GitHub Copilot
Free tier available
- Free$0
- Pro$10/mo
- Pro+$39/mo
Our pickA
8.3/10GitHub Copilot
Multi-model picker: GPT-6.1 Terra (Pro and up, added 2026-10-26), GPT-6.1 Sol (Pro+ and up, added 2026-09-29), Claude Sonnet 5.5 (Pro and up, 2026-09-28), Claude Opus 5.5 (Pro+ and up, 2026-09-22), GPT-6 Sol (Pro+ and up, 2026-09-22), GPT-6 Luna (Pro and up, 2026-09-22), Grok 4.7 (all paid SKUs, 2026-09-21), Grok 4.6 (2026-08-14), Gemini 3.7 Flash (2026-08-13, removed 10/19), MAI-Code-1.1-Flash (2026-08-11), Kimi K3 (2026-08-06), Claude Opus 5, GPT-6 Astra, Fable 5.1, Gemini 3.8 Flash and earlier models per the model policy; Copilot Fusion (GA 2026-10-28, successor to HydraFusion and auto model selection) routes and orchestrates them. Gemini 3.5 Flash, Gemini 3.6 Flash, Kimi K2.7 Code and Claude Opus 4.7 were removed 2026-10-02; six more (Gemini 3.7 Flash, GPT-5.5, GPT-5.4, GPT-5.4 mini, GPT-5 mini, Grok 4.5) were removed 2026-10-19
VS
A
8.3/10Cursor
Grok 4.7 (2026-09-21; the 2x-price 4.7 Fast variant is Cursor + Grok Build only) / Grok 4.5 (Cursor + SpaceXAI joint, 2026-07-08) / Composer 2.5 / Claude Fable 5.1, Opus 5.5, Sonnet 5.5 and Haiku 5.5, Gemini 4 Argon, Gemini 3.1 Pro, Gemini 3.8 Flash and Muse Wonder at API list price on Premium and up (cursor.com/docs/models, read 2026-10-29; no Gemini 4 Carbon or GPT-6 family listed) / GPT-5.6 (OpenAI's proposed shutoff 2026-11-12) / Gemini (user selects)
GitHub Copilot vs Cursor
Tier-list head-to-head. GitHub Copilot takes the A-tier slot — here's the breakdown.
Last reviewed November 5, 2026· sweep-fresh
Spec sheet
At a glance
| GitHub Copilot | Cursor | |
|---|---|---|
| Tier | A-tier | A-tier |
| Overall score | 8.3 / 10 | 8.3 / 10 |
| Powered by | Multi-model picker: GPT-6.1 Terra (Pro and up, added 2026-10-26), GPT-6.1 Sol (Pro+ and up, added 2026-09-29), Claude Sonnet 5.5 (Pro and up, 2026-09-28), Claude Opus 5.5 (Pro+ and up, 2026-09-22), GPT-6 Sol (Pro+ and up, 2026-09-22), GPT-6 Luna (Pro and up, 2026-09-22), Grok 4.7 (all paid SKUs, 2026-09-21), Grok 4.6 (2026-08-14), Gemini 3.7 Flash (2026-08-13, removed 10/19), MAI-Code-1.1-Flash (2026-08-11), Kimi K3 (2026-08-06), Claude Opus 5, GPT-6 Astra, Fable 5.1, Gemini 3.8 Flash and earlier models per the model policy; Copilot Fusion (GA 2026-10-28, successor to HydraFusion and auto model selection) routes and orchestrates them. Gemini 3.5 Flash, Gemini 3.6 Flash, Kimi K2.7 Code and Claude Opus 4.7 were removed 2026-10-02; six more (Gemini 3.7 Flash, GPT-5.5, GPT-5.4, GPT-5.4 mini, GPT-5 mini, Grok 4.5) were removed 2026-10-19 | Grok 4.7 (2026-09-21; the 2x-price 4.7 Fast variant is Cursor + Grok Build only) / Grok 4.5 (Cursor + SpaceXAI joint, 2026-07-08) / Composer 2.5 / Claude Fable 5.1, Opus 5.5, Sonnet 5.5 and Haiku 5.5, Gemini 4 Argon, Gemini 3.1 Pro, Gemini 3.8 Flash and Muse Wonder at API list price on Premium and up (cursor.com/docs/models, read 2026-10-29; no Gemini 4 Carbon or GPT-6 family listed) / GPT-5.6 (OpenAI's proposed shutoff 2026-11-12) / Gemini (user selects) |
| Free tier | Yes | Yes |
| Starting price | $0 | $0 |
| Best for | Teams already on GitHub who want the broadest frontier-model picker in any coding tool (GPT-6 Astra, Sol an… | Developers who want the deepest AI integration possible and who are ready to work with agents rather than j… |
| Last reviewed | 2026-11-05 | 2026-11-05 |
Head-to-head
Score showdown
Rated 1-10 on the same rubric across all 130 tools we cover.
