AI Coding Agent Cost Calculator
Compare the cost of AI coding tools: Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Windsurf and API-based agents. Find the cheapest option for your engineering team size.
Inputs
The subscription-based AI coding tool your team uses or is evaluating.
API-based coding agents (like Claude Code or custom tools) charge per token. Select the model to compare against.
Total engineering team headcount using AI coding tools.
Number of discrete AI interactions per developer per working day. Typical: 10–50.
Context sent to the model per session: file content + chat history + instructions. Typically 2,000–8,000.
Generated code or response per session. Typically 500–2,000 tokens.
Used to calculate productivity savings. Include salary + benefits.
Cost breakdown
| Item | Monthly | Yearly |
|---|---|---|
| Cursor Business | $200.00 | $2,400.00 |
| Claude Sonnet 4.6 (API) (API) | $59.40 | $712.80 |
| Productivity saving (30% est.) | $20,400.00 | $244,800.00 |
Comparison
| Option | Monthly | Yearly |
|---|---|---|
| Cursor Businesscurrent | $200.00 | $2,400.00 |
| Cursor Pro | $100.00 | $1,200.00 |
| GitHub Copilot Business | $95.00 | $1,140.00 |
| Windsurf Pro | $75.00 | $900.00 |
| GitHub Copilot Individualcheapest | $50.00 | $600.00 |
| Claude Sonnet 4.6 (API) (20 sessions/dev/day)$11.88/dev/mo | $59.40 | $712.80 |
Data updated 2026-06-30 · Cursor pricing www.cursor.com/pricing · GitHub Copilot github.com/features/copilot#pricing · Windsurf windsurf.com/pricing · Anthropic API www.anthropic.com/pricing
Industry Benchmark
Data updated 2026-06-30 · Cursor pricing www.cursor.com/pricing · GitHub Copilot github.com/features/copilot#pricing · Windsurf windsurf.com/pricing · Anthropic API www.anthropic.com/pricing
Trends & comparison
Trend
Comparison (monthly vs. yearly)
Seat-based vs. API-based AI coding tools
Seat-based tools (Cursor, Copilot, Windsurf) have predictable monthly costs. API-based coding agents (Claude Code, custom GPT-4 tools) have variable costs depending on how intensively developers use them. For most teams, seat-based tools are cheaper and more predictable. API-based agents become cost-competitive only at low usage or with cheaper models.
Frequently asked questions
Is Cursor cheaper than GitHub Copilot?▾
Cursor Business ($40/user/mo) costs more than GitHub Copilot Business ($19/user/mo). However, Cursor offers more powerful features including codebase-wide context, multi-file edits, and agent mode. The productivity gain often justifies the higher cost. Use this calculator to see the total team cost and compare against API-based alternatives.
When does using the Claude/GPT API directly become cheaper than Cursor?▾
API-based coding depends heavily on usage. At 20 sessions/day with 4,000 input + 1,000 output tokens on Claude Sonnet, costs run ~$80–200/dev/month — more than any seat-based tool. API-based agents are typically only cheaper for very low-usage scenarios or when using cheaper models like Claude Haiku or GPT-5 Mini.
What productivity gains do AI coding tools provide?▾
Industry studies suggest 20–40% productivity improvement for developers using AI coding assistants. GitHub's own research reported 55% faster task completion in controlled studies. At $85/hour, a 30% gain is worth ~$4,080/dev/month — dwarfing the $20–40 tool cost.