GitHub Copilot vs Cursor pricing (Oct 2026)
GitHub Copilot starts at $10/mo, Cursor at $8/mo. Both have a free plan. Every plan from both vendors, the limits each one actually publishes, and what changed recently, with a source on every line.
The short answer
- Cheaper to start
- Cursor. Cursor Plus is $8/mo; the cheapest GitHub Copilot plan, GitHub Copilot Pro, is $10/mo ($2 more).
- Free plan
- Both have one. What each includes is quoted under Free plans below.
- Top of the ladder
- GitHub Copilot Max at $100/mo vs Cursor Ultra at $200/mo.
- Paying yearly
- Cursor takes up to 17% off (Plus); GitHub Copilot shows no yearly discount on the plans we track.
- Hard numbers
- Cursor doesn't publish exact allowances, so the limits below are quoted, not counted.
- Latest move
- Cursor, 12 Oct 2026: Cursor moves into The X Subscription: new Plus $8 / Premium $30 / Super $100 / Ultra $200 plans with a weekly pool.
Pick Cursor if you want the lowest monthly bill. Beyond price and free access, the deciding factor is which models and features you need; we track the money, not the model quality.
Head to head
| Fact | GitHub Copilot | Cursor |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | Free tier | Free tier |
| Cheapest plan | Pro · $10/mo | Plus · $8/mo |
| Top plan | Max · $100/mo | Ultra · $200/mo |
| Plans tracked | 3 | 5 |
| Yearly discount | None shown | up to 17% |
| Allowance periods | Monthly | Weekly |
| Latest change | billing model | plan restructure |
| Last checked |
Closest price match: GitHub Copilot Pro vs Cursor Plus
Plus
Every plan side by side
| Tool | Plan | Price | Limits as stated & source |
|---|---|---|---|
| GitHub Copilot | Pro | $10/mo | Unlimited completions/next-edit suggestions; $15/month total GitHub AI Credits ($10 base + $5 flex). Chat, agent mode, code review, cloud agent and CLI consume credits. Source: github.com · checked 2026-10-16 |
| GitHub Copilot | Pro+ | $39/mo | $70/month total AI Credits ($39 base + $31 flex); premium models incl. Opus; '4x+ included usage than Pro'. Source: github.com · checked 2026-10-16 |
| GitHub Copilot | Max | $100/mo | $200/month total AI Credits ($100 base + $100 flex); '2.9x+ included usage than Pro+'; priority access to new models. Source: github.com · checked 2026-10-16 |
| Cursor | Plus | $8/mo | Base weekly usage pool for Cursor models, shared across Grok and Cursor; refreshes weekly. Only Grok models; third-party models not available. Absolute pool size not published. Source: cursor.com · checked 2026-10-16 |
| Cursor | Premium | $30/mo | 4x Plus weekly usage. Third-party models at API list price from prepaid credit. Adds Cloud Agents, Bugbot, Origin hosting. Source: cursor.com · checked 2026-10-16 |
| Cursor | Super | $100/mo | 15x Plus weekly usage; priority model access at peak times. Source: cursor.com · checked 2026-10-16 |
| Cursor | Ultra | $200/mo | 50x Plus weekly usage; earliest access to new products/models. Source: cursor.com · checked 2026-10-16 |
| Cursor | Teams | $30/mo | Each seat matches the weekly usage of the matching individual tier; third-party models at API list price + $0.25/M token Cursor Token Rate. Source: cursor.com · checked 2026-10-16 |
Free plans
| Tool | Free? | What you get for $0 & source |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub Copilot | Free tier | Free $0: 2,000 completions per month; 'limited chat and agent usage'; Haiku 4.5, GPT-5 mini and more; Copilot CLI. No credit card. Verified students get a free Copilot Student plan; verified teachers and popular OSS maintainers may get Pro free. Source: github.com · checked 2026-10-16 |
| Cursor | Free tier | Free plan $0/month: 'Limited agent requests', 'Limited Chat requests'. No third-party models (Claude/GPT/Gemini) on Free. Exact request counts not published. Source: cursor.com · checked 2026-10-16 |
Recent price and limit changes
-
plan restructureCursor moves into The X Subscription: new Plus $8 / Premium $30 / Super $100 / Ultra $200 plans with a weekly pool
New customers now buy Cursor as part of The X Subscription (Grok + Cursor + X). Usage moves from two monthly pools to one weekly pool shared with Grok; third-party models (Claude, GPT, Gemini) are no longer included and bill at API list price on Premium and above. Legacy Pro ($20), Pro+ ($60), Ultra ($200) continue for existing subscribers.
-
billing modelGitHub Copilot switches to usage-based GitHub AI Credits; Max plan ($100) launches
Premium requests replaced by AI Credits billed at model API rates. Pro $10 includes $15 total ($10 base + $5 flex), Pro+ $39 includes $70, new Max $100 includes $200. Flex allotments may change over time.
-
limit changeCursor Pro switches from 500 requests/month to $20 of frontier-model usage at API rates
Cursor later apologized (July 4, 2025) for the unclear rollout and offered refunds for unexpected charges between June 16 and July 4.
Questions people ask
Which is cheaper, GitHub Copilot or Cursor?
Cursor is cheaper to start: Cursor Plus costs $8/mo, against $10/mo for GitHub Copilot Pro. At the top end, GitHub Copilot Max is $100/mo and Cursor Ultra is $200/mo.
Is GitHub Copilot or Cursor free?
GitHub Copilot: Yes. Free $0: 2,000 completions per month; 'limited chat and agent usage'; Haiku 4.5, GPT-5 mini and more; Copilot CLI. No credit card. Verified students get a free Copilot Student plan; verified teachers and popular OSS maintainers may get Pro free. Cursor: Yes. Free plan $0/month: 'Limited agent requests', 'Limited Chat requests'. No third-party models (Claude/GPT/Gemini) on Free. Exact request counts not published.
How do the usage limits compare at the closest price?
GitHub Copilot Pro ($10/mo): Unlimited completions/next-edit suggestions; $15/month total GitHub AI Credits ($10 base + $5 flex). Chat, agent mode, code review, cloud agent and CLI consume credits. Cursor Plus ($8/mo): Base weekly usage pool for Cursor models, shared across Grok and Cursor; refreshes weekly. Only Grok models; third-party models not available. Absolute pool size not published.
Is it cheaper to pay yearly?
GitHub Copilot: no yearly discount on the plans we track. Cursor: up to 17% off when billed yearly (Plus: $6.67/mo instead of $8).
When did GitHub Copilot and Cursor last change their pricing?
12 Oct 2026, Cursor: Cursor moves into The X Subscription: new Plus $8 / Premium $30 / Super $100 / Ultra $200 plans with a weekly pool. 1 Jun 2026, GitHub Copilot: GitHub Copilot switches to usage-based GitHub AI Credits; Max plan ($100) launches. 16 Jun 2025, Cursor: Cursor Pro switches from 500 requests/month to $20 of frontier-model usage at API rates.