I started paying for GitHub Copilot about a few months ago and I’m really questioning if it’s worth the monthly cost. The tool keeps disappointing me when I try to use it for basic coding tasks.
Here are the main problems I keep running into:
It changes code sections that I didn’t want touched
Completely misses what I’m actually trying to accomplish
Gives me code suggestions that don’t even work or make sense
I’m starting to think this tool slows me down more than it helps. I waste so much time fixing the mess it creates that I might as well code everything from scratch.
Has anyone found ways to make this work better? Maybe there are configuration options I don’t know about? Or should I just cancel my subscription and save the money?
tbh copilot works way better if you write really specific comments first describing exactly what you want. like instead of just starting to code, type out // function to validate email format and check domain exists or whatever. also turn off the auto-complete in settings, way less annoying that way
I had similar frustrations when I first got Copilot and almost cancelled after two months. What changed everything for me was learning to treat it more like a junior developer than a magic solution. I started breaking my work into smaller, focused functions and being very explicit about variable names and function purposes. The quality of suggestions improved dramatically once I adjusted my coding style to be more descriptive. Also found that accepting partial suggestions and then guiding it for the next piece works much better than letting it generate large blocks. That said, $40 monthly is steep if you’re not seeing clear productivity gains. Maybe try the individual plan at $10 first to see if these approaches help before committing to the higher tier.