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Best AI Coding Assistant: Cursor vs Copilot vs Claude Code Compared

Compare the 8 mainstream AI coding assistants side by side — plan price, free tier, models, IDE support, agent mode and self-host. Set your budget, IDE and team size and the tool returns the best-fitting product. Prices in USD, sources cited, no signup.

By Induwara AshinsanaUpdated Jun 20, 2026
Find your AI coding assistant8 assistants compared
Verified Jun 2026
Monthly budget
Primary IDE
Team size
Top picks for your filters
#1Free

Cursor

Hobby · Anysphere

  • Free tier
  • 5 models
#2Free

GitHub Copilot

Free · GitHub / Microsoft

  • Free tier
  • 5 models
#3Free

JetBrains AI Assistant

AI Free · JetBrains

  • Free tier
  • 4 models

Cursor is the best fit — free on its Hobby plan, and the cheapest option that clears every filter you set.

Cheapest paid entry
$10.00
per month, individual plan
Most expensive plan
$200.00
per month, flagship tier
Have a free tier
6 of 8
2 offer self-host / air-gap

Full comparison

AssistantFreeCheapest paidTeam / seatModelsIDEsAgentSelf-host
$10.00Pro$19.00Business5 incl. GPT-5.xVS Code, JetBrains
$10.00AI Pro—4 incl. GPT-5.xJetBrains
$20.00Pro$30.00Team Standard3 incl. Claude Opus 4.xVS Code, JetBrains
$20.00Pro$40.00Teams5 incl. GPT-5.xStandalone
$20.00Pro$40.00Teams4 incl. SWE-1.6Standalone, VS Code, JetBrains
—$19.00Pro2 incl. Anthropic Claude (latest)VS Code, JetBrains
—$10.00Teams3 incl. Any model (bring your own key)VS Code, JetBrains
—$39.00Code Assistant4 incl. Tabnine ProtectedVS Code, JetBrains

Self-host = on-prem / air-gapped optionIDE families: VS Code · JetBrains · Standalone editor

Paying from Sri Lanka

Every vendor bills in US dollars. On an LKR card you usually pay an extra ~18% in foreign-transaction and conversion add-ons, so a $20/mo plan lands closer to the rupee equivalent of ~$23.60. Use the currency converter for today's rate before you subscribe.

Every price and capability flag is cited to the vendor's official pricing page — hover any assistant name in the table for its source, or see the full source list below the tool. Figures last verified June 20, 2026.

How it works

This is a transparent lookup and rule-based recommender, not an opinion poll. Each of the 8assistants is stored as a typed record — its plans (price in USD and whether billed per seat), the models it can drive, the IDE families it runs in, and boolean flags for agent mode and self-host. Every figure is cited inline to the vendor's own pricing page and was verified on June 20, 2026.

When you set the filters, the recommender runs four deterministic steps in order:

  1. Agent gate. If you require an autonomous agent mode, any assistant without one is dropped. Every mainstream assistant here ships an agent mode today, so this gate mainly confirms your pick qualifies rather than narrowing the field.
  2. IDE filter.An assistant survives only if it runs in the editor you chose, or if you left the IDE on “Any”. Picking a standalone editor, for example, keeps only Cursor and Windsurf, which ship their own editors.
  3. Budget and team filter.For each survivor the tool finds the cheapest plan that clears your budget cap, drawn from individual plans (Just me), per-seat plans (11+) or both (2–10). The comparison is inclusive — a $20 plan is kept at a $20 ceiling. An assistant with no qualifying plan is removed; choosing “Free only” with an 11+ team returns nothing, because per-seat team plans are never free.
  4. Rank the survivors. Sorted by the cheapest qualifying price ascending, then by how many models the assistant supports, then alphabetically — a total order, so identical filters always return the same three picks. A second, independent scoring pass re-derives the same ranking as a built-in cross-check.

The full table below always shows every assistant regardless of your filters, so you can sort by cheapest paid plan, name, free tier or agent mode and read the trade-offs yourself. Prices are shown in US dollars because every vendor bills in USD; from a Sri Lankan card expect roughly 18% on top in foreign-transaction and conversion add-ons, and use the currency converter for the day's rate. This tool compares products and plans; for a forecast of metered API spend, use the cost calculator.

Worked examples

Budget student — free, in VS Code

  1. Filters: budget Free only · IDE VS Code · team Just me · agent off.
  2. Free-only keeps assistants with a $0 individual plan AND VS Code support.
  3. Survivors: GitHub Copilot (5 models), Windsurf (4), Continue (3), Amazon Q (2) — all $0.
  4. Dropped: Cursor (standalone, no VS Code), JetBrains AI (JetBrains-only), Claude Code & Tabnine (no free tier).
  5. Rank by model count → Top 3: GitHub Copilot, Windsurf, Continue.

Freelancer — agent mode under $20

  1. Filters: budget ≤ $20 · IDE Any · team Just me · agent on.
  2. Every assistant offers an agent mode, so the agent gate drops none.
  3. Cheapest qualifying individual plan ≤ $20: six free tiers at $0; Claude Code at $20; Tabnine has no individual plan.
  4. Six tie at $0 → rank by models then name: Cursor (5), GitHub Copilot (5), JetBrains AI (4).
  5. Top 3: Cursor, GitHub Copilot, JetBrains AI — the $20 ceiling never binds; the cheapest agent-capable picks are free.

Edge case — 11+ team, JetBrains, ≤ $40/seat

  1. Filters: budget ≤ $40 · IDE JetBrains · team 11+ · agent on.
  2. Only per-seat plans ≤ $40 with JetBrains support survive.
  3. Survivors: Continue $10, Copilot Business $19, Amazon Q $19, Claude Code Team $30, Tabnine $39, Windsurf $40.
  4. Dropped: Cursor (standalone, no JetBrains), JetBrains AI (no fixed per-seat plan — Enterprise is custom).
  5. Rank by price (ties by models): Top 3 → Continue ($10/seat), GitHub Copilot ($19/seat), Amazon Q ($19/seat).

Frequently asked questions

Sources & references

Plan prices and capability flags were last verified against the official pages on June 20, 2026. Vendors change coding-assistant plans frequently — if you spot a figure that has moved, email me and I'll update it.

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Comments & feedback

Spotted a bug or want an improvement? Tell us — our team reviews every comment, and good ideas get built. Comments are public and anonymous.

Found a plan price that has changed, or want another assistant added?

Email me at [email protected] — most fixes ship within 24 hours.