Cursor vs GitHub Copilot vs Windsurf
Three AI coding assistants that live in your editor — which one writes better code?
GitHub Copilot scores highest: 90/100 on our coding tasks
GitHub Copilot 90, Cursor 85 out of 100, a 5-point gap to Cursor. Windsurf carries no score on this suite, so it is not ranked against them.
Ranked on our tested coding score (18 identical tasks, three-lab blind panel, 10 Aug 2026)
What each one looks like
Side by side
Every cell is either a fact with the source and the date we read it, or a sentence saying we hold no verified answer. There is no third option: nothing here is filled in from memory, and a row only appears when at least one of these tools has something real in it.
Swipe the table sideways for the other columns.
| Measure | Cursor | GitHub Copilot | Windsurf |
|---|---|---|---|
| Our tested score — codingIdentical tasks, marked blind by three judges from three rival AI labs. Receipts on every score. | 85/10018 tasks · 10 Aug 2026receipts ↓ | 90/10018 tasks · 10 Aug 2026receipts ↓ | Not scored on this suite |
| What people are sayingFrom our own 90-day sweep of Reddit, X, YouTube, Hacker News and the web. The count always travels with the word. | Mixed2 positive, 2 negative of 4 that took a side (37 scanned) | Negative13 of the 13 posts that took a side (108 scanned) | Too few opinions to call — 1 of 131 posts took a side |
| Cheapest plan we verifiedRead off the vendor's own pricing page and dated. Where a vendor lists plans it only renders in a browser, we hold no cheapest figure and say so rather than quote the top tier. | $20/mopro plan · US pricecursor.com/pricing · 17 Aug 2026 | $10/mopro plan · US pricegithub.com/features/copilot/plans · 17 Aug 2026 | No verified price — their prices ↗ |
| Free versionConfirmed on the vendor's own pricing page, with the date we read it. | Not confirmed on their pricing page — check ↗ | Yesconfirmed 17 Aug 2026github.com/features/copilot/plans · 17 Aug 2026 | Not confirmed on their pricing page — check ↗ |
| Trains on what you typeThe vendor's own published answer. No line renders unless we found the sentence word-for-word in a document we fetched. | They will not use your inputs to train their AI models unless you explicitly agree to it.cursor.com ↗ | GitHub uses your inputs to train its AI models by default, but you can turn this off in your account settings.docs.github.com ↗ | They use the content you provide to train and improve their AI models, depending on your specific terms of service.cognition.com ↗ |
| How long they keep it | They keep your data for as long as they deem necessary for their business needs, with no specific end date.cursor.com ↗ | They keep your data for as long as your account is active and as long as they need it.docs.github.com ↗ | They keep your information for as long as they need it to provide their services or comply with the law.cognition.com ↗ |
| They warn it can be wrong | The company warns that you use the generated suggestions at your own risk and should not rely on them as absolute truth.cursor.com ↗ | GitHub warns that the generated code might be incorrect or broken, and you must check it before using it.docs.github.com ↗ | The company warns that the generated content might be inaccurate and requires your own review before use.cognition.com ↗ |
| Developer attention (90 days)Hacker News stories and points, and GitHub stars where the project is open. A measure of attention, never of quality. | 1151 HN points383 storiesHN Algolia API · 17 Aug 2026 | 417 HN points80 storiesHN Algolia API · 17 Aug 2026 | 5 HN points14 storiesHN Algolia API · 17 Aug 2026 |
Head-to-heads we ran between them
A battle is one head-to-head run on one day, on a single category’s tasks; the scores in the table above average a whole suite. The two can legitimately disagree, and both are published.
Each one on its own
Cursor
AnysphereYou use it to write, test, and build software.
In their words: “Cursor is your coding agent for building ambitious software.” — cursor.com ↗ · read 9 Aug 2026
85/100 coding · receipts ↓
- individual$16/mostale — last seen 23 Jul 2026
- pro$20/moverified 17 Aug 2026
- pro plus$60/moverified 17 Aug 2026
- teams$40/moverified 17 Aug 2026
- ultra$200/moverified 17 Aug 2026
every plan read on cursor.com23 Jul 2026
“Why does cursor feel more reliable than claude”
a mixed post from our 90-day sweep — read it ↗
It suggests lines of code and functions to help you write software.
In their words: “GitHub Copilot works alongside you directly in your editor, suggesting whole lines or entire functions for you.” — github.com ↗ · read 9 Aug 2026
90/100 coding · receipts ↓
- business$19/moverified 17 Aug 2026
- pro$10/moverified 17 Aug 2026
- pro plus$39/moverified 17 Aug 2026
Windsurf
CognitionManage and run local and cloud coding agents to write, test, and ship code.
In their words: “Devin Desktop is the home for coding agents to do your best work.” — windsurf.com ↗ · read 9 Aug 2026
“I built a design-system skill that locks the visual direction before Windsurf writes any UI”
a quiet post from our 90-day sweep — read it ↗
What we could not compare
- No tested score for Windsurf — we score a tool only when it names the model it runs.
- No verified price for Windsurf — their pricing pages render figures in a browser, so we hold none.
These gaps close by themselves: the scanner re-reads every vendor pricing page and app-store listing on a schedule, and this page rebuilds from whatever it found. How the testing works →
Questions people ask
Cursor or GitHub Copilot or Windsurf — which should I choose?
GitHub Copilot scores highest: 90/100 on our coding tasks. That is based on our tested coding score (18 identical tasks, three-lab blind panel, 10 Aug 2026). GitHub Copilot 90, Cursor 85 out of 100, a 5-point gap to Cursor. Windsurf carries no score on this suite, so it is not ranked against them.
Which of Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Windsurf is cheapest?
Cursor starts at $20 a month on its pro plan; GitHub Copilot starts at $10 a month on its pro plan. Every figure was read off the vendor's own pricing page and is dated on this page. We hold no verified price for Windsurf.
Do Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Windsurf train on what you type?
Cursor: They will not use your inputs to train their AI models unless you explicitly agree to it. GitHub Copilot: GitHub uses your inputs to train its AI models by default, but you can turn this off in your account settings. Windsurf: They use the content you provide to train and improve their AI models, depending on your specific terms of service. Each of those answers is quoted word-for-word from the vendor's own published document, linked on this page with the date we read it.
How do you test these?
Cursor scored 85/100 on our coding suite (18 tasks); GitHub Copilot scored 90/100 on our coding suite (18 tasks). Every tool answers the identical published tasks; three judges from three rival AI labs mark every answer blind against a fixed rubric, and mechanically checkable rules such as word limits are enforced by the harness in code. The raw answers and judge verdicts are downloadable.
No vendor pays for placement, position or inclusion, and the code that produces the verdict above cannot see which outbound links earn us anything. How we make money →
More head-to-heads: ChatGPT vs Claude vs Gemini · Lovable vs Replit vs v0 · Otter.ai vs Fireflies.ai vs Fathom · Grammarly vs Jasper vs Copy.ai vs Notion AI · Perplexity vs NotebookLM
Every tool head-to-head → · Every tool we track → · Methodology →