GitHub Copilot vs Windsurf
Cheapest paid tier each vendor publishes. Free plans are listed above; tiers priced on request are not plotted because there is no figure to plot.
Where they differ
Only on GitHub Copilot
- Lower entry price: $10/mo against $20/mo
- AI chat
- Pair programming
- Also on Web, VS Code, iOS and Android
Only on Windsurf
- AI agents
- Agentic coding
- Code review
- Also on macOS, Windows and Linux
From the pricing tiers and capability tags we track. A capability missing on one side means we have not recorded it there, not that the tool cannot do it.
At a glance
GitHub Copilot and Windsurf both appear in this directory's code listings. Prices below were read from the vendors' own pages, most recently on October 19, 2026. Paid plans start at $10/mo on GitHub Copilot and $20/mo on Windsurf. We track ai chat on GitHub Copilot and ai agents on Windsurf; both cover code completion and ide integration. No score and no winner: the facts do the picking.
Capability tags are factual labels we assign when a tool is added; they describe what a tool does, not how well it does it.
Checked against the vendors. Written from each vendor's own site and last re-checked there: GitHub Copilot (under review since October 19, 2026) · Windsurf on October 12, 2026. Vendors change pricing and features without notice, so confirm anything that decides your purchase on the vendor's page.
GitHub Copilot
AI pair programmer built into your editor
GitHub Copilot suggests code inline as you type and answers coding questions in a chat panel. It runs in VS Code, JetBrains IDEs, Neovim, Visual Studio, and the GitHub web UI, and includes review, agent, and CLI features on higher plans.
Windsurf
Agent-first coding IDE, now shipping as Cognition's Devin Desktop
Windsurf is a standalone AI coding IDE from Cognition, the company behind Devin, and windsurf.com now redirects to it as Devin Desktop. It runs coding agents alongside a normal editor, with an Agent Command Center for supervising several at once. Plans start at a free tier, with Pro at $20 a month.
Also in code
A tool we have an affiliate relationship with. It is not part of the comparison above and we are not calling it the better pick.
- Automating end-to-end tests for pull requests
- Testing third-party web apps without source code access
- Validating desktop, web, and extension user interfaces
Key features
GitHub Copilot
- Inline code completions in major IDEs
- Chat and code explanations in-editor
- Agent mode for multi-file changes
- Pull request summaries and reviews on GitHub
- Choice of underlying models on paid plans
Windsurf
- Agent Command Center for running several agents at once
- Kanban view for tracking agent tasks
- Fast Context codebase search
- Supercomplete predictive editing
- Multiple models via the Agent Client Protocol
What each one does well
GitHub Copilot
- ✓ Speeding up boilerplate and repetitive code
- ✓ Learning an unfamiliar language or API through in-editor chat
- ✓ Teams that already use GitHub for source control and reviews
Windsurf
- ✓ Supervising several coding agents on one codebase
- ✓ Working in an editor built around agents rather than autocomplete
- ✓ Teams that want agent tasks tracked on a board
People also ask
Which is cheaper, GitHub Copilot or Windsurf?
GitHub Copilot is cheaper: paid plans start at $10/mo for GitHub Copilot and $20/mo for Windsurf.
Does GitHub Copilot or Windsurf have a free plan?
Both GitHub Copilot and Windsurf publish a free plan.
What is the difference between GitHub Copilot and Windsurf?
GitHub Copilot and Windsurf are both tracked for code-completion, ide-integration. Of the capabilities they do not share, only GitHub Copilot is tracked for ai-chat, pair-programming, and only Windsurf is tracked for ai-agents, agentic-coding, code-review, codebase-context.
How much do GitHub Copilot and Windsurf cost?
GitHub Copilot: free plan, then $10/mo. Windsurf: free plan, then $20/mo.
Answers are generated from the tracked plans and capability tags shown above, so they move when the vendors' pages do.
Full fact sheets, FAQs, and discussion links: GitHub Copilot · Windsurf · all code tools