This guide is about the AI you code with: completions, chat and multi-file edits while you stay at the keyboard. If you want to hand whole tasks to an agent and review the result, see our coding-agent guide instead.
Cursor ($20/mo) is the best all-round AI editor for professional developers. GitHub Copilot costs half as much at $10/mo and works in the editor you already use. If you want one subscription for code questions and everything else, Claude Pro ($20/mo) is the specialist pick for software work.
| App | Free tier | Paid from | Top plan | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cursor | Yes | $20/mo | $200/mo | Professional developers who want agentic multi-file editing in a familiar IDE |
| GitHub Copilot | Yes | $10/mo | $100/mo | Developers already living in VS Code/JetBrains/GitHub who want autocomplete, chat, and PR reviews without leaving their workflow |
| Claude | Yes | $20/mo | $100–200/mo | Document analysis, research papers, nuanced writing, software engineering |
| Zed | Yes | $10/mo | $30/mo | Developers who want a fast, native multiplayer editor with AI edit prediction rather than a heavier Electron-based IDE |
| DeepSeek | Yes | — | — | Math, logic, coding for users on a budget — or curious experimenters |
Monthly prices in US dollars before tax, from each vendor's official pricing (US list price; weekly-billed plans converted to a monthly figure). Updated October 7, 2026
A VS Code fork built around agentic multi-file editing, with every frontier model and unlimited tab completions on Pro. Pro is usage-based, so heavy days can hit limits.
Pick it if: you code for a living and want the AI to make whole changes, not just suggest lines.
Full Cursor pricing →Pro gives unlimited completions, $15/mo in premium credits and agent mode with Claude, GPT or Gemini models, inside VS Code, JetBrains and GitHub pull requests. Its agent mode trails Cursor's.
Pick it if: you want AI help without switching editors, or your budget is tight.
Full GitHub Copilot pricing →Claude is built for serious software engineering and long files, and Pro includes Opus 5.5 and Sonnet 5.5. Usage runs on a rolling 5-hour limit rather than a fixed message count.
Pick it if: you want one subscription for code questions, long documents and writing.
Full Claude pricing →A fast, native Rust editor with AI edit prediction; Pro at $10/mo unlocks unlimited predictions plus $5 of model credits. It is not a full agentic IDE.
Pick it if: you find Electron-based IDEs sluggish and mostly want smart next-edit suggestions.
Full Zed pricing →DeepSeek's chat has no paid tier and no usage caps, and it is strong at math, logic and code. It is hosted in China, which matters for proprietary code.
Pick it if: you are learning or working on open-source code and won't pay anything.
Full DeepSeek pricing →An AI editor (Cursor, Copilot, Zed) sees your project and edits files in place. A chat assistant (Claude, DeepSeek) is better for explaining code, design questions and one-off scripts, but you copy results back by hand. Most working developers end up with one of each, and Copilot's free tier plus a chat plan is a cheap way to start.
Copilot now bills premium requests as credits, Cursor Pro is usage-based, and Claude uses a rolling 5-hour window. Completions are cheap; agent runs on top models are what burn through allowances. If you hit limits weekly, compare the next tier up (Copilot Pro+ at $39/mo, Cursor Pro+ at $60/mo) before switching tools.
GitHub Copilot Pro at $10/mo: unlimited completions plus agent mode. Its free tier gives 2,000 completions a month, and DeepSeek's chat is free with no paid tier at all.
If you make multi-file changes daily, yes: agentic editing is Cursor's core strength. For autocomplete and chat in your existing editor, Copilot costs half as much.
An assistant works alongside you in the editor. An agent takes a whole task, runs in the background or the cloud, and hands back a change to review. Cursor and Windsurf do both; our coding-agent guide covers the agent side.
How we choose: prices come from each vendor's official pricing page and are re-checked every week. We take no affiliate fees, so rankings aren't for sale.