AI coding tools › Cheapest AI coding assistant
The cheapest way to get an AI coding assistant
Paying for an AI coding tool? See what Cursor, Copilot, Claude Code, Windsurf and Warp cost per month for you or your team: AI coding tool cost calculator →
Buying for a team? See what 22 AI team plans cost for your team size →
Cursor pricing explained, plan by plan →
Free plans first, then the cheapest paid plans on monthly billing, from each official pricing page (2026-10-21).
Free: GitHub Copilot, Cursor, Windsurf and Warp have $0 plans with limited usage (Claude's free plan doesn't include Claude Code). Cheapest paid: Cursor Plus $8/mo (Grok models only), or GitHub Copilot Pro $10/mo.
Cheapest paid plan per tool (monthly billing)
- Cursor: Plus $8/mo (only Grok models on this plan) · official pricing
- GitHub Copilot: Pro $10/mo · official pricing
- Windsurf: Pro $20/mo · official pricing
- Claude Code (Claude Pro): Pro $20/mo (includes Claude Code) · official pricing
- Warp: Build $20/mo (includes $20 of agent usage a month) · official pricing
All plans side by side
| Tool | Free plan | Cheapest paid plan | Main plan (if different) | Yearly option | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cursor | Free $0 (limited AI usage) | Plus $8/mo (only Grok models on this plan) | Premium $30/mo (most popular plan) | not shown | official pricing |
| GitHub Copilot | Free $0 (limited chat and agent usage) | Pro $10/mo | Pro+ $39/mo | not shown | official pricing |
| Windsurf | Free $0 (light agent quota, unlimited Tab completions) | Pro $20/mo | — | not shown | official pricing |
| Claude Code (Claude Pro) | Free plan $0, but no Claude Code | Pro $20/mo (includes Claude Code) | — | $17/mo (Pro, billed yearly) | official pricing |
| Warp | Free $0 | Build $20/mo (includes $20 of agent usage a month) | — | $18/mo (Build, billed yearly) | official pricing |
How we compare
- Monthly billing, individual plans only. Team plans (Cursor Teams $30+/user, Windsurf Teams $80 + $40/seat) aren't ranked against individual plans.
- Usage limits differ between tools and aren't published in the same unit, so we compare plan prices and say what each plan includes; we don't guess usage.
- Prices re-checked 2026-10-21 on each official pricing page. If a price couldn't be checked, the tool is left out.
Left out
- Replit: its pricing page showed a security check today, so we couldn't verify the price.
- Qodo: it's a team code-review product billed in credits, a different job and billing.
FAQ
What is the cheapest AI coding assistant?
Free: GitHub Copilot, Cursor, Windsurf and Warp all have $0 plans. Cheapest paid on monthly billing: Cursor Plus at $8/mo (Grok models only), then GitHub Copilot Pro at $10/mo (checked 2026-10-21).
Is yearly billing cheaper?
Where the official page shows it: Claude Pro is $17/mo billed yearly ($20 monthly), and Warp Build is $18/mo yearly ($20 monthly).
Related: Cursor alternatives · Cursor vs Claude Code · Pay less for a tool