Windsurf starts at $20/mo, GitHub Copilot at $10/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.
Pick GitHub Copilot 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.
| Fact | Windsurf | GitHub Copilot |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | Free tier | Free tier |
| Cheapest plan | Pro · $20/mo | Pro · $10/mo |
| Top plan | Max · $200/mo | Max · $100/mo |
| Plans tracked | 3 | 3 |
| Yearly discount | None shown | None shown |
| Allowance periods | Not stated | Monthly |
| Latest change | billing model | billing model |
| Last checked |
| Tool | Plan | Price | Limits as stated & source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Windsurf | Pro | $20/mo | 'Increased quotas' incl. frontier models (OpenAI, Claude, Gemini, SpaceXAI); free SWE-2 (free in Devin Desktop and CLI through Oct 16, 2026); Devin Cloud access; extra usage at API pricing. Quota size not published. Source: devin.ai · checked 2026-10-17 |
| Windsurf | Max | $200/mo | 'Significantly higher quotas' than Pro. Not quantified. Source: devin.ai · checked 2026-10-17 |
| Windsurf | Teams | $80/mo | Up to 200 users; each full user gets their own quota. Up to 10 concurrent sessions. Source: devin.ai · checked 2026-10-17 |
| GitHub Copilot | Pro | $10/mo | Unlimited completions/next-edit suggestions; 1,500 monthly AI credits ($15 value: $10 base + $5 flex); medium-complexity models; third-party agents (Claude Code, Codex). 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); frontier models; audit logs; 'over 4.6x included monthly credits than Pro'. Source: github.com · checked 2026-10-16 |
| GitHub Copilot | Max | $100/mo | $200/month total AI Credits ($100 base + $100 flex); 'over 13.3x included monthly credits than Pro'; early access to frontier models. Source: github.com · checked 2026-10-16 |
| Tool | Free? | What you get for $0 & source |
|---|---|---|
| Windsurf | Free tier | Free $0: 'Light quota to code with agents', limited model availability, unlimited inline edits and Tab completions. Quota size not published. Source: devin.ai · checked 2026-10-17 |
| GitHub Copilot | Free tier | Free $0: 2,000 completions per month; 'limited chat and agent usage'; 'access to entry level models'; Free plan supports CLI and agent mode. 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 |
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.
Effective March 19, 2026 (announced March 18): Free/Pro/Teams get auto-refreshing daily and weekly quotas instead of credits; Pro $20, Teams $40/seat, new Max $200.
GitHub Copilot is cheaper to start: GitHub Copilot Pro costs $10/mo, against $20/mo for Windsurf Pro. At the top end, Windsurf Max is $200/mo and GitHub Copilot Max is $100/mo.
Windsurf: Yes. Free $0: 'Light quota to code with agents', limited model availability, unlimited inline edits and Tab completions. Quota size not published. GitHub Copilot: Yes. Free $0: 2,000 completions per month; 'limited chat and agent usage'; 'access to entry level models'; Free plan supports CLI and agent mode. No credit card. Verified students get a free Copilot Student plan; verified teachers and popular OSS maintainers may get Pro free.
Windsurf Pro ($20/mo): 'Increased quotas' incl. frontier models (OpenAI, Claude, Gemini, SpaceXAI); free SWE-2 (free in Devin Desktop and CLI through Oct 16, 2026); Devin Cloud access; extra usage at API pricing. Quota size not published. GitHub Copilot Pro ($10/mo): Unlimited completions/next-edit suggestions; 1,500 monthly AI credits ($15 value: $10 base + $5 flex); medium-complexity models; third-party agents (Claude Code, Codex). Chat, agent mode, code review, cloud agent and CLI consume credits.
1 Jun 2026, GitHub Copilot: GitHub Copilot switches to usage-based GitHub AI Credits; Max plan ($100) launches. 19 Mar 2026, Windsurf: Windsurf drops credits for daily/weekly quotas; adds $200 Max plan.