Which is cheaper, Cursor or GitHub Copilot?

GitHub Copilot costs about half at every level: Copilot Pro is $10 versus $20 for Cursor Pro, and Copilot Business is $19 per user versus $40 for Cursor Teams. Both have a free plan.

I use JetBrains (IntelliJ, PyCharm). Which should I pick?

GitHub Copilot. It installs as an extension in JetBrains IDEs and Visual Studio. Cursor is a separate editor built on VS Code and cannot be added to JetBrains.

Can I use Cursor and Copilot together?

You can, but it rarely pays off. Cursor already has its own Tab completions and Agent. A better approach is to try both free plans for a few days and keep one.

Which is better for students?

Copilot. Verified students get Copilot Student for free through GitHub Education, while Cursor only offers the limited Hobby plan.

Cursor vs GitHub Copilot 2026: which to choose?

Cursor vs GitHub Copilot compared on price, free plans, setup and agent capabilities, so you can choose the right tool for your workflow and budget.

Verdict: Pick GitHub Copilot if you want the lower price, need to stay in VS Code, JetBrains or Visual Studio, or are a student. Pick Cursor if you want an editor built around AI with an aggressive multi-file Agent and are happy to pay about twice as much.

Criteria	Cursor	GitHub Copilot
Free plan	Yes	Yes
Price	$20/month	$10/month
	Visit Cursor	Visit GitHub Copilot

Cursor and GitHub Copilot are the two most popular AI coding assistants, but they take different approaches:

Cursor is its own editor (built on VS Code) with AI at the centre of every action.
Copilot is an extension for the editor you already use – VS Code, Visual Studio, JetBrains IDEs and more – tightly tied to GitHub.

1. Price

	Cursor	GitHub Copilot
Free plan	Hobby (limited Agent)	Free (2,000 completions + 50 chats/month)
Main individual plan	Pro $20/month	Pro $10/month
Heavy-use plans	Pro+ $60, Ultra$ 200	Pro+ $39, Max$ 100
Teams	$40/user/month	Business $19/user/month
Students	No specific offer	Free Copilot Student

Copilot costs roughly half at every tier and is the obvious pick for students.

2. Setup and learning curve

Copilot: install the extension and keep your habits. Ideal if your team lives in JetBrains (IntelliJ, PyCharm…) or Visual Studio.
Cursor: you install a new editor. Because it is built on VS Code, VS Code users switch quickly (extensions and keybindings import). JetBrains users face a bigger change.

3. Agents and multi-file edits

Both offer an agent that reads your project, edits multiple files and runs commands:

Cursor builds its whole interface around the Agent and adds Cloud Agents that run in the background on paid plans.
Copilot has agent mode even on Free, a cloud agent from Pro, and from Pro+ can delegate to third-party agents such as Claude and OpenAI Codex.

In practice the difference is more about feel than feature lists. The best test is a few days on each free plan with your own codebase.

4. Which one?

Students and beginners: Copilot (Free or Copilot Student).
Developers on JetBrains or Visual Studio: Copilot.
VS Code users who want AI to do more and will pay $20: try Cursor Pro.
Companies watching cost: Copilot Business ( $19/user) is cheaper than Cursor Teams ($ 40/user).

NOTE

This comparison is based on prices and features published by Cursor and GitHub on October 10, 2026, not on performance benchmarks.