Five well-known AI coding tools compared on the things that decide a purchase: whether the AI lives in your current editor or replaces it, free tiers, what the paid plans really include, privacy and deployment options — and, new in 2026, whether you can still sign up at all.
Pro plan. Free tier available; Pro+ $39/mo, Business $19/user/mo.
Plus plan (Cursor's own models). Full agent use starts at Premium, $30/mo.
Pro plan. Free plan includes unlimited Tab completions.
Tabnine and Amazon Q Developer are covered in the comparison table and detail sections below, but they are not quick picks: neither accepts new self-serve customers as of November 2026 (see the availability note above).
| GitHub Copilot | Cursor | Windsurf / Devin Desktop | Tabnine | Amazon Q Developer | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Form factor | Extension / plugin inside your existing IDE, plus GitHub and CLI | Standalone AI editor (VS Code-based) | Standalone AI editor (VS Code-based); JetBrains plugin also offered | Plugin for major IDEs (VS Code, JetBrains, etc.) | IDE plugins, CLI and AWS Console integration |
| Best for | Developers who want AI help without changing editors; GitHub-centric teams | Developers who want the editor itself built around agents | Developers who want an agent-led editor with a strong free tier | Regulated / enterprise teams that need private deployment and no code retention | Existing AWS users (legacy — see availability) |
| Can you sign up today? | Yes | Yes | Yes (as Devin Desktop) | No — sales-led only after the Tricentis acquisition; no public pricing page | No — new sign-ups closed May 2026; IDE plugins end Apr 30, 2027 |
| Free tier | Yes — limited (e.g. 2,000 completions/mo) | Yes — limited agent and chat requests | Yes — unlimited Tab completions and inline edits, light agent quota | No — free Basic plan was discontinued in 2025 | Was yes — 50 agentic requests/mo (existing accounts) |
| Individual paid plans | Pro $10/mo · Pro+ $39/mo · Max $100/mo | Plus $8/mo · Premium $30/mo · Super $100/mo · Ultra $200/mo (restructured Oct 2026 — see detail section) | Pro $20/mo · Max $200/mo | Last published: Code Assistant $39/user/mo, annual billing | Pro $19/user/mo (existing subscriptions only) |
| Team plans | Business $19/user/mo · Enterprise $39/user/mo | Teams from $30/user/mo | Teams: $80/mo base + $40 per developer seat/mo | Last published: Agentic Platform $59/user/mo, annual billing | Pro via AWS Organizations, $19/user/mo |
| How usage is metered | Monthly AI Credits allowance included since June 2026 (e.g. 1,500 credits on Pro); heavier model/agent use draws more credits | Included pool covers Cursor's own models (Grok, Composer). Third-party models (Claude, GPT, Gemini) bill separately at API list price on Premium and up | Quota-based allowance that refreshes daily and weekly; extra usage at API pricing | Unlimited when you bring your own model endpoint; Tabnine-provided models billed at provider cost + 5% | Agentic request limits per tier; Java transformation lines pooled on Pro, overage per line |
| Privacy / deployment | Cloud service; policy controls, audit and IP indemnity on Business / Enterprise | Cloud service; privacy mode and team admin controls on paid tiers | Cloud service; admin controls on Teams / Enterprise | Standout option: SaaS, VPC, on-premises or air-gapped deployment; marketed on zero code retention | AWS-managed; admin via IAM Identity Center; IP indemnity on Pro |
| Watch out for | The sticker price is a floor — heavy agent use can consume the credit allowance | Pricing was restructured in Oct 2026 and plan names changed; third-party models cost extra on every plan | Product was renamed (Codeium → Windsurf → Devin Desktop); check which brand your invoice and docs refer to | You cannot start a new self-serve plan; treat old pricing pages and reviews as historical | Do not build a new workflow on it — plan a move to Kiro or another tool instead |
Prices are USD, before tax, as published by the vendors in November 2026 (for Tabnine: last published prices before its pricing page was removed). AI coding tools changed plans repeatedly during 2026 — always confirm the current price and sign-up status on the vendor's site before you buy.
Copilot is not an editor: it is an extension that adds completions, chat, agent mode and code review to VS Code, JetBrains IDEs, Visual Studio, Neovim, Xcode and others, with deep ties to GitHub itself. The plan ladder is the widest here: a free tier with limited completions and chat, Pro ($10/mo) for individuals, Pro+ ($39/mo) and Max ($100/mo) with larger allowances, and Business ($19/user/mo) / Enterprise ($39/user/mo) for organizations. Since June 2026 the paid plans include a monthly allowance of "AI Credits" (Pro includes 1,500), and heavier agent or premium-model use consumes more — so the subscription price is a floor, not a guaranteed total.
Cursor is a standalone editor based on VS Code, designed around chat, an agent that edits multiple files, inline edits and codebase-aware answers. Its pricing changed substantially in 2026: in October 2026 Cursor moved new customers to plans sold as part of "The X Subscription" — Free, Plus ($8/mo), Premium ($30/mo), Super ($100/mo) and Ultra ($200/mo) — while existing customers were told their previous plans (Hobby free, Pro $20/mo, Pro+ $60/mo, Ultra $200/mo) continue. One detail matters more than the tier names: the included usage pool now covers Cursor's own models (Grok and Composer), and third-party models such as Claude, GPT and Gemini are billed separately at API list price on Premium and above. Budget for both parts.
