GitHub Copilot Pro, I've found myself doing something I didn't expect, looking around! Not out of boredom, not out of disloyalty, but out of necessity. When a tool you rely on suddenly reshuffles its value proposition, you're almost forced to ask the question: "Is this product still the best fit for me?"
So, I decided to take a proper look at what else is available in a similar (or slightly higher) price bracket. Enter Claude Code.
My first impressions? Surprisingly positive. Pleasantly so, actually.
If I had tried Claude back when Copilot's premium request (PRU) model was still intact, I probably would have stayed put. Copilot's overall quota and the convenience of everything being baked into GitHub made it the obvious choice. But with the recent changes, the balance has shifted, and I'm finding myself leaning more toward Claude than I expected.
It's not that Copilot has suddenly become bad. It's that the value equation has changed. And when that happens, people naturally start exploring. Honestly, I think Copilot may have unintentionally nudged a lot of previously loyal users (myself included) into testing alternatives. Once you open that door, it's hard to unsee the differences.
Claude Code feels fresh. Capable. Thoughtful. And importantly, it doesn’t feel like it's trying to squeeze me into a usage pattern that doesn't match how I actually work.
This is just the beginning of my exploration, a starting point. I'll be documenting my findings, frustrations, surprises, and comparisons over the coming weeks. Think of this as part one of an ongoing series as I figure out where my tooling lands long‑term.
More to come soon. Watch this space...
