Developer · 11 min
GitHub Copilot vs Cursor price and AI usage comparison
Compare Free, Pro, and power-user plans by subscription price, AI credits or Agent usage, editor choice, cloud agents, overage, and team controls.
Price and workflow comparison
| Criterion | GitHub Copilot | Cursor |
|---|---|---|
| Free entry | Free: US$0 | Hobby: US$0 |
| Main paid plan | Pro: US$10/month | Pro: US$20/month |
| Included AI usage | Pro: US$15 monthly GitHub AI Credits | Pro: US$20 API-priced Agent usage, plus possible bonus usage |
| Primary workflow | Existing IDEs plus GitHub, CLI, review and cloud agent | AI-first editor with integrated Tab, Agent and cloud agents |
| Usage caution | Agents, chat and reviews consume credits; paid completions remain unlimited | Model and tokens affect usage; monitor on-demand and background agents |
Prices, taxes, included usage, and local checkout totals can change. Confirm the official checkout before paying.
Current individual plan snapshot
GitHub lists Free at US$0, Pro at US$10, Pro+ at US$39, and Max at US$100 per month. Cursor lists Hobby at US$0, Pro at US$20, Pro+ at US$60, and Ultra at US$200 monthly. Prices, tax, local currency, features, and flex or bonus capacity can change.
What the included usage means
- GitHub Pro lists US$15 total monthly AI Credits, Pro+ US$70, and Max US$200
- GitHub uses credits for chat, agents, CLI, reviews, and other AI interactions; model and task complexity affect consumption
- Cursor Pro includes US$20, Pro+ US$70, and Ultra US$400 of API-priced Agent usage plus possible bonus usage
- Cursor model choice and token consumption affect allowance use; Background Agents and on-demand usage need separate spend attention
Choose GitHub Copilot when
- You want to keep VS Code, Visual Studio, JetBrains, Xcode, Neovim, or another supported environment
- GitHub-native cloud agent, pull request, code review, CLI, and repository workflows matter
- US$10 Pro plus unlimited paid-plan completions covers normal work
- You need to compare Business or Enterprise policy, licensing, and organization controls rather than an individual plan
Choose Cursor when
- You are willing to adopt an AI-first editor as the primary development environment
- Integrated Tab, Agent, cloud agent, MCP, skills, hooks, and multi-file workflows save measurable time
- Your daily Agent usage justifies Pro+ or a higher included allowance
- You understand on-demand settings and can monitor model-level token consumption
Do not compare credit dollars one to one
GitHub AI Credits and Cursor's API-priced Agent allowance are provider-specific accounting systems. They cover different features, models, multipliers, bonus capacity, and product execution. Compare the number of completed representative tasks and total monthly bill instead of assuming equal dollar labels produce equal work.
Seven-day developer test
- Run the same issue, refactor, test-writing, review, and documentation tasks in both products
- Record accepted changes, review defects, completion time, credit or usage consumption, and manual corrections
- Disable or cap paid overage until normal usage is understood
- Review generated code, tests, security, licences, and repository permissions regardless of the selected plan
Official sources
- GitHub Copilot plans ↗
- GitHub Copilot plan documentation ↗
- GitHub Copilot billing ↗
- Cursor pricing ↗
- Cursor models and pricing ↗
- Cursor pricing policy ↗
Prices and policies can change. Confirm the final terms on the official site before purchase.