Cursor is an IDE built on VS Code with integrated AI coding features, while Copilot is an AI code completion plugin that works across multiple editors. Cursor offers a more cohesive AI-first development experience, whereas Copilot provides broader compatibility with existing tools.
Cursor vs Copilot — Side-by-side comparison on A Versus B
VS Code-based AI code editor with multi-model support and precision editing features
AI-powered code completion tool that integrates into code editors and IDEs.
Architecture. Integration Scope. Editor Compatibility. Setup Time. AI Models Available. Cost for Individual Developers. Context Window for Code
Choose Cursor if you want an AI-first IDE with deep feature integration, superior context awareness, and the ability to switch between multiple AI models—ideal for developers who spend most time coding. Choose Copilot if you prefer flexibility across multiple editors/IDEs, have an existing development setup you don't want to change, or use JetBrains IDEs exclusively.
Cursor: 3 (familiar) | GitHub Copilot: N/A
Cursor: $20 | GitHub Copilot: $10 or free with GitHub Pro
Cursor: 50+ | GitHub Copilot: 80+ languages
Cursor: VS Code-based only | GitHub Copilot: 10+ IDEs
Cursor: 5-10 minutes | GitHub Copilot: 2-3 minutes
Cursor: Excellent | GitHub Copilot: Good
Cursor: Native & Superior | GitHub Copilot: Good
Cursor: Growing | GitHub Copilot: Very Large
Cursor: 7 days | GitHub Copilot: 30 days
Cursor: 2 model choices | GitHub Copilot: 3+ model choices
Cursor: Not publicly disclosed | GitHub Copilot: N/A
Cursor: Not disclosed | GitHub Copilot: N/A
Cursor: Significant but undisclosed | GitHub Copilot: N/A
Cursor: Enterprise-grade | GitHub Copilot: N/A
Cursor: VS Code fork | GitHub Copilot: N/A
Cursor: Baseline (1.0x) | GitHub Copilot: N/A
Cursor: <5 minutes | GitHub Copilot: N/A
Cursor: Proprietary Commercial | GitHub Copilot: N/A
Cursor: Cursor Pro $20/mo | GitHub Copilot: Copilot Pro $10/mo
Cursor: Business $40/user/mo | GitHub Copilot: Business $19/user/mo (Enterprise $39)
Cursor: Standalone editor — a fork of VS Code (install Cursor itself) | GitHub Copilot: Plugin/extension installed into your existing IDE
Cursor: Anthropic Claude, OpenAI GPT, Google Gemini, plus Cursor fast models (per-request switching) | GitHub Copilot: Anthropic Claude, OpenAI GPT, Google Gemini (model picker in chat/agent)
Cursor: Composer (Agent) plan-execute-verify loop across many files; runs commands and tests | GitHub Copilot: Agent mode + Copilot Workspace + coding agent (issue-to-PR); strong but tighter loop trails Cursor
Cursor: Whole-repo semantic embeddings with automatic relevant-file retrieval; built for monorepos | GitHub Copilot: Repository context, @workspace search, and Enterprise knowledge bases; less aggressive auto-indexing
Cursor: Very fast predictive Tab completions that jump to the next edit location | GitHub Copilot: Very fast, low-latency completions; category pioneer and still excellent inline
Cursor: SSO, privacy mode (no retention/training), admin controls, SOC 2 | GitHub Copilot: Org policy management, SSO, audit logs, content exclusion, data residency, IP indemnification
Cursor: Graphical IDE (VS Code fork) | GitHub Copilot: N/A
Cursor: Interactive in-editor coding | GitHub Copilot: N/A
Cursor: ~$20/mo (Pro) | GitHub Copilot: N/A
Cursor: Flat plan with request quota + usage add-ons | GitHub Copilot: N/A
Cursor: Monthly fast-request quota | GitHub Copilot: N/A
Cursor: Multi-model (Claude, GPT, Gemini, etc.) | GitHub Copilot: N/A
Cursor: Not designed for it | GitHub Copilot: N/A
Cursor: Workspace indexing + @-mentions | GitHub Copilot: N/A
Cursor: Low (VS Code familiarity) | GitHub Copilot: Minimal (extension)
Cursor: Interactive feature building & quick edits | GitHub Copilot: N/A
Cursor: Yes — free Hobby tier plus a 2-week Pro trial | GitHub Copilot: Free tier with limited completions/chat, plus free for verified students, teachers, and OSS maintainers
Cursor: Agent (formerly Composer) | GitHub Copilot: N/A
Cursor: Cursor Tab model | GitHub Copilot: N/A
Cursor: Claude, GPT, Gemini families (frequent day-one additions) | GitHub Copilot: N/A
Cursor: Mature enterprise tier with SSO + privacy mode | GitHub Copilot: N/A
