Short answer: choose Cursor if you live in VS Code and want the most tightly integrated AI editing loop (Tab, Agent, cloud agents, Bugbot). Choose GitHub Copilot if you want to keep JetBrains, Visual Studio or Xcode, work around GitHub issues and PRs, or want the cheaper plan: Copilot Pro is $10/month vs Cursor Pro at $20/month. Both have free plans.
Side by side
| Feature | Cursor | GitHub Copilot |
|---|---|---|
| Made by | Anysphere (part of SpaceX since Aug 2026) | GitHub (Microsoft) |
| Status | Active | Active |
| Type | AI IDE, Cloud agent, Code review | IDE extension, CLI / terminal, Cloud agent, Code review |
| Interfaces | Desktop editor (VS Code fork) · CLI · Web (cloud agents) | VS Code, Visual Studio, JetBrains, Xcode, Eclipse, Neovim, Zed · Copilot CLI · github.com & GitHub Mobile |
| Open source | No | No |
| Free tier | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Starting price | Free tier · from $20/mo | Free tier · from $10/mo |
| Plans | Hobby: Free Pro: $20/mo Pro+ / Ultra: Higher tiers Teams: $40/user/mo Enterprise: Custom | Free: $0 Pro: $10/mo Pro+: $39/mo Max: $100/mo Business / Enterprise: Per seat |
| Models | Multiple frontier models plus Cursor's own Composer model; the lineup changes often — check the official site | Anthropic Claude, OpenAI GPT, Google Gemini, xAI Grok, Microsoft and Kimi models (varies by plan and feature) |
| Bring your own key | ✓ Yes | Check site |
| Agent mode | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Autocomplete | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Cloud / background agents | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| PR code review | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| MCP support | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Self-host option | — No | — No |
| Best for | Developers who want AI woven into everyday editing, with an agent one keystroke away. | Teams already on GitHub who want AI across editors and the PR workflow at a low price. |
| Last verified | 2026-10-10 | 2026-10-10 |
The real difference: an editor vs an extension
Cursor is the editor. It is a VS Code fork rebuilt around AI, so completions, chat, the Agent and background cloud agents share one interface. Extensions and settings carry over from VS Code, but you are committing to Cursor's app.
Copilot goes where you are. It runs as an extension in VS Code, Visual Studio, JetBrains IDEs, Xcode, Eclipse, Neovim and Zed, as the Copilot CLI, and natively on github.com, where you can assign an issue to the Copilot cloud agent and get a pull request back.
Where Cursor wins
- Integrated AI editing — Tab next-edit prediction and the Agent are built into the editor itself.
- Cloud agents and automations — background agents included from Pro; Teams adds shared team context.
- Bugbot code review on Teams, plus Cursor's own Composer model alongside frontier models.
Where Copilot wins
- Price — Pro $10/month with unlimited completions; usable Free plan.
- IDE coverage — JetBrains, Visual Studio, Xcode, Eclipse and more; no editor switch.
- GitHub workflow — issue → cloud agent → PR, and Copilot code review on pull requests.
Pricing compared
| Plan | Cursor | GitHub Copilot |
|---|---|---|
| Free | Hobby: limited Agent requests, Composer | Free: limited chat and agent usage |
| Entry paid | Pro $20/mo | Pro $10/mo ($15/mo of AI credits incl. flex allotment) |
| Power user | Pro+ and Ultra (see cursor.com) | Pro+ $39/mo ($70 of credits) · Max $100/mo ($200 of credits) |
| Teams | Teams $40/user/mo · Enterprise custom | Business / Enterprise per seat (see github.com) |
Copilot credit totals are GitHub's stated base + variable “flex” allotment (1 AI credit = $0.01; flex may change). Verified 2026-10-11 on cursor.com/pricing and github.com/features/copilot/plans.