Claude Pro vs ChatGPT Plus vs Cursor Pro vs Copilot Pro
The four seats that cover most of this market. Three cost $20 and one costs $10 — and the meters have almost nothing in common.
Updated August 28, 2026 · Independent comparison — Claude Pro, ChatGPT Plus, Cursor Pro, GitHub Copilot Pro are separate products.
Claude Pro
Anthropic's $20 seat, Claude Code included
Claude Pro is Anthropic's $20/month seat ($200/year, about $17/month) and it includes Claude Code. Usage runs on a rolling 5-hour session window stacked on a weekly cap, and — critically — chat, desktop, mobile and Claude Code all draw from the same pool, so a long conversation eats your coding budget. Anthropic does not publish numeric limits. Claude Fable 5 is not in the included weekly pool on Pro; it bills through usage credits at API rates instead. The product context window on individual plans is 200K.
ChatGPT Plus
OpenAI's $20 seat, Codex included
ChatGPT Plus is OpenAI's $20/month seat and the entry point for real Codex work — web, CLI, IDE and iOS — plus GPT-5.6 Sol, Terra and Luna. Its limit structure moved twice this year: OpenAI removed the 5-hour window on 2026-07-12 during a Sol traffic spike, then restored it for Plus on 2026-08-25, so Plus is once again capped on a 5-hour window stacked on a weekly one. Past either window you wait, or buy extra Codex credits on the token-based rate card. There is no annual billing.
Cursor Pro
The $20 AI IDE seat
Cursor Pro is $20/month and buys two separate monthly pools: a generous one for Cursor's own models (Composer 2.5, Grok 4.6 and 4.5) and a smaller one for third-party Claude, GPT, Gemini, GLM and Kimi models metered at API list rates. Unused pool does not roll over. The defining behaviour is what happens at the ceiling: instead of stopping, Cursor offers on-demand usage billed in arrears at the same rates, and it never silently degrades your model. Yearly billing exists but Cursor does not publish the rate on its help table.
GitHub Copilot Pro
$10/month, 1,500 AI credits
GitHub Copilot Pro is $10/month and moved to usage-based GitHub AI Credits on 2026-06-01, where one credit equals one cent. You get 1,000 base plus 500 flex credits — $15 of value — while code completions and next-edit suggestions stay unlimited. Credits are forfeited monthly and reset at 00:00 UTC on the first of the calendar month, not your billing date. Notably, Pro includes GitHub-hosted access to third-party agents (Claude Code and Codex) billed against those same credits.
Bottom line
Three of these cost $20 and Copilot Pro costs $10, but the meter is what actually separates them. Claude Pro runs Claude Code on a 5-hour and weekly pool shared with claude.ai chat, offers annual billing at about $17/month, and sells prepaid usage credits as overage. ChatGPT Plus runs Codex on web, CLI, IDE and iOS, has had its 5-hour window removed then restored (2026-08-25), sells extra Codex credits, and offers no annual billing. Cursor Pro is the only one that never stops — on-demand usage billed in arrears — at the cost of a bill that can move. Copilot Pro is half the price with unlimited completions and a meter denominated in cents (1,500 credits, $15 of value), and it now brokers GitHub-hosted Claude Code and Codex against those same credits.
Pricing
| Feature | Claude Pro | ChatGPT Plus | Cursor Pro | GitHub Copilot Pro |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price/mo | $20/mo | $20/mo | $20/mo | $10/mo |
| Intro promo | $200/yr, about $17/mo | None | Yearly billing exists; Cursor does not publish the rate | New purchases are monthly; legacy annual runs to term |
| Billing shape | Quota — rolling 5-hour session + weekly cap | Quota — 5-hour window restored 2026-08-25, stacked on weekly | Two included pools + on-demand overage billed in arrears | GitHub AI Credits — 1 credit = $0.01 |
Models & Context
| Feature | Claude Pro | ChatGPT Plus | Cursor Pro | GitHub Copilot Pro |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Models included | Sonnet 5, Opus 5, Haiku 4.5 (Fable 5 via usage credits at API rates) | GPT-5.6 Sol, Terra and Luna; GPT-5.3-Codex family | Composer 2.5, Grok 4.6/4.5 first-party; Claude, GPT, Gemini, GLM, Kimi third-party | Full Copilot catalogue at listed API rates; 10% off with auto model selection |
| Context window | 200K on individual plans | Not published | Model-dependent; many at 1M | Model-dependent |
Limits & Overage
| Feature | Claude Pro | ChatGPT Plus | Cursor Pro | GitHub Copilot Pro |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Limits (5h / weekly / monthly) | Not published numerically; +50% Claude Code weekly boost expires 2026-08-31 | 5-hour + weekly, numeric allowances not published | Baseline agent limits; two monthly pools that do not roll over | 1,000 base + 500 flex = 1,500 credits ($15); completions unlimited |
