Secure Your Code with Strict Deny Lists

Managing a GitHub Copilot deny list for sensitive files is a critical step for enterprise security, but relying on cloud-side configurations often leaves gaps. For developers who require absolute certainty that credentials never leave their machine, a local-first agent with hard-coded safety gates is the only viable solution.

TL;DR: AZMX wins when you need zero-trust privacy, offline execution, and hard-coded credential blocks; GitHub Copilot wins for seamless IDE integration and effortless enterprise onboarding.

Feature	GitHub Copilot	AZMX AI
Pricing	Subscription per user	Free / Pro / Teams + BYOK
Privacy / Data Handling	Cloud-processed (configurable)	Local-first, no telemetry
BYOK Support	Limited / None	Full (OpenAI, Anthropic, Groq, etc.)
Offline Mode	No	Yes (Ollama, LM Studio)
MCP Support	No	Yes (stdio and HTTP)
Approval Gates	Implicit / Limited	Explicit gate for every shell/edit
Sub-agents	No	Yes
Open Source / Proprietary	Proprietary	Proprietary (Rust/WebView)
Platform Availability	IDE Extensions	Native macOS/Windows/Linux App

Where GitHub Copilot is actually better

• IDE Integration: Because it lives inside VS Code and JetBrains, Copilot has deeper access to IDE-specific metadata without switching windows.
• Zero Setup: For teams already on GitHub Enterprise, enabling Copilot is a one-click administrative task.
• Autocomplete Latency: Copilot's ghost-text suggestions are highly optimized for near-instantaneous inline completion.

Where AZMX wins

• Hardened Security: While you can configure a GitHub Copilot deny list for sensitive files, AZMX includes a default, non-negotiable deny-list that refuses to read .env, .ssh/, and known credential files. It does not wait for a config file to be pushed from a server.
• Sovereign Model Control: You are not locked into a single provider. Use DeepSeek via Groq for speed, or a local Llama 3 via Ollama for total air-gapped privacy.
• Transparent Execution: AZMX uses an approval-gated agent. Every shell command and every file edit is presented for your sign-off before it executes. You see exactly what the agent intends to do.
• Native Performance: Unlike Electron-based wrappers (Cursor, Windsurf), AZMX is a ~7 MB Rust binary using a system webview, resulting in significantly lower RAM overhead.

How to switch from GitHub Copilot

Migrating from a cloud-managed AI to a sovereign agent requires moving your context from the IDE to the project level.

1. Install AZMX: Download the native binary from /download. No account creation is required.
2. Configure your Keys: Enter your API keys for Anthropic, OpenAI, or connect to a local Ollama instance. This replaces the GitHub subscription.
3. Initialize Project Memory: Create an AZMX.md file in your root directory. Copy over the high-level architectural notes you previously relied on Copilot's indexing to remember.
4. Verify Deny-Lists: Test the security boundaries by attempting to have the agent read your .env file. AZMX will refuse the operation by default.
5. Set up MCP Servers: If you use external tools, configure your MCP servers via stdio to give the agent capabilities beyond simple file editing.

Pricing breakdown

GitHub Copilot generally costs $10/mo for individuals or $19-$39/mo for business seats. For a team of 10 over one year, this is roughly $2,280 to $4,680.

AZMX AI offers a free tier for self-serve users. Pro is $20/mo and Teams is $40/seat·mo. However, the primary cost shift is to BYOK. If you use Groq or DeepSeek, your monthly API spend is often pennies compared to a flat subscription, especially for intermittent power users.

Stop trusting cloud-side configurations with your secrets. Move to a platform where privacy is a binary default, not a setting. Get started with a free, BYOK, no-account setup at azmx.ai.