Comparison

GitHub Copilot vs Cursor Pricing 2026

The two leading AI coding assistants, compared side-by-side on pricing, features, and ideal use cases. Copilot Pro is $10/month. Cursor Pro is $20/month. Here's what the difference gets you.

Head-to-Head Pricing

PlanGitHub CopilotCursor
Free tier$0 — 2,000 completions + 50 chats/mo$0 — 2,000 completions + limited chat
Individual (monthly)$10/mo (Pro)$20/mo (Pro)
Individual (annual)$100/yr (save $20)$192/yr
Annual cost difference$100/yr cheaper$92/yr more than Copilot Pro
Power tier (monthly)$39/mo (Pro+)No equivalent (Cursor Pro is the top individual tier)
Business (monthly)$19/user/mo$40/user/mo
Business annual gap (10 users)$2,280/yr$4,800/yr (+$2,520/yr more)

Feature Comparison: Pro Tiers

FeatureGitHub Copilot Pro ($10/mo)Cursor Pro ($20/mo)
Code completionsUnlimitedUnlimited
ChatUnlimitedUnlimited (+ more quota on premium models)
Model accessGPT-4o, Claude Sonnet, Gemini 2.0GPT-4o, Claude Sonnet 3.7, Gemini Pro, o3-mini
IDE typePlugin for VS Code, JetBrains, Visual Studio, Neovim, XcodeStandalone IDE (VS Code fork — Cursor.app)
Inline completionsExcellent — native to VS CodeGood — same VS Code engine
Agent mode / multi-file editingAvailable (agent mode, 300 premium reqs/mo)Excellent — Cursor Composer is best-in-class
Codebase contextGood for single-file and small contextExcellent — deep codebase indexing at Pro level
IP indemnityBusiness/Enterprise onlyNot offered
Org managementBusiness/Enterprise ($19-39/user)Business tier ($40/user)
Free tier qualityGood (2,000 completions + 50 chats)Good (2,000 completions, limited chat)

Where GitHub Copilot Wins

  • Price: $10/mo vs $20/mo — half the cost at individual tier
  • Native IDE integration: Plugin for VS Code, JetBrains, Neovim — stays in your existing workflow
  • Free tier: 2,000 completions + 50 chats with better limits than most competitors
  • Business cost: $19/user vs Cursor Business at $40/user
  • IP indemnity: Legal protection for commercial code — not offered by Cursor
  • GitHub integration: Native pull request reviews, GitHub.com chat (Enterprise)

Where Cursor Wins

  • Agentic editing: Cursor Composer rewrites across multiple files with more sophistication than Copilot's agent mode
  • Codebase context: Deep repo indexing at Pro level understands your entire project structure
  • UI/UX: The Cursor IDE is purpose-built for AI-first development — cleaner AI workflow
  • Model freshness: Often gets new models faster than Copilot (integrated Claude 3.7 quickly)
  • Command-palette AI: Natural language for refactoring tasks feels more fluid

Recommendation by Use Case

Use case
Autocomplete-focused developer who stays in VS Code
Recommendation
GitHub Copilot Pro
Native VS Code integration, half the price, excellent inline completion quality
Use case
Developer doing large-scale refactoring and agentic editing
Recommendation
Cursor Pro
Cursor Composer for multi-file rewrites is significantly more capable
Use case
Budget-constrained solo developer
Recommendation
GitHub Copilot Free or Pro
Free tier covers casual use; Pro at $10/mo is the most affordable serious option
Use case
Engineering team needing org controls, SSO, audit logs
Recommendation
GitHub Copilot Business
$19/user vs Cursor Business $40/user — and Copilot Business includes IP indemnity
Use case
JetBrains user (IntelliJ, PyCharm, WebStorm)
Recommendation
GitHub Copilot Pro
Cursor is a VS Code fork and doesn't natively work in JetBrains; Copilot has an official JetBrains plugin
Use case
Developer who needs the most powerful models (Claude Opus, o3)
Recommendation
GitHub Copilot Pro+
Pro+ ($39/mo) includes Claude Opus and o3 access with 1,500 premium requests; Cursor Pro ($20/mo) has less premium model quota

See also: For a full breakdown of Cursor's pricing tiers, features, and team plans, see cursorpricing.com — our dedicated Cursor pricing guide.

GitHub Copilot vs Cursor: Common Questions

GitHub Copilot: All PlansAll Copilot AlternativesBusiness Plan Details