AI coding assistants · November 2026 Edition
GitHub Copilot vs Cursor
Thirteen of fourteen models named GitHub Copilot first on the direct prompt; zero named Cursor. Both were named by all fourteen models and GitHub Copilot carries 80 labels and Cursor 63, so the shares are not directly comparable.
Named in three categories this edition.
Named in three categories this edition.
First-choice share80%2%Of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts, 0 to 100.
Negative rate12%25%Negative labels as a share of the product's labels, 0 to 100.
Rank in category#1#4A position in a field of 11; printed, not drawn.
Labels8063A count; the two differ.
The two percentage rows are drawn on one 0 to 100 track, GitHub Copilot reading right to left. Rank and label count are printed, not drawn.Claude Code was named alongside these two in eight of the fourteen direct answers. GitHub Copilot vs Windsurf · GitHub Copilot vs Tabnine · GitHub Copilot vs Aider
Share is the count of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts over all fourteen models, for a mid-market B2B company; rank is within the category; every quote names the model and the prompt it came from. Both figures come from the AI coding assistants page.
By framing
How many of the fourteen models made each the first choice, per way of asking, and how many argued against it.
GitHub CopilotFirst choices, of fourteen modelsCursor
Direct1301 against Cursor
Paraphrase1401 against Cursor
Comparative106
Budget-constrained911 against GitHub Copilot · 5 against Cursor
Scale-constrained00
Negative009 against GitHub Copilot · 9 against Cursor
Bars are first choices, 0 to 14 each sideModels that argued againstA model can name both, so the two sides of a row do not sum to fourteen.
Across every category in the November 2026 Edition, GitHub Copilot and Cursor were named in the same answer 179 times, of the 235 answers naming GitHub Copilot and the 184 naming Cursor. In those answers Cursor took the first choice eight times and GitHub Copilot 107.
Every model, every framing
The eighty-four answers behind the chart above, one cell each: where GitHub Copilot and Cursor stood in it.
| Model | Direct | Paraphrase | Comparative | Budget-constrained | Scale-constrained | Negative |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Claude Haiku 4.5 | | | | | ||
| GPT-5.4 mini | | | | | | |
| Gemini 3.5 Flash | | | | | ||
| Perplexity Sonar | | | | | | |
| Grok 4.20 | | | | | | |
| Mistral Small | | | | | | |
| DeepSeek V4 Flash | | | | | | |
| Llama 4 Maverick | | | | |||
| Qwen 3.7 Flash | | | | | ||
| Kimi K2 | | | | | | |
| GLM 4.7 FlashX | | | | | | |
| MiniMax M2.5 | | | | | ||
| GPT-6 Luna | | | | | | |
| Muse Glimmer 30B | | | | | |
GitHub Copilot Cursor first choice named as an alternative argued againstblank: not namedEach cell is one answer, GitHub Copilot on the left and Cursor on the right.The direct prompt
The plain question, one answer per model, grouped by where GitHub Copilot and Cursor stood in it.
