GitHub Copilot vs Cursor
Where should a developer's AI budget go?
Copilot is a better colleague; Cursor is a better pair. Pick on whether your bottleneck is writing lines or understanding how the lines connect.
Pick GitHub Copilot when
You want help inside the editor you already use, and your team lives in pull requests. Copilot's strength is that it changes nothing about how you work.
Pick Cursor when
You are willing to change editor to get a chat that can see and edit the whole repository. Cursor asks for a migration and pays it back in multi-file changes.
What each one costs
GitHub Copilot
$10/mo / seat, per seat
baseline, not yet verified · recorded 2026-10-03
Best for. Teams whose developers already work in GitHub.
Watch for. Per-seat billing applies to every developer, whether or not they open the suggestions.
| Plan | Price | Recorded |
|---|---|---|
| Business | $19/mo / seat | 2026-10-03 |
| Individual | $10/mo / seat | 2026-10-03 |
Cursor
$20/mo / seat, per seat
baseline, not yet verified · recorded 2026-10-03
Best for. Small teams where one or two people carry most of the engineering.
Watch for. Seat pricing is easy to forecast but punishes light users; usage pricing does the reverse. Convert the plan into your own unit of work before comparing.
| Plan | Price | Recorded |
|---|---|---|
| Business | $40/mo / seat | 2026-10-03 |
| Pro | $20/mo / seat | 2026-10-03 |
| Hobby | Free | 2026-10-03 |
What we don't know
- We compare list prices. Your effective cost depends on how much you use it and whether you pay annually.
- Neither tool was given a free account in exchange for this page. There is no sponsorship here.
- Both vendors change pricing without notice. Check the date above against the vendor's own page.