Ease of use+2.0 GitHub Copilot
GitHub Copilot
9.0
Cursor
7.0
Output quality+1.0 Cursor
GitHub Copilot
8.0
Cursor
9.0
ValueTie
GitHub Copilot
8.0
Cursor
8.0
Features+1.0 Cursor
GitHub Copilot
8.0
Cursor
9.0
OverallTie
GitHub Copilot
8.3
Cursor
8.3
What you'll pay
Pricing snapshot
Look past the headline number -- entry-tier limits drive most cost surprises.
Cursor
Free tier available
- Free (The X Subscription)$0
- Plus (The X Subscription, from 2026-10-12)$8/mo
- Premium (The X Subscription)$30/mo
The decision
Which should you pick?
Use-case anchors and category strengths, side by side.
Pick GitHub Copilotif…
A
8.3/10- ✓Easier to learn and use day-to-day -- friendlier onboarding curve
- ✓Teams already on GitHub who want the broadest frontier-model picker in any coding tool (GPT-6 Astra, Sol and Luna, Claude Opus 5.
- ✓7 as of 2026-09-28) with enterprise-managed defaults, agent-operation guardrails and usage analytics.
Teams already on GitHub who want the broadest frontier-model picker in any coding tool (GPT-6 Astra, Sol and Luna, Claude Opus 5.5, Sonnet 5.5 and Fable 5.1, Gemini 3.8 Flash, Grok 4.7 as of 2026-09-28) with enterprise-managed defaults, agent-operation guardrails and usage analytics. Business/Enterprise signups reopened 2026-09-03; Free-tier users still get best-in-class inline completions.
Visit GitHub CopilotPick Cursorif…
A
8.3/10- ✓Higher output quality (9.0 vs 8.0) where polish matters more than speed
- ✓More feature surface area for power users who'll use the depth
- ✓Developers who want the deepest AI integration possible and who are ready to work with agents rather than just autocomplete.
- ✓Cursor 3's multi-workspace + cross-platform agent story is designed for people who are already living in the Cursor app daily, not dabblers.
Developers who want the deepest AI integration possible and who are ready to work with agents rather than just autocomplete. Cursor 3's multi-workspace + cross-platform agent story is designed for people who are already living in the Cursor app daily, not dabblers.
Visit CursorBottom line
The verdict
GitHub Copilot (A-tier, 8.3/10) and Cursor (A-tier, 8.3/10) are within margin-of-error of each other on overall score. There's no decisive winner -- the right pick comes down to how you'll actually use the tool, not which scored higher in the abstract. We rate them on the same rubric (ease of use, output quality, value, features), and on this pair the rubric is calling it a draw.
Pricing-wise, both tools have a free tier (GitHub Copilot starts $0, Cursor starts $0), so you can test either without committing. Compare what each free tier actually unlocks -- usage caps, model access, and feature gates differ a lot more than the headline price suggests, especially as both vendors have tightened limits in 2026.
By use case: pick GitHub Copilot when teams already on github who want the broadest frontier-model picker in any coding tool (gpt-6 astra, sol and luna, claude opus 5. Pick Cursor when developers who want the deepest ai integration possible and who are ready to work with agents rather than just autocomplete. The two tools aren't fighting for the same person -- they're aiming at adjacent jobs that occasionally overlap. If you're squarely in GitHub Copilot's lane, the tier-list ranking and the use-case fit point the same direction; if you're in Cursor's lane, the score gap matters less than the fit.
Bottom line: this pair is a coin flip on raw scores. Choose by use-case fit, free-tier availability, and which one you can actually try without committing. Re-evaluate in 60-90 days -- both vendors are shipping fast in 2026.
Keep digging
Compare more & explore
Full GitHub Copilot review
Tier A · 8.3/10
Full Cursor review
Tier A · 8.3/10
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Built from our daily AI-tool sweep, last touched November 5, 2026. Honest tier-list reviews — no affiliate-link pieces disguised as advice. See the rubric or how we review.