Cursor vs GitHub Copilot: Which editor agent gives you more for the money?
Facts checked Oct 22, 2026. Every number links to its source.
Summary
Derived from sourced facts, not from builder opinions
Copilot Pro costs $10 a month with $15 of AI Credits. Pro+ is $39 with $70 and Max is $100 with $200.
Cursor's paid plans start at $8 for Grok models only. Claude, Gemini and OpenAI models cost API list price.
Copilot lists GPT-6 Astra, GPT-6.1 Sol and Claude Opus 5.5. Cursor's docs list no GPT-6 models.
Copilot has billed every plan in usage-based AI Credits since June 1, 2026.
Choose Cursor if
You use Grok models heavily.
You want Cursor's editor, CLI and cloud agents.
Choose GitHub Copilot if
You want GPT-6 models.
You want Claude, Gemini and OpenAI usage paid from monthly credits.
Your code already lives on GitHub.
Cursor
GitHub Copilot
Follow both to get an email when either one changes its price, limits or behavior.
Plans
Cursor plans
Free
Free
Limited usage
Plus
$8/month
Grok models only
Premium
$30/month
4x Plus usage · third-party models at API list price
Super
$100/month
15x Plus usage
Ultra
$200/month
50x Plus usage
Teams
$30/month
From $30 per user
GitHub Copilot plans
Free
Free
Limited chat and agent usage
Pro
$10/month
$15 of GitHub AI Credits a month
Pro+
$39/month
$70 of AI Credits a month
Max
$100/month
$200 of AI Credits a month
Subscription agents are priced per seat with usage limits, so this compares plans rather than dividing a subscription by a guessed number of tasks.
Side by side
Cursor
GitHub Copilot
Maker
Anysphere, a SpaceX company since 2026-08-14
GitHub (Microsoft)
Plans
Free $0 · Plus $8 (Grok models only) · Premium $30 (4x Plus) · Super $100 (15x) · Ultra $200 (50x) · Teams from $30/user · Enterprise custom. Plans are X subscriptions with a weekly pool shared with Grok
Free $0 · Pro $10/month ($15 of AI Credits) · Pro+ $39 ($70 of credits) · Max $100 ($200 of credits)
Third-party models
Third-party models (Claude, Gemini, OpenAI) are not included in plan usage and are billed at API list price
Not published
Usage limits
Shared Cursor and Grok usage pool that refreshes weekly · top-offs available
Monthly GitHub AI Credits: Pro $15, Pro+ $70, Max $200 total (base plus flex allotment) · Free has limited chat and agent usage · extra credits purchasable on paid plans
Models
Docs list Claude Sonnet 5.5, Opus 5.5, Fable 5.1, Haiku 5.5, Gemini 4 Argon, Gemini 3.1 Pro, Gemini 3.8 Flash, Muse Wonder, GPT-5.6 Sol/Terra/Luna, Grok 4.5 to 4.7, Composer 2.5 · no GPT-6 models
Includes Claude Opus 5.5, Sonnet 5.5, Haiku 5.5, Fable 5.1 · GPT-6 Astra, GPT-6.1 Sol, GPT-6 Sol and Luna · Gemini 4 Argon (Pro+ and above) · Grok and Kimi K3 models · Claude Opus 4.8 and Opus 5 leave on 2026-11-16
OpenAI model access
OpenAI proposed ending Cursor's access to its models on 2026-11-12
Editors and IDEs, CLI, GitHub.com and GitHub Mobile on all plans · agent mode in VS Code, Visual Studio, JetBrains, Eclipse and more
Billing
Not published
Usage-based GitHub AI Credits on all plans since 2026-06-01, priced on input, output and cached tokens at API rates
Scores appear side by side only when both were published for the same test. Settings differ between sources, so small gaps can reverse under another harness.
SpaceXSI introduced The X Subscription, one plan covering Grok, Grok Bot, Cursor and X Premium with a weekly shared pool of Grok model usage. On Premium and above, third-party models in Cursor are billed separately at API list prices. Current Cursor plans keep included third-party usage until the user switches.
