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Comparison · AI coding
Best AI coding tool in 2026: Cursor vs Copilot vs Claude Code vs Codex vs Devin Desktop (formerly Windsurf) vs OpenCode
The biggest pricing shift this year: Cursor is now sold inside The X Subscription, and models from other labs (like Claude or GPT) are no longer bundled. You pay for them by usage, at API list prices. Here's what that means next to the alternatives, using only prices we verified on official pages.
No affiliate links on this page (disclosure). No hands-on test scores yet.
TL;DR
- Cheapest paid entry: Codex via ChatGPT Go and Cursor Plus, both $8/mo. Cursor Plus only includes Grok models.
- Cheapest mainstream IDE assistant: GitHub Copilot Pro at $10/mo.
- $20 tier: Claude Pro (Claude Code), and ChatGPT Plus (Codex), both $20/mo. Devin Desktop Pro: check current price (the official pricing page wasn't loading on 2026-10-14).
- Best for model freedom on a budget: OpenCode. The agent is open source, and the paid Go plans start at $10/mo.
- Cursor Premium ($30/mo) bundles SuperGrok, Cursor and X Premium+. That's good value if you use Grok, but other labs' models cost extra.
The price-change email
The price changes that matter, and nothing else.
Plans and prices side by side
| Tool | Free plan | Cheapest paid | All verified plans | Usage limits | Status | Official site |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cursor | Yes | $8/mo | Free: $0 Plus: $8/mo Premium: $30/mo Super: $100/mo Ultra: $200/mo Teams: $30/user/mo | Free: limited agent and chat requests. Free: Starter coding-agent allowance Plus: Grok models only; shared usage pool Premium: 4x Plus usage; third-party models at API list price, billed separately Super: 15x Plus usage Ultra: 50x Plus usage Teams: Starting price; 4–50x Plus usage | Verified | See plans ↗ |
| GitHub Copilot | Yes | $10/mo | Free: $0 Pro: $10/mo Pro+: $39/mo Max: $100/mo | Free: Free plan; 2,000 completions + 50 chat requests/mo Pro: $15/mo AI credit allowance (1 credit = $0.01), unlimited completions, resets monthly Pro+: $70/mo AI credit allowance (1 credit = $0.01), unlimited completions, resets monthly Max: $200/mo AI credit allowance (1 credit = $0.01), unlimited completions, resets monthly | Verified | See plans ↗ |
| Claude Code | Yes | $20/mo | Free: $0 Pro: $20/mo Max: $100/mo Team Standard seat: $25/seat/mo Team Premium seat: $125/seat/mo | Free: Free plan; usage limits reset every 5 hours, up to 5 Projects Pro: $17/mo billed annually ($200/yr); at least 5x Free usage per session; limits reset every 5h plus weekly limit; chat and Claude Code share one pool Max: From $100/mo; Max 20x $200/mo; 5x or 20x Pro usage; 5x tier includes $100/mo API credits, 20x tier $200/mo Team Premium seat: $100 billed annually; 5x Standard seat usage | Verified | See plans ↗ |
| OpenAI Codex | Yes | $8/mo | Free: $0 Go: $8/mo Plus: $20/mo Pro: $100/mo | Plus: Web, CLI, IDE, iOS; code review integrations; OpenAI estimates 15–160 local messages per 5h (GPT-6.1 Sol) or 350–3,000 (GPT-6 Luna); weekly limits may apply Pro: From $100; $200 or $500 tiers; no 5-hour usage limit currently | Verified | See plans ↗ |
| Devin Desktop (formerly Windsurf) | — | Check current price | Free: Check current price Pro: Check current price Max: Check current price Teams: Check current price | Teams: Per-seat price: check current price | Unverified | See plans ↗ |
| OpenCode | — | $10/mo | Go: $10/mo Go Plus: $40/mo | Free: Some models free for a limited time. Bring-your-own-key use not verified from this page. Go: Lower-cost access to listed open models Go Plus: Higher usage limits | Partly verified | See plans ↗ |
USD list prices, billed monthly unless noted, from each vendor's official page on 2026-10-14. Usage limits differ a lot between plans and aren't comparable one to one.
The big change: Cursor joins The X Subscription
According to xAI's announcement (Oct 12, 2026) and Cursor's pricing page:
- Tiers are now Free, Plus $8, Premium $30, Super $100 and Ultra $200, with 4x, 15x and 50x the Plus usage. Teams start at $30 per user per month, with 4–50x Plus usage.
- Paid plans share one pool of Grok model usage across Grok, the Grok tab on X, and Cursor. xAI says each tier includes at least twice the coding usage with its models compared with the old Cursor plan.
- Plus is Grok-only. On Premium and up, models from other labs are available but billed separately at API list prices through top-ups.
