Cursor vs GitHub Copilot
Cursor from Anysphere goes head-to-head with GitHub Copilot from GitHub / Microsoft. We compare on pricing, features, speed, and the situations where each one actually wins. No referral fees. No paid placements. Just the trade-offs.
| Cursor ↗ | GitHub Copilot ↗ | |
|---|---|---|
| Vendor | Anysphere | GitHub / Microsoft |
| Category | AI code editor | AI code completion |
| Free tier | Yes | Yes |
| Pro plan | $20/mo | $10/mo |
| Team plan | $40/mo | $19/mo |
| Underlying models | GPT-4o, Claude 3.5 Sonnet, Claude 4 Sonnet, Gemini 2.5 Pro, custom | GPT-4o, Claude 3.5 Sonnet, Gemini 2.5 Pro |
| Code-eval score (out of 100) | 92 | 84 |
| Speed | Fast | Very fast |
| Best for | Daily-driver IDE for individual devs and small teams who want VS Code with stronger AI | Inline completion inside VS Code, JetBrains, Neovim — works in tools devs already use |
| Weakness | Pricing tiers can get expensive at team scale; usage limits surprise heavy users | Less agentic and lower-context than Cursor / Claude Code |
Quick verdict
- Cheaper: GitHub Copilot at $10/mo for the Pro tier.
- Better at coding tasks: Cursor (92/100 on our code-eval rubric).
- Pick Cursor if: Daily-driver IDE for individual devs and small teams who want VS Code with stronger AI.
- Pick GitHub Copilot if: Inline completion inside VS Code, JetBrains, Neovim — works in tools devs already use.
Where Cursor pulls ahead
Cursor is built for: Daily-driver IDE for individual devs and small teams who want VS Code with stronger AI. If that matches your day-to-day, the $20/mo Pro tier is well-spent. The most common reason teams stay on Cursor after a trial: Pricing tiers can get expensive at team scale; usage limits surprise heavy users is a manageable trade-off given how strong the core experience is.
Where GitHub Copilot pulls ahead
GitHub Copilot excels at: Inline completion inside VS Code, JetBrains, Neovim — works in tools devs already use. Strongest case to switch from Cursor to GitHub Copilot: when you outgrow what Cursor optimizes for and start running into Pricing tiers can get expensive at team scale; usage limits surprise heavy users. GitHub Copilot's own limitation — Less agentic and lower-context than Cursor / Claude Code — matters less in those workflows.
Bottom line
For most readers, the right answer is the cheaper, more familiar one — until your workflow specifically asks for something the other handles better. Try the free tier of each (both offer one), spend an afternoon on a real task in each, then commit to whichever felt less in your way.
More comparisons
Methodology: see how we score. Tool names are trademarks of their respective owners. We are not affiliated with Anysphere or GitHub / Microsoft.