Cursor vs Windsurf vs Copilot
Three AI IDEs, three billing philosophies — on-demand overage, daily and weekly allowances, and a credit meter denominated in cents.
Updated August 28, 2026 · Independent comparison — Cursor Pro, Windsurf (Devin Desktop), GitHub Copilot Pro are separate products.
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.
Windsurf (Devin Desktop)
The former Windsurf editor, now Cognition's
Windsurf is now Devin Desktop: Cognition rebranded the editor on 2026-06-12 and moved it onto Devin's pricing ladder, so it is Free, Pro $20, Max $200, or Teams at $80/month minimum. In March 2026 it also switched from credits to daily and weekly token-value allowances, deliberately setting the daily quota above one seventh of the weekly one so weekend work is still possible. Existing subscribers were grandfathered at $15 Pro and $30 per Teams seat indefinitely.
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 AI IDEs, three billing philosophies — on-demand overage, daily and weekly allowances, and a credit meter denominated in cents. Choose Cursor Pro if you want the largest third-party model picker inside one editor; choose Windsurf (Devin Desktop) if you were already a Windsurf user, possibly grandfathered at $15; choose GitHub Copilot Pro if you want to stay in the IDE you already use — VS Code, Visual Studio, JetBrains, Eclipse or Xcode.
Pricing
| Feature | Cursor Pro | Windsurf (Devin Desktop) | GitHub Copilot Pro |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price/mo | $20/mo | Free · Pro $20 · Max $200 · Teams from $80/mo | $10/mo |
| Intro promo | Yearly billing exists; Cursor does not publish the rate | No public annual discount for new self-serve | New purchases are monthly; legacy annual runs to term |
| Billing shape | Two included pools + on-demand overage billed in arrears | Quota — daily and weekly token-value allowances | GitHub AI Credits — 1 credit = $0.01 |
Models & Context
| Feature | Cursor Pro | Windsurf (Devin Desktop) | GitHub Copilot Pro |
|---|---|---|---|
| Models included | Composer 2.5, Grok 4.6/4.5 first-party; Claude, GPT, Gemini, GLM, Kimi third-party | OpenAI, Claude and Gemini frontier models on paid; SWE 1.7 and open models free | Full Copilot catalogue at listed API rates; 10% off with auto model selection |
| Context window | Model-dependent; many at 1M | Not published | Model-dependent |
Limits & Overage
| Feature | Cursor Pro | Windsurf (Devin Desktop) | GitHub Copilot Pro |
|---|---|---|---|
| Limits (5h / weekly / monthly) | Baseline agent limits; two monthly pools that do not roll over | Daily plus weekly; daily is deliberately above one seventh of weekly | 1,000 base + 500 flex = 1,500 credits ($15); completions unlimited |
| What happens past the cap | On-demand usage at the same API rates — never a silent model downgrade | Buy extra usage at API list prices — not blocked by the included quota | Set an additional-usage budget, upgrade, or wait for the calendar-month reset |
| Parallel-agent friendly | Baseline — Pro+ and Ultra raise the agent multiplier | Up to 10 concurrent sessions on Free and Pro; unlimited on Max and Teams | Limited — the credit pool is the throttle |
Access & Lock-in
| Feature | Cursor Pro | Windsurf (Devin Desktop) | GitHub Copilot Pro |
|---|---|---|---|
| Host agents & IDEs supported | Cursor IDE, CLI, SDK, iOS, cloud agents, Bugbot | Devin Desktop (the former Windsurf editor), Devin Cloud, Devin Review | 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 — the seat drives Cursor's own agent; you bring keys in, not out | No — app-locked | Partly — GitHub-hosted Claude Code and Codex billed as credits, but not Cline or OpenCode |
| Payment / region friction | Stripe; India Start tier at Rs 649 excludes the third-party pool | Cards; existing subscribers grandfathered at $15 Pro and $30 per Teams seat | GitHub billing; credits reset 00:00 UTC on the 1st, not your billing date |
Verdict at a glance
| Feature | Cursor Pro | Windsurf (Devin Desktop) | GitHub Copilot Pro |
|---|---|---|---|
| Best for | The default $20 IDE agent whose ceiling is overage, not a stop | Former Windsurf users who want the editor plus cloud agents | The cheapest IDE agent with unlimited completions |
The Verdict
Choose Cursor Pro if...
- ✓You want the largest third-party model picker inside one editor
- ✓You never want to stop mid-task — on-demand overage keeps going
- ✓Cursor's own Composer and Grok models on a separate pool is real value
- ✓You want the most established AI-native editor
Choose Windsurf (Devin Desktop) if...
- ✓You were already a Windsurf user, possibly grandfathered at $15
- ✓You want the editor and Devin's cloud agents on one subscription
- ✓Concurrency matters — up to 10 sessions on Pro, unlimited on Max
- ✓A daily allowance above one seventh of weekly suits weekend work
Choose GitHub Copilot Pro if...
- ✓You want to stay in the IDE you already use — VS Code, Visual Studio, JetBrains, Eclipse or Xcode
- ✓$10 and unlimited completions is most of your value
- ✓You want a meter denominated in cents that you can actually watch
- ✓GitHub-hosted Claude Code and Codex inside your existing seat is useful
- ✓You want Copilot CLI in GitHub Actions as a governed automation path
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between Cursor Pro, Windsurf (Devin Desktop) and GitHub Copilot Pro?
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. Windsurf is now Devin Desktop: Cognition rebranded the editor on 2026-06-12 and moved it onto Devin's pricing ladder, so it is Free, Pro $20, Max $200, or Teams at $80/month minimum. 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 Cursor Pro, Windsurf (Devin Desktop) and GitHub Copilot Pro cost?
Cursor Pro: $20/mo. Windsurf (Devin Desktop): Free · Pro $20 · Max $200 · Teams from $80/mo. GitHub Copilot Pro: $10/mo. See the pricing table above for full plan details.
Which of Cursor Pro, Windsurf (Devin Desktop) and GitHub Copilot Pro should I pick?
Choose Cursor Pro if you want the largest third-party model picker inside one editor. Choose Windsurf (Devin Desktop) if you were already a Windsurf user, possibly grandfathered at $15. Choose GitHub Copilot Pro if you want to stay in the IDE you already use — VS Code, Visual Studio, JetBrains, Eclipse or Xcode.
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.