| What happens past the cap | Wait for reset, upgrade, or enable prepaid usage credits at API rates | Wait for the window, or buy extra Codex credits on the token rate card | On-demand usage at the same API rates — never a silent model downgrade | Set an additional-usage budget, upgrade, or wait for the calendar-month reset |
| Parallel-agent friendly | Limited — chat and Claude Code share one pool; extra terminals drain it faster | Limited — 5-hour and weekly pools are shared | Baseline — Pro+ and Ultra raise the agent multiplier | Limited — the credit pool is the throttle |
Access & Lock-in
| Feature | Claude Pro | ChatGPT Plus | Cursor Pro | GitHub Copilot Pro |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Host agents & IDEs supported | claude.ai, desktop, mobile, Claude Code CLI and IDE | ChatGPT, Codex web, Codex CLI, Codex IDE, iOS | Cursor IDE, CLI, SDK, iOS, cloud agents, Bugbot | VS Code, Visual Studio, JetBrains, Eclipse, Xcode, Copilot CLI, github.com, GitHub Mobile |
| Gives you an API key | ✗ | ✗ | Partial — BYOK for chat models, proxied through Cursor; Tab stays first-party | ✗ |
| Can drive a third-party agent | No — Pro/Max OAuth is licensed for claude.ai and Claude Code only | No — drives first-party Codex only, not Cline or OpenCode | No — the seat drives Cursor's own agent; you bring keys in, not out | Partly — GitHub-hosted Claude Code and Codex billed as credits, but not Cline or OpenCode |
| Payment / region friction | Cards, tax extra; mobile in-app pricing may differ | Cards; no annual option; OpenAI supported-countries list applies | Stripe; India Start tier at Rs 649 excludes the third-party pool | GitHub billing; credits reset 00:00 UTC on the 1st, not your billing date |
Verdict at a glance
| Feature | Claude Pro | ChatGPT Plus | Cursor Pro | GitHub Copilot Pro |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best for | Daily first-party Claude Code at the lowest Anthropic price | The default $20 OpenAI coding seat | The default $20 IDE agent whose ceiling is overage, not a stop | The cheapest IDE agent with unlimited completions |
The Verdict
Choose Claude Pro if...
- ✓Claude Code and the Claude models are what you want
- ✓You want annual billing, which only this seat offers
- ✓You want an overage path with published bundle discounts
- ✓You code far more than you chat
Choose ChatGPT Plus if...
- ✓You want Codex across web, CLI, IDE and iOS
- ✓You want GPT-5.6 Sol, Terra and Luna selectable
- ✓Cloud and background tasks on the same quota matter
- ✓The wider ChatGPT feature set earns its place
Choose Cursor Pro if...
- ✓You never want to stop mid-task
- ✓You want four third-party labs plus Cursor's own models in one picker
- ✓Tab completion and a strong agent in one product is the appeal
- ✓You will work in Cursor's editor
Choose GitHub Copilot Pro if...
- ✓$10 against $20 matters and unlimited completions are most of your value
- ✓You want to stay in VS Code, Visual Studio, JetBrains, Eclipse or Xcode
- ✓You want a meter in cents you can watch, not an unpublished quota
- ✓GitHub-hosted Claude Code and Codex in your existing seat is useful
- ✓Copilot CLI in GitHub Actions fits your automation
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between Claude Pro, ChatGPT Plus, Cursor Pro and GitHub Copilot Pro?
Claude Pro is Anthropic's $20/month seat ($200/year, about $17/month) and it includes Claude Code. ChatGPT Plus is OpenAI's $20/month seat and the entry point for real Codex work — web, CLI, IDE and iOS — plus GPT-5.6 Sol, Terra and Luna. Cursor Pro is $20/month and buys two separate monthly pools: a generous one for Cursor's own models (Composer 2.5, Grok 4.6 and 4.5) and a smaller one for third-party Claude, GPT, Gemini, GLM and Kimi models metered at API list rates. GitHub Copilot Pro is $10/month and moved to usage-based GitHub AI Credits on 2026-06-01, where one credit equals one cent.
How much do Claude Pro, ChatGPT Plus, Cursor Pro and GitHub Copilot Pro cost?
Claude Pro: $20/mo. ChatGPT Plus: $20/mo. Cursor Pro: $20/mo. GitHub Copilot Pro: $10/mo. See the pricing table above for full plan details.
Which of Claude Pro, ChatGPT Plus, Cursor Pro and GitHub Copilot Pro should I pick?
Choose Claude Pro if claude Code and the Claude models are what you want. Choose ChatGPT Plus if you want Codex across web, CLI, IDE and iOS. Choose Cursor Pro if you never want to stop mid-task. Choose GitHub Copilot Pro if $10 against $20 matters and unlimited completions are most of your value.
1DevToolOne window, every agent you're paying for
Whichever seat wins here, you end up locked to one vendor's harness — and most of these subscriptions are contractually barred from driving anything else. 1DevTool runs Claude Code, Codex CLI, Cline, OpenCode and Gemini CLI side by side in persistent terminals, so you can put each subscription behind the agent it's actually licensed for and switch between them without switching windows. It adds an HTTP client, a 13-engine database client and an embedded browser too. One-time $29, no subscription.