GitHub Copilot vs Cursor
Copilot adds assistance to the editor you already use; Cursor is a separate VS Code-based editor built around the assistant.
Pick GitHub Copilot if…
You want to stay in VS Code, Visual Studio, JetBrains, Eclipse, Xcode or Vim/Neovim. You also want GitHub-integrated features and a free plan with stated limits.
Pick Cursor if…
You are happy to move to a standalone editor based on VS Code and import your extensions and settings. You want a free plan and a CLI plus cloud agents under one product.
Price
- Freemium
- Freemium
Starting price
Free plan
Open source
Works on
| Feature | GitHub's AI assistant for code completion, chat and agent tasks in editors, the terminal and github.com. | An AI code editor and coding agent based on the VS Code codebase, with a CLI and cloud agents. |
|---|---|---|
| Price |
|
|
| Starting price | $10 per month (Copilot Pro) | $8 per month (Plus) |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Open source | No | No |
| Works on | Web, Windows, macOS, Linux | Windows, macOS, Linux |
| Try GitHub Copilot (opens the GitHub Copilot website in a new tab) | Try Cursor (opens the Cursor website in a new tab) |
GitHub Copilot is an assistant that plugs into many editors: VS Code, Visual Studio, JetBrains IDEs, Eclipse, Xcode, Azure Data Studio and Vim/Neovim, plus a CLI, github.com and GitHub Mobile. Cursor is its own desktop app for macOS, Windows and Linux, built on the VS Code codebase, with a CLI as well.
Both have a free plan. Copilot Free is limited to 2,000 inline completions per month and, per GitHub's FAQ, 50 chat requests. Cursor Free is described only as limited agent and chat usage, with no numbers published.
On paid plans, Copilot Pro is $10 per month, Pro+ $39 and Max $100, with usage drawn from GitHub AI Credits. Cursor lists Plus at $8, Premium at $30, Super at $100 and Ultra at $200 per month; Plus is Grok models only and third-party models are billed separately by usage.
For teams, Copilot Business is $19 and Enterprise $39 per granted seat per month on GitHub's docs, while Cursor Teams starts at $30 per user per month. Check both pricing pages before buying, as both have changed their plan structure recently.
One new comparison, every week
Two tools side by side with our verdict, in one short email. Unsubscribe any time.
Last updated 16 October 2026. How we make money