Cursor: macOS, Windows, Linux | GitHub Copilot: N/A
Cursor: Largest AI-IDE community and mindshare | GitHub Copilot: N/A
Cursor: 128,000 tokens | GitHub Copilot: 128,000 tokens
Cursor: 2 (slow) | GitHub Copilot: Unlimited completions
Cursor: 0 (paid tier required) | GitHub Copilot: 50
Cursor: Cursor only | GitHub Copilot: VS Code, JetBrains, Neovim, Visual Studio, Sublime
Cursor: Claude 3.5 Sonnet (Superior) | GitHub Copilot: Copilot (GPT-based, Good)
Cursor: Native @-indexing across entire codebase | GitHub Copilot: Limited to current + adjacent files
Cursor: 1200-1500ms | GitHub Copilot: N/A
Cursor: ~15,000 (via VS Code) | GitHub Copilot: Integration with VS Code
Cursor: Native Claude integration | GitHub Copilot: N/A
Cursor: Code sent to Anthropic servers | GitHub Copilot: N/A
Cursor: Native support | GitHub Copilot: N/A
Cursor: 50-200ms (Tab autocomplete) | GitHub Copilot: 150-250ms per suggestion
Cursor: Desktop (Mac, Windows, Linux) | GitHub Copilot: N/A
Cursor: Claude 3.5 Sonnet, GPT-4, Others | GitHub Copilot: N/A
Cursor: ~500K (estimated based on download trends) | GitHub Copilot: N/A
Cursor: Entire projects (no hard limit) | GitHub Copilot: N/A
Cursor: 1.5 years (launched Oct 2024) | GitHub Copilot: 4+ years (2021)
Cursor: 200,000 (Claude 3.5 Sonnet) | GitHub Copilot: N/A
Cursor: ~50 (via Claude AI) | GitHub Copilot: N/A
Cursor: Limited (chat requires internet) | GitHub Copilot: N/A
Cursor: 50 premium requests | GitHub Copilot: N/A
Cursor: 70,000+ (VS Code) | GitHub Copilot: N/A
Cursor: 4+ (Claude, GPT-4, local) | GitHub Copilot: N/A
Cursor: Electron (VS Code fork) | GitHub Copilot: N/A
Cursor: 200KB (Claude) | GitHub Copilot: 8,000 tokens
Cursor: 50 (trial) | GitHub Copilot: N/A
Cursor: 1 IDE only | GitHub Copilot: 20+ IDEs
Primary AI Model Quality (MMBENCH score)
Cursor: 88 (Claude 3.5) | GitHub Copilot: N/A
Cursor: 1-2 steps (download IDE) | GitHub Copilot: 2–5 min (GitHub sign-in)
Cursor: 4 major models (Claude, GPT-4o, Gemini, local) | GitHub Copilot: GitHub Copilot (proprietary, Codex-based)
Cursor: 1 (Cursor only) | GitHub Copilot: N/A
Cursor: 8000-16000 | GitHub Copilot: N/A
Cursor: No (proprietary) | GitHub Copilot: N/A
Cursor: 1 (Cursor IDE only) | GitHub Copilot: N/A
Cursor: 14-day free trial | GitHub Copilot: 30-day trial only
Cursor: 200,000 tokens | GitHub Copilot: N/A
Cursor: No (via extensions only) | GitHub Copilot: N/A
Cursor: 40,000+ (VS Code marketplace) | GitHub Copilot: N/A
Cursor: 5-10 minutes | GitHub Copilot: N/A
Cursor: Limited (basic) | GitHub Copilot: N/A
Cursor: 200,000 tokens | GitHub Copilot: 8,000 tokens (~6,000 words)
Cursor: Code, text, file references | GitHub Copilot: N/A
Cursor: Native VS Code-based editor | GitHub Copilot: N/A
Cursor: 1–3 seconds (avg inline suggestion) | GitHub Copilot: N/A
Cursor: Automatic full-project indexing | GitHub Copilot: N/A
Cursor: No native mobile app | GitHub Copilot: N/A
Cursor: Varies by plan (Pro tier higher) | GitHub Copilot: N/A
Cursor: 200,000 tokens | GitHub Copilot: 8,000
Cursor: 60-120 minutes | GitHub Copilot: N/A
Cursor: ~500KB+ codebase context | GitHub Copilot: N/A
Cursor: Claude 3.5 Sonnet + GPT-4 | GitHub Copilot: N/A
Cursor: Full native support | GitHub Copilot: N/A
Cursor: 5/10 (new IDE) | GitHub Copilot: N/A
Cursor: $20/month | GitHub Copilot: $20/month
Cursor: Unlimited | GitHub Copilot: 100 chat prompts
Cursor: 1 (VS Code) | GitHub Copilot: 4+ (VS Code, JetBrains, Visual Studio, Neovim)
Cursor: 7-10 minutes | GitHub Copilot: 2-3 minutes
Cursor: 4 (Claude, GPT-4o, Gemini, local) | GitHub Copilot: 1-2 (GPT-4o primary)
Cursor: 14 days | GitHub Copilot: 2 days for new accounts
Cursor: Yes, full project indexing | GitHub Copilot: No, single-file awareness
Cursor: N/A | GitHub Copilot: 5 major IDEs
Cursor: N/A | GitHub Copilot: Not available
Cursor: N/A | GitHub Copilot: October 2023 (~27 months old)
Cursor: N/A | GitHub Copilot: ~1,200,000
Cursor: N/A | GitHub Copilot: Yes (OpenAI servers)
Cursor: N/A | GitHub Copilot: Deep (PR, commits, issues)
Cursor: N/A | GitHub Copilot: 180 code completions
Cursor: N/A | GitHub Copilot: 15+ editors (VS Code, JetBrains, Vim, Neovim, etc.)
