| Decision point | Cursor | GitHub Copilot |
|---|
| Best for | AI-assisted coding in an editor with agent modes, cloud agents, and Cursor's own Grok/Composer models | Autocomplete, code chat, and developer productivity in popular IDEs |
|---|
| Category | Development | Development |
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| Price | See evidence below — official sources checked 2026-08-25 | See evidence below — official sources checked 2026-08-25 |
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| AIToolsEssentials score | 4.6/5 | 4.5/5 |
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Evidence status
CursorCursor Free includes limited agent requests and Composer access. Pro $20/mo, Pro Plus $60/mo, Ultra $200/mo, Teams $40/user/mo, Enterprise custom (cursor.com/pricing, checked 2026-08-25). Cursor Models pool: Grok 4.6 $2/$6, Composer 2.5 $0.50/$2.50 per 1M tokens.
Official sources checked 2026-08-25 GitHub CopilotCopilot Free is free and limited to 2,000 completions per month, auto model selection, and an unspecified allowance of GitHub AI Credits. Copilot Student is free for verified students. Paid individual plans: Pro $10/month with 1,500 total monthly AI credits; Pro+ $39/month with 7,000; Max $100/month with 20,000. Organization plans: Business $19/user/month with 1,900 AI credits per user; Enterprise $39/user/month with 3,900. Additional usage is $0.01 per AI credit; code completions and next-edit suggestions remain unlimited on paid plans.
Official sources checked 2026-08-25 External benchmark context
- Terminal-Bench 2.1 · Cursor CLI + Grok 4.5 · high effort — 79.3% ± 1.5% over 445 trials (run 2026-07-09).
Benchmark records apply only to the exact model/configuration shown—not the whole product. Independent same-task hands-on comparison: not yet published. See the testing protocol.
Current model lineup
Version names and prices move fast. This panel tracks what each product actually ships today, with checked dates — so the comparison stays about real models, not marketing names.
Cursor — current lineup (2026-08-26)| Model | Role | Context | Pricing |
|---|
| Cursor Grok 4.6 | Co-developed flagship coding model in-editor | 500K | $2 / $6 per 1M tokens (Cursor Models pool) |
| Cursor Grok 4.5 | Prior joint flagship | 500K | $2 / $6 per 1M tokens |
| Composer 2.5 | Price-efficient agentic model | - | $0.50 / $2.50 per 1M standard; Fast $3 / $15 |
| Third-party frontier models | OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, xAI via Other Models pool | varies | Near API rates (+ Cursor Token Rate on teams) |
- Plans: Free (limited agent requests); Pro $20/mo; Pro+ $60/mo; Ultra $200/mo; Teams $40/user/mo.
- Teams adds Grok Bot access and Bugbot agentic code review.
GitHub Copilot — current lineup (2026-08-26)| Model | Role | Context | Pricing |
|---|
| GPT-5-class models | Default completion + chat | varies | Included in Copilot Pro $10/mo |
| Claude Sonnet 4.6 | Selectable model for agent mode | varies | Included with premium request multiplier |
| Grok 4.5 / 4.6 | xAI models added to Copilot model picker | varies | Premium requests |
- Model availability varies by plan; check GitHub's Copilot model docs for current multipliers.
Lineups verified from official vendor pages; confirm before purchase.
How to decide
Match each platform to your actual workflow constraints: editor preference and model access for coding tools; task-based versus credit-based versus execution-based pricing, self-hosting needs, and technical depth for automation. Run one real workflow in each finalist before paying.
Quick recommendation
Use the trial checklist on each review page and the free scorecard to record time-to-result, corrections needed, and monthly cost at your expected volume before committing to a plan.
Read Cursor review Read GitHub Copilot review Open scorecard