Key takeaways
- As of October 28, 2026, Copilot Pro costs $10 a month with unlimited completions, while Cursor Premium costs $30 a month.
- Cursor's $8 Plus plan runs only Grok models; third-party models in Cursor are billed at API list price on Premium and above.
- No published benchmark compares the two products head to head.
Cursor vs GitHub Copilot comes down to price and where you work. As of October 28, 2026, GitHub Copilot is cheaper at the entry level: Pro is $10 a month and includes unlimited code completions. Cursor restructured its plans in October and now starts at $8 a month for Plus, but Plus only runs Grok models. Using Claude, GPT or Gemini models in Cursor costs extra.
This comparison is based on both products' pricing pages and docs, read on October 28, 2026. We did not test either tool. We found no published benchmark that runs the two products head to head.
Cursor vs GitHub Copilot at a glance
| Cursor | GitHub Copilot | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | An AI editor and coding agent | An assistant built into GitHub and into the editors you already use |
| Free plan | $0, limited agent and chat requests | $0, 2,000 completions a month, limited chat and agent use |
| Cheapest paid plan | Plus, $8 a month (Grok models only) | Pro, $10 a month ($15 in AI credits) |
| Mid plan | Premium, $30 a month | Pro+, $39 a month ($70 in AI credits) |
| High plan | Super $100, Ultra $200 a month | Max, $100 a month ($200 in AI credits) |
| Team plan | Teams from $30 per user a month | Business, $19 per seat a month |
| Enterprise | Custom pricing | Enterprise, $39 per seat a month |
| Third-party models | Premium and above, billed at API list price | Included in the credit allowance on every plan |
| Cloud agents | Premium and above | Pro and above |
All prices are monthly, in US dollars, as of October 28, 2026. Neither page shows annual pricing, and both say prices can change.
What Cursor costs
Cursor's pricing page lists five individual tiers: Free at $0, Plus at $8, Premium at $30, Super at $100 and Ultra at $200 a month. Plus is labeled an introductory plan, with no end date. Premium is marked as the most popular.
Everything draws from one usage pool shared across Cursor and Grok, and allowances refresh weekly. Super gives 15 times the Plus allowance and Ultra gives 50 times. Premium and above can use third-party models in Cursor at API list price, billed by usage, with spending caps you set yourself. The page says third-party models are not part of the plan allowance.
Teams starts at $30 per user a month and adds centralized billing, usage analytics, SAML and OIDC single sign-on and a team marketplace for shared rules and plugins. Enterprise is priced on request. For a free-tier breakdown, see our guide on whether Cursor is free.
What GitHub Copilot costs
Copilot's plans page lists Free, Pro at $10, Pro+ at $39 and Max at $100 a month. Usage is measured in GitHub AI Credits, where one credit equals one cent. Pro includes $15 of credits, Pro+ includes $70 and Max includes $200. The Copilot docs put Pro at 1,500 credits, with part of each allowance marked as "flex", which the page says can change over time.
Code completions and next edit suggestions do not use credits on paid plans. Chat and agent work does, and individuals can set a dollar budget for extra usage. Copilot Business is $19 per seat a month and Enterprise is $39 per seat a month, which requires GitHub Enterprise Cloud. Verified students, teachers and maintainers of popular open source projects can qualify for free access. Our explainer covers whether Copilot is free.
Models and agents
Copilot's plans page lists models from Anthropic, OpenAI, Google, xAI, Moonshot and Microsoft, and shows the same list for every plan. Agent mode works on every plan, including Free, in supported editors and the CLI. The cloud agent, which works on a task and opens a pull request, needs Pro or higher. Third-party agents are in preview on Pro+ and Max.
Cursor's docs describe an editor with an agent that can plan, build and review changes, and a catalog of models from Anthropic, OpenAI, Google and Cursor's own Composer and Grok models. The plans page puts cloud agents, automations, code hosting and AI code reviews at Premium and above.
Which one fits
The practical difference is where each tool lives. Cursor is its own editor. Copilot works inside GitHub and in editors you already use, and its docs say available features depend on the client. If you want to keep your current editor and your pull request workflow on GitHub, Copilot is the simpler fit. If you want an editor built around an agent, Cursor is the one to try.
On price, Copilot is cheaper at every individual tier that includes mainstream models: $10 for Pro against $30 for Cursor Premium. Cursor's $8 Plus plan is the only cheaper option, and it is limited to Grok. A team of ten pays $190 a month for Copilot Business against at least $300 for Cursor Teams, before any third-party model usage.
What we don't know
No independent benchmark compares Cursor and Copilot as products. Leaderboards such as Terminal-Bench score a model and an agent together, not an editor, so they say little about which tool will suit your codebase. Credit allowances also depend on which model you pick, so real monthly cost varies by use. Check both pricing pages before you buy.
Frequently asked questions
Is Cursor better than GitHub Copilot?
Neither is better across the board. Copilot is cheaper and works in many editors, while Cursor is a standalone AI editor built around its agent. No published head-to-head benchmark settles it.
Is Cursor free?
Cursor has a Free plan at $0 with limited agent and chat requests, as of October 28, 2026. Paid plans start at $8 a month.
Is GitHub Copilot free?
Yes. Copilot Free costs $0 and includes 2,000 code completions a month plus limited chat and agent use. Verified students, teachers and some open source maintainers can get more for free.
Can I use Claude models in Cursor and Copilot?
Copilot lists Anthropic models on every plan, drawn from your AI credits. Cursor offers third-party models on Premium and above at API list price, billed by usage.
Sources
- Cursor pricingCursor
- Cursor docsCursor
- GitHub Copilot plansGitHub
- Plans for GitHub CopilotGitHub Docs
- What is GitHub Copilot?GitHub Docs
- Terminal-Bench leaderboardTerminal-Bench