Who is affected:
New Cursor, SuperGrok and X Premium subscribers, and anyone who uses Claude, GPT or Gemini models inside Cursor.
Action needed:
If you rely on third-party models in Cursor, check the cost before switching plans and set a spending cap.
After SpaceX's acquisition of Cursor, OpenAI announced it is winding down its contract supplying models to Cursor with a proposed November 12 cutoff. Cursor's CEO said OpenAI models serve about 5% of Cursor traffic. Cursor's model docs list no GPT-6 models. The Hacker News thread drew 852 points and 544 comments.
Takes effect Nov 12, 2026 · in 11 days
Who is affected:
Cursor users who rely on OpenAI models.
Action needed:
Move Cursor workflows off OpenAI models before November 12, 2026, or use Codex or another tool for them.
Cursor announced it has been acquired by SpaceX, completing a process announced in April 2026 (Hacker News: 823 points and 989 comments in April. 107 points and 130 comments on August 14). Cursor's pricing page now sells plans through X Subscription Corp with a shared Cursor and Grok usage pool, and third-party models billed at API list price.
Who is affected:
Cursor subscribers and teams evaluating Cursor.
Action needed:
Review the new plan structure. third-party models are no longer included in plan allowances.
Copilot Fusion can now choose between supported on-device models and cloud models in Copilot CLI, the Copilot app and VS Code. MAI Code 1.1 Flash can be downloaded on supported Windows devices.
Who is affected:
Copilot users who want to run local models with automatic routing.
Enterprises working with a GitHub or Microsoft account team can get Copilot included with GitHub Enterprise. Users without an Enterprise license get Copilot Standalone at $10 per user per month, with no monthly AI credits per seat.
Before
Separate Copilot seats plus AI usage to manage
After
Copilot included with GitHub Enterprise, usage metered against the enterprise budget
Who is affected:
Enterprise admins and users on GitHub Enterprise Cloud who manage Copilot seats and AI usage budgets.
What to do:
Talk to your sales team about moving an enterprise account to the new model, or keep your current plan.
Switching checklist
Keep AGENTS.md: Copilot's cloud agent, VS Code chat and the Copilot CLI read it. Visual Studio reads only copilot-instructions.md and .instructions.md files.
Move always-apply .cursor/rules into .github/copilot-instructions.md, and file-specific rules into .github/instructions/NAME.instructions.md files.
Recreate MCP servers in your editor's mcp.json, and in the repository's MCP settings on GitHub for the cloud agent and code review.
Estimate your monthly token use per model maker and compare it with your plan's AI Credits: $15 on Pro, $70 on Pro+, $200 on Max.
Check the models you need: Copilot includes GPT-6 Astra and GPT-6.1 Sol, which Cursor's docs do not list.
Run one real task in your own repository with both tools and compare the diffs before moving a team.
FAQ
Is GitHub Copilot cheaper than Cursor?
Copilot Pro is $10 with $15 of AI Credits. Cursor Plus is $8 but covers Grok models only.
Which has GPT-6 models?
GitHub Copilot. Cursor's model docs list no GPT-6 models.
How does Copilot billing work now?
Every plan uses GitHub AI Credits, priced on input, output and cached tokens, since June 1, 2026.
Does Cursor's plan cover Claude models?
No. Claude, Gemini and OpenAI models in Cursor are billed at API list price, outside plan usage.
Does Copilot read AGENTS.md like Cursor?
Yes, in the cloud agent, VS Code chat and the Copilot CLI. Visual Studio and JetBrains read only copilot-instructions.md files.
Who owns Cursor now?
SpaceX. Anysphere, Cursor's maker, became a SpaceX company on August 14, 2026.
Is Copilot free?
Yes, with limited chat and agent usage. Pro costs $10 a month with $15 of AI Credits.
Prices, specs and limits come from each maker's own pages. Benchmark scores come from independent benchmark publishers and the makers' announcements, with the setting each was measured in. Changes come from changelogs, deprecation pages and status pages. The summary is written from these facts only.
