Cursor alternatives
The best alternatives to Cursor are Windsurf (Devin Desktop), Claude Code and GitHub Copilot. Each one fits a different need, summarised below with its starting price and free plan.
Updated on
Comparison table
| Tool | Starting price | Free plan | Best for | Price checked | Link |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Windsurf (Devin Desktop) | $20/month (Pro) | Yes | Developers who want simple flat tiers and unlimited Tab completions on the free plan | Official site | |
| Claude Code | $20/month (Claude Pro) | No | Developers who prefer an agent in the terminal that works with their existing editor and CLI tools | Official site | |
| GitHub Copilot | $10/month (Pro) | Yes | Developers who want the cheapest paid plan with unlimited inline suggestions | Official site | |
| Cursor | $8/month (Plus) | Yes | Developers who want an AI-first editor with many usage tiers | Official site |
When to pick each alternative
Windsurf (Devin Desktop)
Use it if you want an AI IDE with three clear individual plans (Free, $20 Pro, $200 Max) and a free tier with unlimited Tab completions; note that the product is now called Devin Desktop.
Claude Code
Use it if you want an agent that works from your terminal alongside the editor and tools you already use, and you are happy to pay for a Claude subscription of $20/month or more.
GitHub Copilot
Use it if you already live in GitHub and want a low-cost assistant: the Free plan covers 2,000 inline suggestions a month and Pro costs $10/month.
Why look beyond Cursor?
- The $8 Plus plan only offers Grok models
- Third-party model usage is billed separately, on top of the plan price
- Plans bundle Grok and X features that are unrelated to coding
- Usage is expressed as multiples of Plus rather than as fixed request counts
Back to Cursor pricing and details
Sources
Every price and plan detail on this page comes from these official pages.
- Windsurf (Devin Desktop): https://devin.ai/pricing (checked )
- Windsurf (Devin Desktop): https://devin.ai/desktop (checked )
- Claude Code: https://claude.com/pricing (checked )
- Claude Code: https://claude.com/product/claude-code (checked )
- GitHub Copilot: https://github.com/features/copilot/plans (checked )
- Cursor: https://cursor.com/pricing (checked )