If Cursor's pricing or model limits no longer fit, the question is which AI code editor charges in a way that matches how you work. This post compares Cursor with GitHub Copilot, Kiro, Zed and Google's Antigravity IDE on price ladders, what "included usage" means in each, and what each one leaves out. It also explains why Windsurf, the alternative most lists still include, is missing from the tables.
This comparison is based on official documentation, published specifications, and vendor pricing verified as of November 12, 2026. It is not based on hands-on use. For terminal agents instead of editors, see our Claude Code vs Codex CLI vs Antigravity CLI comparison, and for subscription costs across Cursor, Copilot and Claude Code see our pricing comparison.
Why Windsurf is not in the tables
The Windsurf editor page and pricing page now redirect to devin.ai, and the editor page is titled "Devin Desktop." The documentation, changelog and pricing pages on the new domain could not be read from where this was researched, so no plan, price or quota for the renamed product is verified here. Treat it as a candidate to check yourself and not as a gap in the comparison.
The price ladders side by side
| Tier | Cursor | GitHub Copilot | Kiro | Zed | Antigravity |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free | Limited AI usage | $0: 2,000 completions a month, auto model selection only | $0: 50 credits, open-weight models and Sonnet 4.5 with limits | $0: no Zed-hosted models, bring your own key | Weekly quota with no plan |
| Entry paid | Plus, $8 (Grok models only) | Pro, $10 | Pro, $20 | Pro, about $10 (see below) | Google AI Pro, $19.99 |
| Mid | Premium, $30 | Pro+, $39 | Pro+, $40 | None listed | None listed |
| Heavy | Super, $100 | Max, $100 | Pro Max, $100 | Business, per seat | Google AI Ultra, $99.99 |
| Top | Ultra, $200 | None | Power, $200 | None | Google AI Ultra 20x, $199.99 |
Prices come from Cursor's pricing page, GitHub's Copilot plans page, Kiro's pricing page, Zed's plans documentation and, for Antigravity, Google's Gemini subscriptions page. Zed's page implies a $10 Pro price through a spend-limit example and does not state it directly, and its separate pricing page was not read.
Normalizing "included usage"
No two vendors use the same unit. Cursor quotes multiples of its $8 Plus plan, Copilot and Kiro quote credits, Zed gives a dollar-denominated token credit, and Antigravity gives multiples of Google AI Pro. The one thing that can be converted is credits per dollar within the two vendors that publish a credit count and a price:
| Plan | Price | Monthly credits | Derived credits per dollar |
|---|---|---|---|
| Copilot Pro | $10 | 1,500 (1,000 base + 500 flex) | 150 |
| Copilot Pro+ | $39 | 7,000 (3,900 base + 3,100 flex) | about 179 |
| Copilot Max | $100 | 20,000 (10,000 base + 10,000 flex) | 200 |
| Kiro Pro | $20 | 1,000 | 50 |
| Kiro Pro+ | $40 | 2,000 | 50 |
| Kiro Pro Max | $100 | 5,000 | 50 |
| Kiro Power | $200 | 10,000 | 50 |
Copilot's rate improves with each tier, while Kiro's is flat at 50 credits per dollar on all four paid plans, and its add-on credits cost $0.04 each, which is 25 credits per dollar (derived estimate). Buying overage on Kiro therefore costs twice as much per credit as the plan itself. A Copilot credit and a Kiro credit are not the same size, because each vendor charges different credit amounts per task and per model. Kiro, for example, says Sonnet 4.6 costs about 1.3 times the credits of its Auto model for the same task. Compare rates within a vendor, not across.
Cursor and Antigravity are chained multiples. Cursor's Premium, Super and Ultra are 4x, 15x and 50x Plus, which gives derived prices of $8.00, $7.50, $6.67 and $4.00 per Plus-unit across the four tiers. Antigravity's plans page gives Pro a high quota that refreshes every five hours until a weekly limit, Ultra the highest quota, and a plan-less account a weekly quota, but it prints no multiples or credit counts.
Zed uses dollars. Pro includes a $5 monthly token credit, and hosted usage is billed at the provider's list price plus 10%, so the credit covers about $4.55 of provider list-price usage (derived estimate).
