Side-by-side comparison · Coding & Dev Tools
Cursor vs Factory vs GitHub Copilot
Everything that matters when choosing between them, in one place: our rating, what each can do, what they cost, and the trade-offs.
Comparing 3 tools, the maximum.
At a glance
Pick it if: Developers and curious beginners who want AI help but still want a visual editor.
Pick it if: Software teams that want AI agents to take tickets off the backlog and come back with finished pull requests.
Pick it if: Teams and developers whose code lives on GitHub and who want AI in the tools they already use.
Overview
| Attribute | Cursor | Factory | GitHub Copilot |
|---|---|---|---|
| In one line | A code editor with AI built in, for people who want to watch every change happen. | AI coding agents called Droids that take on whole engineering tasks from your backlog. | GitHub's AI helper: it finishes your code, reviews pull requests and takes on whole tasks. |
| Pricing model | Freemium | Paid | Freemium |
| Starting price | $8/mo | $20/mo | $10/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | No | Yes |
| Works with Claude Code | No | Yes | No |
Rating breakdown
Our scores out of 5. The higher bar in each row is highlighted.
| Attribute | Cursor | Factory | GitHub Copilot |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall rating | 3.9 | 3.8 | 4.0Winner |
| Ease of useHow quickly someone non-technical gets value from it. | 4.0 | 3.0 | 4.0 |
| FeaturesHow completely it covers its own job, and how well the pieces fit together. | 4.5 | 4.5 | 4.0 |
| Output qualityHow good the results are before you fix them. | 4.0 | 4.0 | 3.5 |
| Value for moneyWhat you get for the price, including the free plan. | 3.0 | 3.5 | 4.5 |
| Speed & reliabilityHow fast it is and how often it falls over. | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 |
Feature comparison
A tick means it does this today. A dash means we haven't checked.
| Attribute | Cursor | Factory | GitHub Copilot |
|---|---|---|---|
| Access & platform | |||
| Free plan | Yes | No | Yes |
| Mobile app | Yes | – | Yes |
| Desktop app | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Browser extension | No | – | – |
| API access | – | Yes | – |
| Teams & business | |||
| Team workspace | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Enterprise plan or SSO | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Connects to other apps | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Open source or self-hosted | No | No | No |
| AI abilities | |||
| Works with your files | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Understands images | Yes | – | Yes |
| Makes images | No | No | No |
| Makes video | No | No | No |
| Writes code | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Runs agents or automations | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Learns your brand or style | Yes | – | Yes |
| Works in many languages | Yes | – | Yes |
| Capabilities score | 12/ 17 | 8/ 17 | 12/ 17 |
Pricing
Plans as listed on each vendor's site when we last checked. Confirm before you buy.
| Attribute | Cursor | Factory | GitHub Copilot |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plans | Free Free Trying the editor and a few agent runs. | Pro $20/mo A developer trying agents day to day. | Free Free Trying autocomplete and light chat. |
Plus $8/mo Light users who are happy with Grok models only. | PlusOur pick $100/mo Developers who lean on agents all day. | ProOur pick $10/mo Individual developers on GitHub. | |
PremiumOur pick $30/mo Most developers, especially if you want Claude alongside Grok. | Max $200/mo Heavy individual users. | Pro+ $39/mo Developers who run agent tasks every day. | |
Super or Ultra $100/mo or $200/mo Heavy daily agent users. | Teams $60/mo per team plus $40/seat Small teams up to 10 people. | Max $100/mo Heavy agent-driven work. | |
Legacy Pro $20/mo Existing subscribers only. New customers can't buy it. | Business / Enterprise Custom Larger companies with security requirements. | Business and Enterprise See website Companies that need admin controls and policy management. | |
Teams From $30/user/mo Companies that need admin controls and SSO. | |||
| Which plan to pick | If you are on the old $20 Pro plan and it covers what you use, stay put; switching is permanent. New customers should skip Plus unless they are happy with Grok. Premium is the realistic starting point if you want Claude, and budget for the extra usage billing on top of the $30. Large companies can ask about a custom Enterprise plan. | Try Pro for a month to see if the agents suit your codebase. If you want Droids working in the background while you do other things, you need Plus. | Pro is the sweet spot for an individual: cheap, unlimited autocomplete and enough credits for a few agent tasks a week. Only move to Pro+ if you find yourself buying extra credits every month. |
Key features
| Attribute | Cursor | Factory | GitHub Copilot |
|---|---|---|---|
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Pros and cons
| Attribute | Cursor | Factory | GitHub Copilot |
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Who each one is for
| Attribute | Cursor | Factory | GitHub Copilot |
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Questions people ask
Which is better, Cursor, Factory or GitHub Copilot?
GitHub Copilot scores highest overall in our ratings (Cursor 3.9/5, Factory 3.8/5 and GitHub Copilot 4.0/5). Cursor is best for editing with AI autocomplete and learning by watching changes happen. Factory is best for working through backlog tickets in the background and bug fixes and small features from Jira or Linear. GitHub Copilot is best for autocomplete as you type and Handing GitHub issues to an agent.
Which is cheaper, Cursor, Factory or GitHub Copilot?
Cursor: There's a free plan, and paid plans start at $8/mo. Factory: There's no free plan. Paid plans start at $20/mo. GitHub Copilot: There's a free plan, and paid plans start at $10/mo.
How we compare
Ratings are our own, from using each tool, across ease of use, features, output quality, value for money, speed & reliability.
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