This tool has had three names: it began as the Codeium completion plugin, became the Windsurf editor in 2024, and was renamed Devin Desktop in June 2026 after Cognition (the company behind the Devin agent) acquired it. windsurf.com now redirects to Devin's site, and Cognition says existing plans, settings and extensions carry over. The editor keeps its VS Code-based layout and pairs a local agent with cloud agents managed from a command center. Current pricing on Devin's site: Free with unlimited Tab completions and a light agent quota, Pro ($20/mo) with full model availability and higher quotas, Max ($200/mo) for heavy use, and Teams ($80/mo base plus $40 per developer seat). Allowances refresh daily and weekly rather than monthly.
Tabnine was one of the earliest AI code assistants (launched in 2018) and built its reputation on privacy: completions and chat inside major IDEs, a public commitment to zero code retention, and deployment choices no other tool here matches — SaaS, VPC, on-premises, or fully air-gapped. That made it the default candidate for regulated industries. The situation changed in 2026: the earlier free and low-cost individual plans were discontinued, the last published pricing was Code Assistant ($39/user/mo, annual) and Agentic Platform ($59/user/mo, annual), and after Tricentis acquired Tabnine on July 30, 2026, its site moved under Tricentis with no public pricing page and no self-serve checkout — new business is handled through sales, and existing customers continue to be supported. If you are an enterprise evaluating private deployment, it remains a legitimate conversation to have with their sales team; if you are an individual developer, there is currently nothing to sign up for.
Amazon Q Developer was AWS's assistant across the IDE, the command line and the AWS Console, with distinctive features such as Java application transformation (upgrades) and AWS account and diagnostics help. Its pricing was simple — a free tier with 50 agentic requests a month and Pro ($19/user/mo) with higher limits, admin controls and IP indemnity. However, AWS closed Q Developer to new sign-ups on May 15, 2026, and has announced that support for the IDE plugins ends on April 30, 2027, directing users to Kiro, its newer agentic IDE. Existing subscribers can keep using and even add seats for now, but anyone choosing a tool today should treat Q Developer as a migration source, not a destination.
If you want to keep your current setup, the choice is a plugin — Copilot is the one you can still buy. If you're willing to switch editors for an agent-first workflow, compare Cursor and Devin Desktop.
In 2026 this is a real step, not a formality: Tabnine is sales-only after its acquisition, and Amazon Q Developer is closed to new users entirely. Confirm sign-up status on the vendor's site before investing evaluation time.
All three buyable tools meter usage somehow: Copilot's AI Credits, Cursor's separate API-priced third-party models, Devin Desktop's quotas. Estimate your agent-heavy days, not just your completion days.
Copilot, Cursor and Devin Desktop all have free tiers. Spend a few days with each on a real project — including one messy, multi-file change — and keep the one whose suggestions and agent behavior fit how you actually work.
Start with a free tier and don't pay yet. GitHub Copilot's free tier works inside editors you may already use for courses (VS Code, for example), and Copilot has historically offered free access for verified students — check GitHub's current student terms. Devin Desktop's free plan is generous if you mainly want completions while you learn. Paid agent features matter more once you're building larger projects of your own.
A plugin (Copilot, Tabnine, Amazon Q Developer) adds AI features to an editor you already have. An AI editor (Cursor, Devin Desktop) is a separate application — both are based on VS Code — where chat, agents and multi-file editing are built into the core experience. Plugins minimize disruption; dedicated editors go further in redesigning the workflow around AI.
Because all three tools you can buy now meter AI usage on top of the subscription: Copilot includes a monthly AI Credits allowance, Cursor bills third-party models (Claude, GPT, Gemini) at API list price outside its included pool, and Devin Desktop uses refreshing quotas with extra usage at API pricing. Light completion use fits comfortably in the base plans; daily agent use is what pushes the total up.
Same product, new owners and names. Codeium launched the Windsurf editor in 2024; Cognition acquired Windsurf in 2025 and renamed the editor Devin Desktop on June 2, 2026. windsurf.com redirects to devin.ai, and the vendor states that existing plans and settings carry over.
Not as a new self-serve customer, as of November 2026. Tabnine (acquired by Tricentis in July 2026) is sold through its sales team with no public pricing page. Amazon Q Developer closed new sign-ups in May 2026 and its IDE plugins are scheduled to end on April 30, 2027; AWS directs users to Kiro. Existing customers of both are still supported for now.
That requirement is exactly what Tabnine built its business on, with VPC, on-premises and air-gapped deployment options — but it is now an enterprise, sales-led purchase. If you are an individual or small team with strict privacy needs, evaluate the paid tiers' privacy modes and data policies of the buyable tools carefully, and confirm current terms with the vendor before committing.
Because this guide is compiled from the vendors' published specifications, pricing and availability notices, not from paid placements or invented lab testing. AI coding tools also change models and plans frequently — several changed during the writing of this page — so we show the verifiable facts (form factor, limits, metering, sign-up status) and let you test the free tiers on your own code.