The “best” AI coding tool depends on how you work. Some tools live inside your editor and complete code as you type. Others are AI-first editors with agents that change many files at once. General chat assistants are good for explaining code and debugging. This guide sorts the main options by workflow, with entry prices from our verified data.
Quick picks
- You want to stay in your current editor (VS Code, JetBrains and others): GitHub Copilot. Copilot Free includes 2,000 code completions per month . Copilot Pro costs $10/month . Pro+ is $39 and Max is $100 . On paid plans, extra usage beyond your included credits costs $0.01 per credit if you set a budget .
- You want an AI-first editor with agents: Cursor. Cursor Plus is $8/month, Premium is $30 and Super is $100 . The free plan has limited agent and chat requests and doesn’t include third-party models .
- You want an alternative agentic IDE: Windsurf (now Devin Desktop). Pro is $20/month and Max is $200 . The free plan has unlimited Tab completions with a light agent quota .
- You want a chat assistant for reasoning, review and explanations: Claude Pro or ChatGPT Plus, both $20 / $20/month . ChatGPT’s free plan includes limited Codex access .
How to choose
Completions vs agents. Inline completion speeds up routine typing and has the fewest surprises. Agents can refactor, write tests and edit several files, but they need review. They also use more of your plan’s usage, which is where caps and overage rules start to matter.
Usage models differ. Copilot paid plans use included credits plus pay-as-you-go extras. Cursor and Windsurf use tiered plans with different usage levels. Vendors often describe limits in words rather than numbers, so a low headline price can still run out quickly on heavy agent use.
Model access. Free and student tiers often limit which models you can pick. For example, Copilot Free uses auto model selection only.
Teams. For a team, compare per-seat business plans. Copilot Business is $19 and Enterprise is $39 per seat per month . Cursor Teams starts at $30 per seat . Windsurf Teams is $40 per seat plus an $80 monthly platform fee .
Our suggestion
Start on free plans. Use Copilot Free in your editor and the Cursor or Windsurf free tier for agent work, for a week of real tasks. Upgrade only the tool you actually used, and only when you hit its limits. Many developers end up with one editor tool plus one chat assistant, not three paid subscriptions.
Students: Copilot Student is a separate free plan. See AI student discounts.
Pricing pages
GitHub Copilot · Cursor · Windsurf · Claude · ChatGPT
How we check prices
AI Stack Wise reads prices only from official vendor pricing pages, help centers and docs. We record the amount exactly as printed, note whether tax is included, and mark anything we could not read as “price not verified” instead of guessing. Most prices on this page were last checked on 2026-10-19 (Windsurf on 2026-11-03). Prices are in USD and exclude tax unless stated. Vendors change plans often, so confirm on the vendor page before you pay. See our methodology. Spotted a change? Email [email protected].