Affiliate disclosure: the optional GLM Coding Plan link below is sponsored; we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
What changed in editor billing?
The current Cursor pricing page shows Free, Plus, Premium, Super and Ultra individual plans. It describes an AI usage pool shared across Cursor and Grok that refreshes weekly. Plus supports Grok models only; Premium and higher support third-party models billed separately at API list price, without an included third-party allowance.
Paid plans also list Grok API access, but that API usage is billed separately and does not consume the subscription pool. Do not interpret access as free developer usage. The page excludes applicable taxes.
The current GitHub Copilot plans show Free, Pro, Pro+ and Max individual tiers. Paid plans distinguish base GitHub AI Credits from a variable Flex allotment. Flex amounts may change. Additional AI Credits can be purchased; models and consumption vary by feature.
The structured tables preserve these distinctions. Microsoft’s consumer Copilot subscription is a different product, and GitHub organization plans are a separate procurement decision.
When to choose each product
| Your workflow | First product to trial | What to measure |
|---|---|---|
| AI-first editor and shared Cursor/Grok work | Cursor | Pool exhaustion and separately billed third-party usage |
| Existing supported IDE and GitHub workflow | GitHub Copilot | Credit consumption across chat, agents and reviews |
| Sustained agent work | Both, on the same repository issues | Accepted changes, reviews, retries and total paid usage |
| Organization procurement | Dedicated team or organization plans | Seat controls, data terms, pooled usage and spend policies |
These are trial criteria, not a claim that either product always writes better code. Record prompting, waiting, review and repair time. A cheap seat is poor value when patch repair consumes the savings.
For a team, run a comparable pilot before annual commitments. Do not assume the individual plans in this article supply organization controls or organization-wide pooled credits.
Keep API costs separate
The API chart and calculator use exact catalog models as independent workload examples. They are not a claim that the named models are included in either subscription. Legacy models have been removed from this article’s API shortlist, not silently substituted as editor entitlements.
For 10 million uncached input tokens and 4 million output tokens each month, baseline token cost is 10 × input rate + 4 × output rate. Then add cache writes, tools, retries, service modes and review time. Do not equate API rates with a Copilot credit conversion or a Cursor pool allowance.
Read OpenAI pricing, Anthropic pricing, the token calculator and our coding-agent overhead guide.
For a separately supported coding integration, consider the GLM Coding Plan. Verify its exact integrations and limits; it is neither a Cursor nor a GitHub Copilot subscription.
FAQ
Is Cursor more expensive than GitHub Copilot?
Compare the relevant monthly fee and additional usage in the plan tables. Their usage pools and AI-credit systems are not equivalent, so the headline fee alone does not determine total cost.
Does Cursor include third-party model usage?
The current source says Premium and above make third-party models available at API list price, billed separately without an included allowance. Plus supports Grok models only.
Are Copilot Flex credits guaranteed permanently?
No. GitHub explicitly describes Flex as a variable additional allotment that may change over time.
Does an editor seat cover my application’s API calls?
Do not assume it does. Cursor explicitly separates Grok API billing, and application APIs should be budgeted from their own current terms.