What happens when included usage runs out
| Editor | Past the included usage |
|---|---|
| Cursor | Weekly refresh; buy top-offs, with optional spending caps. Third-party models are billed separately at API list price and are not in the monthly price |
| Copilot | Paid plans have base and flex credits; the individual overage rate is not stated on the plans page |
| Kiro | Add-on credits at $0.04 each, expiring 12 months after purchase. Plan credits reset monthly and do not roll over |
| Zed | Billed at provider list price plus 10% with a spend limit; Pro defaults to $10 of incremental spend and usage stops when it is reached |
| Antigravity | Pro and Ultra can buy AI credits at Gemini Enterprise pricing, with a setting for Never or Always. Bring-your-own-key is not supported |
Where the pages conflict or go quiet
- Cursor's ladder is the X Subscription ladder. Its pricing page lists the same $8, $30, $100 and $200 tiers as xAI's announcement, and the cheapest paid tier includes Grok models and X features such as a premium checkmark. It lists no credit or token counts.
- Copilot's table did not render fully. The per-plan model and agent checkmarks were missing from the page as read, so which models each plan includes is not confirmed here. Copilot Pro is also marked "free for some users."
- Kiro's model lists differ by tier. The Free plan names Sonnet 4.5, while the model list on the same page includes Sonnet 5 and Opus 5, and availability varies by country or region.
- Antigravity's product line is in transition. Google's 2.0 announcement of May 19, 2026 describes a separate desktop app with no IDE, says the IDE stays available for now, and says the Agent Manager will be removed from the IDE in an upcoming release. The IDE page does not name the editor base or list models.
Who each editor does not fit
- Cursor: anyone who wants to know a token or request count, since none is published, or who wants third-party models included in the flat price. The $8 plan is Grok-only.
- GitHub Copilot: Free users, who get 2,000 completions a month and automatic model selection only, and cloud agent access is not included on Free.
- Kiro: people who need unused credits to roll over, who plan to route requests through third-party automation harnesses (not permitted), or who are on GovCloud, where pricing is about 20% higher.
- Zed: anyone expecting hosted models on the Free plan. It has none, and the Student plan excludes Opus, Fable and several top-tier OpenAI models.
- Antigravity: bring-your-own-key users, anyone needing published quotas, and anyone on a plan Google does not list, since the plans page names only the no-plan, Pro and Ultra tiers.
Which one for which situation
| If you want | Look at | Why, from the published pages |
|---|---|---|
| The lowest-priced paid editor | Cursor Plus at $8, or Copilot Pro and Zed Pro at about $10 | Cursor's tier is Grok-only; Copilot Pro has 1,500 credits; Zed's includes $5 of tokens |
| Your own API keys | Zed | Bring-your-own-key is allowed on every plan; Antigravity does not support it |
| Spec-driven workflows with a documented credit rate | Kiro | Spec mode, hooks and workflows consume credits at a stated flat rate |
| Credits that get cheaper as you spend more | GitHub Copilot | 150 to 200 credits per dollar across the paid tiers |
| A free tier to try an agent | Antigravity or Kiro | Antigravity gives a weekly quota; Kiro gives 50 credits |
| A student discount | Zed, Kiro or Copilot | Zed Student is free for a year with a $10 credit, Kiro lists a free year for students, and Copilot Student is free |
FAQ
What happened to Windsurf?
Windsurf's website now redirects to devin.ai, and the editor page is titled Devin Desktop. The pages on the new domain could not be read, so this comparison does not cover its plans.
Which Cursor alternative has the cheapest paid plan?
Cursor's own Plus plan is $8, but it includes Grok models only. Among the alternatives, GitHub Copilot Pro and Zed Pro are about $10, and Kiro Pro and Google AI Pro are about $20.
Can I use my own API key instead of a subscription?
In Zed, yes, on every plan. Antigravity's plans page states that bring-your-own-key and bring-your-own-endpoint are not supported.
Last verified: November 12, 2026. AI editor plans change often, and several vendors changed their billing within the past months. Pages that could not be read: Windsurf and Devin Desktop pricing, documentation and changelog on devin.ai, and Zed's own pricing page.