Cursor vs GitHub Copilot
Same job, different bets: a dedicated AI editor versus an assistant inside the IDE you already use.
Side by side
| Cursor | GitHub Copilot | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | A standalone AI code editor with its own agent and models | An AI assistant that plugs into your existing IDE, the terminal and github.com |
| Free plan | $0, limited agent and chat requests | $0, 2,000 completions a month plus limited chat and agent use |
| Entry paid plan | Plus, $8/month (Cursor's own models only) | Pro, $10/month ($15 of AI credits a month, unlimited completions) |
| Mid plan | Premium, $30/month (4x Plus usage, cloud agents, Bugbot, third-party models at API price) | Pro+, $39/month ($70 of AI credits a month) |
| Top individual plans | Super $100/month, Ultra $200/month | Max, $100/month ($200 of AI credits a month) |
| Models | Own models (Composer 2.5, plus Grok models Cursor ships as first-party); OpenAI, Anthropic and Google on Premium and up | Claude, GPT, Gemini, Grok and Kimi models, plus Microsoft's MAI-Code, all drawing on AI credits |
| Where it runs | Cursor's own editor, plus cloud agents | VS Code, Visual Studio, JetBrains, Xcode, Neovim, Zed, Eclipse, the CLI, github.com and mobile |
| Agent that works on its own | Cloud agents and Bugbot code review (Premium and up) | Assign an issue and Copilot opens a pull request; PR code review included |
| Billing unit | Weekly usage pool for Cursor models; third-party models billed at API list price | GitHub AI Credits, 1 credit = $0.01; completions don't use credits on paid plans |
Choose Cursor when
- You spend most of the day in the editor and want agent edits across many files with a fast inner loop.
- You're happy switching editors (Cursor imports VS Code extensions and settings).
- You want cloud agents and automatic PR review in the same subscription (Premium, $30).
Choose GitHub Copilot when
- You use JetBrains, Xcode, Visual Studio or Neovim and don't want to switch.
- You want frontier Claude and GPT models at the lowest monthly price ($10 Pro).
- Your team lives in GitHub issues and pull requests and wants the agent to work there.
- Your company already buys GitHub Enterprise and wants one vendor.
One privacy note
GitHub says that on individual plans (Free, Pro, Pro+) it may use your Copilot prompts, suggestions and code snippets to train models, and you can opt out in your Copilot settings. Business and Enterprise plans aren't used that way.
Questions people ask
Is Cursor better than GitHub Copilot?
For hands-on daily editing with an agent that changes many files at once, we rank Cursor ahead. Copilot wins if you want to stay in your current IDE, want frontier Claude and GPT models for $10/month, or want an agent that works from GitHub issues and opens pull requests.
Which is cheaper, Cursor or GitHub Copilot?
Both have free plans. Cursor Plus is $8/month but includes only Cursor's own models. Copilot Pro is $10/month and includes Claude, GPT and Gemini models, drawing on $15 of monthly AI credits. Prices checked October 2026.
Can I use Claude models in both?
Yes. Copilot includes Claude models on its paid plans within your AI credits. Cursor offers Claude on Premium ($30/month) and above, billed separately at API list price.
Related: full daily coding ranking (Cursor, Claude Code, Copilot) · Cursor vs Claude Code cost · which coding tools are just model wrappers