GitHub Copilot first, Cursor an alternative
13 of 14 modelsCursor was named in the answer but not as the choice, or not at all.Claude Haiku 4.5Claude, GitHub Copilot
Gemini 3.5 FlashGitHub Copilot alternatives: Cursor, Tabnine, Windsurf
Perplexity SonarGitHub Copilot alternatives: Claude Code, Cursor, Tabnine
Grok 4.20GitHub Copilot alternatives: Amazon Q Developer, Anthropic, Claude Code, Cursor, Gemini Code Assist
Mistral SmallGitHub Copilot alternatives: Claude Code, Cursor, Superblocks
DeepSeek V4 FlashGitHub Copilot alternatives: Amazon Q Developer, Claude Code, Cursor, Sourcegraph Cody
Llama 4 MaverickGitHub Copilot alternatives: Claude Code, Cursor, Windsurf
Qwen 3.7 FlashGitHub Copilot alternatives: Anthropic, Augment Code, Claude Code, Cursor
Kimi K2GitHub Copilot alternatives: Amazon Q Developer, Tabnine
GLM 4.7 FlashXGitHub Copilot alternatives: Tabnine, Windsurf
MiniMax M2.5GitHub Copilot alternatives: Amazon Q Developer, Claude Code, Cursor, Sourcegraph Cody
GPT-6 LunaGitHub Copilot alternatives: Claude Code, Cursor
Muse Glimmer 30BGitHub Copilot alternatives: Amazon Q Developer, Cursor, Tabnine
Neither was the first choice, one was named
1 of 14 modelsThe answer put something else first and named one of the two as an alternative.GPT-5.4 miniGitHub Copilot Business or Enterprise alternatives: Amazon Q Developer, Cursor
Bold names in an answer are the products the judge labeled a first choice; a model naming several gives each of them that label. The full answer text for every row is in the record.
By buyer segment
The same question asked on behalf of a different buyer. Each standing is computed within its segment and they are never added together. The figures above are the mid-market standing, which is the one the category orders by.
Small business
GitHub Copilot leads by sixty-one points.
GitHub Copilot73%#1 of 9Cursor12%#2 of 9Mid-marketThe figures above
GitHub Copilot leads by seventy-eight points.
GitHub Copilot80%#1 of 11Cursor2%#4 of 11Enterprise
GitHub Copilot leads by eighty-six points.
GitHub Copilot86%#1 of 9Cursor0%#7 of 9What the models said about GitHub Copilot
Every negative label with a quote, up to three, then the highest-weighted positives, up to three. Six of eight in this category shown.
“GitHub explicitly warns that Copilot CLI and cloud-agent workflows need extra caution around command execution, sensitive information, and inaccurate code.” GPT-5.4 mini · negative prompt · soft negative
“Highest visibility in risks—can memorize/leak real secrets, API keys, or training data snippets... consumer/free tiers are riskier.” Grok 4.20 · negative prompt · soft negative
“AI coding assistants like Copilot and Cursor introduce 45% vulnerability rates, secret leaks, and prompt injection risks in 2026.” Claude Haiku 4.5 · negative prompt · soft negative
“I'd suggest evaluating GitHub Copilot (strong industry adoption) and Claude (excellent for complex reasoning) as starting points” Claude Haiku 4.5 · direct prompt · first choice
“Start with GitHub Copilot if you're already on GitHub — it's the safest, most mature, and most widely adopted option” DeepSeek V4 Flash · direct prompt · first choice
“GitHub Copilot is widely considered the best all-around AI coding assistant for mid-market B2B companies.” Qwen 3.7 Flash · direct prompt · first choice
What the models said about Cursor
Every negative label with a quote, up to three, then the highest-weighted positives, up to three. Six of seven in this category shown.
“Verdict: Use with extreme caution, especially without enterprise controls and Privacy Mode explicitly enabled.” Kimi K2 · negative prompt · hard negative
“Cursor's pricing page indicates model usage can be billed separately at list price for third-party models, which can make spend less predictable.” GPT-5.4 mini · budget prompt · soft negative
“Be particularly cautious with: Autonomous agent modes in tools such as Claude Code, Cursor, Codex, Aider, Devin, and Copilot Workspace” Perplexity Sonar · negative prompt · soft negative
“Pick Cursor or Windsurf if: You want the most seamless experience for multi-file refactoring and rapid feature generation” Gemini 3.5 Flash · comparative prompt · first choice
“If you want the most powerful AI experience and don't mind switching editors → Go with Cursor.” DeepSeek V4 Flash · comparative prompt · first choice
“Cursor is currently the dominant choice due to its seamless balance of power and ease of use” Qwen 3.7 Flash · comparative prompt · first choice
Also compared
Comparisons are drawn for the top eight products in each category, each against each. The output is the models' output; nothing here is a recommendation by the index.