Cursor: N/A | GitHub Copilot: Suggestion-based only, no autonomous execution
Cursor: N/A | GitHub Copilot: OpenAI GPT-4 / Anthropic Claude
Cursor: N/A | GitHub Copilot: ~1200ms average completion
Cursor: N/A | GitHub Copilot: $10/month individual, $19/month business
Cursor: N/A | GitHub Copilot: ~5-10 visible files in editor
Cursor: N/A | GitHub Copilot: 5+ (VS Code, JetBrains, Visual Studio, Vim, Neovim)
Cursor: N/A | GitHub Copilot: No—suggestions only, manual edit required
Cursor: N/A | GitHub Copilot: 1 (IDE-native, like autocomplete)
Cursor: N/A | GitHub Copilot: No (cloud-only)
Average Response Time for Code Suggestion
Cursor: N/A | GitHub Copilot: 0.5-1 (inline suggestion)
Cursor: N/A | GitHub Copilot: Native PR reviews, CLI, GitHub.dev, Copilot X
Cursor: N/A | GitHub Copilot: Data exclusion available (enterprise only)
Cursor: N/A | GitHub Copilot: $120 (monthly) or $100 (annual with 17% discount)
Cursor: N/A | GitHub Copilot: Up to 150 lines
Cursor: N/A | GitHub Copilot: April 2024
Cursor: N/A | GitHub Copilot: ~15 MB extension
Cursor: N/A | GitHub Copilot: 27% of developers
Cursor: N/A | GitHub Copilot: 2-5 seconds per suggestion
Cursor: N/A | GitHub Copilot: 5 IDE integrations
Cursor: N/A | GitHub Copilot: 20-40% faster on routine tasks
Cursor: N/A | GitHub Copilot: Yes (GitHub Copilot Free)
Cursor: N/A | GitHub Copilot: 2 (GPT-4, Claude)
Cursor: N/A | GitHub Copilot: 4 major (VS Code, Visual Studio, GitHub.com, JetBrains Beta)
Cursor: N/A | GitHub Copilot: 1.5+ million (GitHub official, 2024)
Cursor: N/A | GitHub Copilot: Yes (GitHub Enterprise available)
Cursor: N/A | GitHub Copilot: Mandatory (cloud-based)
Cursor: N/A | GitHub Copilot: 27 million
Cursor: N/A | GitHub Copilot: Plugin only (requires VS Code/JetBrains)
Cursor: N/A | GitHub Copilot: Limited to referenced files
Cursor: N/A | GitHub Copilot: 5+ (VS Code, JetBrains suite, GitHub.com, etc.)
Cursor: N/A | GitHub Copilot: 10+ (VS Code, JetBrains, Visual Studio, Neovim, etc.)
Cursor: N/A | GitHub Copilot: GPT-4o / o1 (OpenAI)
Cursor: N/A | GitHub Copilot: 8+ (VS Code, JetBrains Suite, Vim, Visual Studio, etc.)
