Cursor IDE vs GitHub Copilot
Both plug into your IDE, but they have diverged sharply. Cursor 3 ships Composer 2 (RL-trained, 200+ tok/s, multi-repo workspaces, cloud agents, also on JetBrains). GitHub Copilot is cheaper at $10/mo but paused new signups for Pro/Pro+/Student in April 2026, removed Opus from Pro and tightened limits - only Free stays open.
| Cursor IDE | GitHub Copilot | |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Code Editor | IDE Extension |
| Entry price | $20/mo | $10/mo |
| Model type | closed | closed |
| SWE-Bench | - | - |
| Output speed | - | - |
| Architecture | - | - |
| Paid tiers | 3 | 2 |
| Tiers | Pro$20/mo· Unlimited Tab - $20 monthly premium model credit pool - automations Pro+$60/mo· 3x usage multiplier - ~$70 credit pool Ultra$200/mo· 20x credits - ~$400 pool - priority features - parallel cloud agents | Pro$10/mo· 300 premium req/mo - multi-model autocomplete (Opus 4.7, GPT-5.5, Gemini 3) Pro+$39/mo· 1,500 premium req/mo - GitHub Spark (Preview) |
Which wins for...
Copilot Pro is $10/mo vs Cursor Pro at $20/mo - but only if you can sign up. New Copilot signups are paused as of April 2026.
Cursor's Composer 2 and cloud agents do multi-repo, multi-file agentic edits that Copilot's inline autocomplete does not match.
Copilot Pro/Pro+/Student signups are suspended. Cursor is open to new users at $20/mo.
Copilot is built directly into VS Code and JetBrains with multi-model autocomplete (Opus 4.7, GPT-5.5, Gemini 3) - the lightest-weight inline option, if you have access.
Verdict
Cursor is the default pick today: Copilot paused new signups in April 2026 and removed Opus from Pro. Only pick Copilot if you already have it or qualify for the free student pack.
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