Both Google Gemini Ultra and GitHub Copilot X offer unique strengths for developers. Gemini Ultra is better suited for complex reasoning and multimodal tasks with its larger context window and broader capabilities. GitHub Copilot X excels in providing contextual code suggestions and seamless integration with popular development environments, making it a practical choice for day-to-day coding tasks. The choice depends on the specific needs and priorities of the user or organization.
| Attribute | Google Gemini Ultra | GitHub Copilot X |
|---|---|---|
| Model Size and Parameters | Approximately 1.56 trillion parameters (unofficial estimate) | Powered by generative AI models developed by GitHub, OpenAI, and Microsoft. It utilizes models like OpenAI's GPT-4. |
| Context Window Length | 32,000 tokens for Gemini 1.0; up to 1 million tokens for Gemini 1.5 Pro, with experimental versions tested at 10 million tokens | Copilot Chat has a 64k token window when working with OpenAI GPT-4o. VS Code Insiders have access to a 128k context window. |
| Multimodal Input Capabilities (Image, Audio, Video) | Natively multimodal, trained to understand text, code, audio, image, and video. Accepts interleaved sequences of different modalities as input. | It can understand diagrams, wireframes, and hand-drawn sketches, transforming visual concepts into working code. GPT-4o is a multimodal model that supports text and images. Gemini 2.0 Flash is optimized for real-time, interactive applications that benefit from visual input and agentic reasoning. |
| Coding Proficiency (Languages Supported) | Supports Python, Java, C++, and Go. Can understand, explain, and generate high-quality code. | Supports a wide range of languages including JavaScript, Python, TypeScript, Java, C#, C++, Go, Ruby, PHP, and Swift. Excels in JavaScript, TypeScript, Python and Java. Also supports R, MATLAB, SQL, and Haskell. |
| Integration with Development Environments | Gemini Pro accessible via Gemini API in Google AI Studio or Google Cloud Vertex AI. Gemini Code Assist extension supported in VS Code and JetBrains IDEs. | Integrates with Visual Studio Code, Visual Studio, JetBrains IDEs, Neovim, GitHub CLI, and Windows Terminal Canary. Natively built into GitHub. Also available in terminals through GitHub CLI and as a chat integration in Windows Terminal Canary. |
| Natural Language Understanding Accuracy | 90.0% score on the Massive Multitask Language Understanding (MMLU) benchmark | Delivers superior natural language understanding and contextual code generation. Can understand and respond to natural language commands in chat and voice. |
| Reasoning and Problem-Solving Abilities | Excels in reasoning and problem-solving, demonstrated by performance on benchmarks like MMLU and MMMU. | Can analyze code and suggest improvements. Helps in debugging by suggesting possible causes and solutions. Can generate code snippets and design patterns that adhere to best practices. |
| Hallucination Rate | Factuality mitigations implemented to reduce inaccuracy. | Some models offer fewer hallucinations than others. |
| Customization and Fine-tuning Options | Customizable via Vertex AI with full data control and additional Google Cloud features for enterprise security, safety, privacy, data governance and compliance. | GitHub Copilot Enterprise allows organizations to index their codebase for tailored suggestions and offers access to fine-tuned custom, private models for code completion. |
| API Availability and Pricing | Gemini Pro accessible via Gemini API in Google AI Studio or Google Cloud Vertex AI. Free tier available for developers with flexible pricing for increased usage. Gemini Advanced is available through the Google One AI Premium Plan. | GitHub Copilot is offered through GitHub's pricing plans, including free and paid tiers. Paid plans provide additional features and support for commercial use. GitHub Copilot Pro+ tier offers 1,500 monthly premium requests for $39/month. |
| Data Privacy and Security Compliance | Adheres to Google's privacy commitments and has attained SOC 1/2/3, ISO 9001, ISO/IEC 27001, 27701, 27017, 27018, and 42001 certifications. Supports compliance with COPPA and FERPA. | GitHub guarantees zero data retention on code snippets sent to its servers. Code is encrypted in transit. GitHub Copilot is not currently included in GitHub's existing audits and certifications, including SOC 2, ISO 27001, and FedRAMP Tailored. |
| Real-time Performance and Latency | Google has been working to improve the latency of Gemini models. Gemini 2.0 Flash is designed for low latency and enhanced performance. | Serves hundreds of millions of requests a day with an average response time of under 200 milliseconds. |
| Ratings | Overall: Strong performance on complex reasoning tasks, even outperforming human experts on benchmarks like MMLU. Excels in coding benchmarks. | Not available |