- Existing Cursor subscribers can keep their current plan, or switch and get a prorated refund.
What it means for you: if you mostly code with Grok, Premium at $30 is a lot of value, since it replaces plans that xAI says used to cost $90 combined. If you mainly code with Claude or GPT models inside Cursor, budget extra for usage-based billing. Or compare it with getting those models straight from Claude Pro or ChatGPT Plus at $20, where Claude Code or Codex is included.
Tool by tool
GitHub Copilot
Free, Pro $10, Pro+ $39 and Max $100 per month. It's the lowest-priced paid plan from a major IDE assistant, and it's built into GitHub. Full pricing.
Claude Code
It's not sold separately. It comes with Claude Pro ($20/mo, or $17/mo billed annually) and Max (from $100/mo), and it shares one usage pool with Claude chat. On paid plans you can keep working past your limits by paying standard API rates. Full pricing.
OpenAI Codex
It comes with ChatGPT plans: Free, Go $8, Plus $20, and Pro from $100 (with $200 and $500 tiers). Plus adds the web, CLI, IDE and code-review integrations. Full pricing.
Devin Desktop (formerly Windsurf)
Plans are Free, Pro, Max and Teams. Prices: check current price. The official pricing page wasn't loading on 2026-10-14, so we aren't showing numbers until we can confirm them. SWE-2, Cognition's own coding model, is free on self-serve plans only through October 15, 2026. After that it costs $3.00 per million input tokens and $15.00 per million output tokens (models docs). Full pricing.
OpenCode
An open-source coding agent. Its optional Go plans are $10/mo and $40/mo (Go Plus) for lower-cost access to listed open models, and some models are free for a limited time. We haven't yet confirmed free bring-your-own-key use on the official page. Full pricing.
Who should pick what
These picks are based on price and plan structure only, not on output quality. Quality verdicts come after our tests.
Tight budget, want an IDE assistant
GitHub Copilot Pro ($10). It's the cheapest mainstream paid plan, or start with its Free tier.
You already pay for ChatGPT or Claude
Use Codex or Claude Code, which are already in your $20 plan, before adding another subscription.
You use Grok, X, and an editor every day
Cursor Premium ($30) bundles all three. Plus ($8) works if Grok-only is fine for you.
You want Claude or GPT inside Cursor
Cursor Premium plus pay-per-use top-ups. Compare that total with a $20 Claude or ChatGPT plan before you commit.
Heavy, all-day agent use
Compare the top tiers: Claude Max (from $100), ChatGPT Pro ($100–$500), Copilot Max ($100), Cursor Super or Ultra ($100/$200), and Devin Max (check current price; the official pricing page wasn't loading on 2026-10-14).
You want open source and control over models
OpenCode. Use the free models or a Go plan from $10.
Hands-on tests: coming
Not run yet. We'll run the same three coding tasks on every tool (a bug fix, a feature in an existing repo, and a refactor), publish the raw outputs, and score them with our test rubric. Until then this page compares price and plans only. We won't claim any tool is "better" at coding until we've tested it.
FAQ
- What is the cheapest paid AI coding tool in 2026?
- Codex via ChatGPT Go and Cursor Plus are both $8/mo, but Cursor Plus only includes Grok models. GitHub Copilot Pro at $10/mo is the cheapest mainstream IDE assistant.
- Is Claude Code sold separately?
- No. Claude Code comes with Claude Pro ($20/mo, or $17/mo billed annually) and Max (from $100/mo), and shares one usage pool with Claude chat.
- Can I use Claude or GPT models in Cursor now?
- On Premium ($30) and up, models from other labs are available but billed separately at API list prices through top-ups. Plus ($8) is Grok-only.
- Which AI coding tool writes the best code?
- We have not run hands-on tests yet, so this page compares price and plans only. We will not claim any tool is better at coding until we have tested it.
See every tool we track in the work-tools pricing tracker, and how we check prices on How we work.
Sources
- Cursor: https://cursor.com/pricing · https://x.ai/news/x-subscription (checked 2026-10-14)
- GitHub Copilot: https://github.com/features/copilot/plans (checked 2026-10-14)
- Claude Code: https://claude.com/pricing · https://support.claude.com/en/articles/11049741-what-is-the-max-plan · https://support.claude.com/en/articles/9266767-what-is-the-team-plan (checked 2026-10-14)
- OpenAI Codex: https://developers.openai.com/codex/pricing (checked 2026-10-14)
- Devin Desktop (formerly Windsurf): https://devin.ai/pricing (page not loading as of 2026-10-14)
- OpenCode: https://opencode.ai/docs/go (checked 2026-10-14)
- Devin Desktop models docs: https://docs.devin.ai/desktop/models (checked 2026-10-14)