Cursor: N/A | GitHub Copilot: 72% correct on HumanEval benchmark
Cursor: N/A | GitHub Copilot: 2-5 seconds (in-editor, no switching)
Cursor: N/A | GitHub Copilot: Code may be retained (opt-out available)
Cursor: N/A | GitHub Copilot: Limited (logs code references)
Cursor: N/A | GitHub Copilot: Limited (generic suggestions)
Cursor: N/A | GitHub Copilot: $100/year or $120 with GitHub Pro
Cursor: N/A | GitHub Copilot: Cloud-only
Cursor: N/A | GitHub Copilot: 2,000 completions
Cursor: N/A | GitHub Copilot: 340ms average
Cursor: N/A | GitHub Copilot: Cloud (GitHub servers)
Cursor: N/A | GitHub Copilot: 250,000,000
Cursor: N/A | GitHub Copilot: $10 (Pro) or $0 (Limited)
Cursor: N/A | GitHub Copilot: 0.5 minutes
Cursor: N/A | GitHub Copilot: 90+ languages
Cursor: N/A | GitHub Copilot: 50-100ms per suggestion
Cursor: N/A | GitHub Copilot: Fixed $10 (Copilot Individual) or $19 (Copilot Pro)
Cursor: N/A | GitHub Copilot: Single file at a time
Cursor: N/A | GitHub Copilot: None: requires manual git commands outside Copilot
Cursor: N/A | GitHub Copilot: No: GitHub Copilot model is fixed and proprietary
Cursor: N/A | GitHub Copilot: ~8,000 (estimated Copilot context)
Cursor: N/A | GitHub Copilot: SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001
Cursor: N/A | GitHub Copilot: Available in all tiers
How to choose between Cursor and GitHub Copilot
Cursor vs Copilot — Structured Comparison Data
Machine-readable comparison dataset for Cursor vs Copilot. Contains 234 attribute comparisons, 5 FAQ pairs.
Cursor vs Copilot — Attribute Category Vocabulary
Taxonomy of attribute categories used to classify comparison data for Cursor vs Copilot.
Can I use Cursor with my existing VS Code settings and extensions?
Yes. Cursor is built on the same VS Code foundation and automatically imports your settings, keybindings, and extensions on first launch. However, some extensions may need to be reinstalled through Cursor's marketplace. Your VS Code theme and font preferences transfer directly.
Is Copilot cheaper than Cursor for heavy AI usage?
No. Cursor's $20/month Pro plan offers unlimited AI requests, while GitHub Copilot Pro's $20/month plan is capped at 100 chat prompts per month. For developers making 20+ AI requests daily, Cursor is significantly more cost-effective. Copilot's pay-as-you-go model is only cheaper for very light usage (<5 requests/month).
Which tool has better code completion accuracy?
Both use similar underlying models (Claude 3.5 Sonnet or GPT-4o), but Cursor's codebase indexing gives it contextual advantages for larger projects. Cursor's full project understanding enables better refactoring and multi-file edits. Copilot excels at quick line-level completions. For complex tasks, Cursor's context-aware suggestions are typically 15-25% more accurate based on developer surveys.
Can I use Cursor with JetBrains IDEs like IntelliJ?
No. Cursor is exclusively built on VS Code and cannot run in JetBrains IDEs. If you require JetBrains (PyCharm, IntelliJ, WebStorm), you must use GitHub Copilot instead. Cursor's JetBrains support is not on the development roadmap as of 2026.
What's the learning curve difference between these tools?
Both have shallow learning curves if you know VS Code or your current IDE. Cursor requires learning new keyboard shortcuts (Cmd+K for inline editing, Cmd+Shift+L for chat), but these are intuitive once memorized. Copilot's integration is more passive—completions appear automatically. Cursor demands more intentional interaction but provides more power as a result.
How to Choose Between Cursor and GitHub Copilot
Architecture: Cursor has Standalone IDE (VS Code fork), while GitHub Copilot has Editor plugin/extension.
Integration Scope: Cursor has AI deeply integrated into all IDE features, while GitHub Copilot has AI completion overlay on existing editors.
Editor Compatibility: Cursor has VS Code only, while GitHub Copilot has VS Code, JetBrains, Neovim, Visual Studio.
Setup Time: Cursor has 5-10 minutes (download and configure), while GitHub Copilot has 2-5 minutes (install extension).
AI Models Available: Cursor has Claude 3.5 Sonnet, GPT-4o, Gemini, local models, while GitHub Copilot has GPT-4o, Claude 3.5 Sonnet (via API).
Consider: Cost for Individual Developers
Cost for Individual Developers: Cursor has $20/month Pro plan (unlimited requests), while GitHub Copilot has $20/month (100 prompts/month) or pay-as-you-go.
Context Window for Code: Cursor has Up to 128k tokens with file indexing, while GitHub Copilot has Up to 128k tokens (model dependent).