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Cursor vs GitHub Copilot: what each really costs
Cursor: $0–$200/month (cheapest paid: Plus $8). GitHub Copilot: $0–$100/month (cheapest paid: Pro $10). Cursor has the lower entry price. Which one is cheaper for you depends on your usage and preferred model; use the calculator below.
At a glance
| Cursor | GitHub Copilot | |
|---|---|---|
| Price range / month | $0–$200 | $0–$100 |
| Cheapest paid plan | Plus ($8) | Pro ($10) |
| How usage is billed | free tier · flat price, unpublished quota · plan + API-priced usage | free tier · dollar allowance, then overage |
| Model families | x-ai, anthropic, openai, google, moonshotai, deepseek, qwen, z-ai, mistralai, minimax, meta | anthropic, openai, google, x-ai, moonshotai |
| Category | AI IDE | IDE extension + agents |
Verdicts
Cursor
Since the October 2026 repricing, Cursor is cheapest if you are happy with Grok models: Premium ($30) covers them from a shared pool. If you mainly want Claude or GPT, every token is billed on top at API list price, so heavy Claude users should compare against Claude Max or Copilot's credit plans.
GitHub Copilot
Copilot is now the most transparent mainstream option: every plan includes a dollar-denominated AI Credit allowance (1 credit = $0.01) and completions stay unlimited on paid plans. Pro at $10 includes $15 of credits, which makes it the cheapest way to sample many frontier models.
Estimate both for your usage
What will my AI coding cost per month?
| Tool · plan | List price | Est. monthly cost |
|---|
Estimates only. Quota-based plans (Claude, Codex, Windsurf) don't publish limits in tokens, so we can't tell whether your usage fits; we show the flat price and say so. Prices come from the snapshot dated 2026-10-21; each row links its source.
Cursor plans
| Plan | Price / month | Key limits | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free Cursor pricing page is now an X/SpaceXAI bundle (Cursor+Grok+X features) | $0 | Limited agent & chat requests | cursor.com checked Oct 21, 2026 |
| Plus | $8 | Basic shared usage pool, refreshes weekly | cursor.com checked Oct 21, 2026 |
| Premium | $30 | 4x Plus usage; third-party models billed at API list price on top | cursor.com checked Oct 21, 2026 |
| Super | $100 | 15x Plus usage; priority at peak | cursor.com checked Oct 21, 2026 |
| Ultra | $200 | 50x Plus usage | cursor.com checked Oct 21, 2026 |
| Teams price is per user, starting | $30 per user / from | per user/month, from; 4-50x Plus | cursor.com checked Oct 21, 2026 |
GitHub Copilot plans
| Plan | Price / month | Key limits | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | 2,000 completions + 50 chat requests; limited agent | github.com checked Oct 21, 2026 |
| Pro | $10 | $15/mo total AI credits ($10 base + $5 flex); 1 credit=$0.01; completions unlimited | github.com checked Oct 21, 2026 |
| Pro+ | $39 | $70/mo total AI credits ($39 base + $31 flex) | github.com checked Oct 21, 2026 |
| Max | $100 | $200/mo total AI credits ($100 base) | github.com checked Oct 21, 2026 |
FAQ
- Is Cursor cheaper than GitHub Copilot?
- Cursor: $0–$200/month (cheapest paid: Plus $8). GitHub Copilot: $0–$100/month (cheapest paid: Pro $10). Cursor has the lower entry price. Which one is cheaper for you depends on your usage and preferred model; use the calculator below.
- How do Cursor and GitHub Copilot bill AI usage?
- Cursor: free tier; flat price, unpublished quota; plan + API-priced usage. GitHub Copilot: free tier; dollar allowance, then overage.
- Which models can I use?
- Cursor: x-ai, anthropic, openai, google, moonshotai, deepseek, qwen, z-ai, mistralai, minimax, meta. GitHub Copilot: anthropic, openai, google, x-ai, moonshotai. (Provider families from each vendor's published model list.)