VS Code vs Cursor vs JetBrains: Which to Use in 2026

Visual Studio Code, Cursor and JetBrains IDEs all write code well. They differ in price, how AI is built in and how much they do without extensions.

This guide compares them using each company's own documentation as of October 22, 2026.

I did not test the editors hands-on for this article. The comparison rests on official pricing, licensing and feature pages, which I read directly because many third-party guides were already out of date.

The short answer

Choose VS Code if you want a free, flexible editor and are happy to add AI through GitHub Copilot or other tools. Choose Cursor if you want AI at the center of the editor and accept a usage-based plan.

Choose a JetBrains IDE if you work mostly in one language and value deep built-in code tools. All three can run Claude Code in some form.

At a glance

This table compares the three on the points that most affect the choice. Details follow in the sections below.

Question	VS Code	Cursor	JetBrains IDEs
Base editor cost	Free	Free plan with limited usage	Free for non-commercial use, paid otherwise
Built on	Its own open source core	VS Code, rebased regularly	Its own IDE platform
AI built in	Through GitHub Copilot and other tools	Core feature	JetBrains AI and the Junie agent
Extensions	VS Code Marketplace	VS Code based	JetBrains plugins
Typical use	General editing across languages	AI-first coding	Deep language-specific work

The extension row for Cursor follows from its documentation, which says it rebases onto the latest VS Code. I did not test how many individual extensions work.

Visual Studio Code

VS Code's license page says the source code is available on GitHub under the MIT license, and that the license on the page applies to the VS Code product itself. The editor is free to download.

You add languages, debuggers and tools through extensions, which you install from the Visual Studio Marketplace. VS Code's documentation notes that extensions update automatically.

VS Code and AI

VS Code's setup documentation says that signing in without a plan enrolls an eligible account in Copilot Free. Models included with Copilot use AI credits from your Copilot plan.

The page adds that if you bring your own Claude key, use a ChatGPT subscription or supply your own model credentials, that provider handles usage and billing. VS Code's docs also describe agents and an Agents window.

GitHub Copilot plans

GitHub's plan documentation lists these plans. Free users are limited to 2,000 completions and entry-level models each month, according to GitHub's FAQ.

Plan	Price	Base AI credits
Copilot Free	$0	Limited
Copilot Pro	$10 per month	1,000
Copilot Pro+	$39 per month	3,900
Copilot Max	$100 per month	10,000
Copilot Business	$19 per seat per month	1,900
Copilot Enterprise	$39 per seat per month	3,900

GitHub's marketing page and documentation show credit values in different places, so check the live page before you budget.

Cursor

Cursor's documentation says it regularly rebases onto the latest VS Code version to stay current, and often uses slightly older versions for stability. So it looks and feels like VS Code, with AI features added.

Cursor's migration page also says Cursor made the activity bar horizontal to leave room for the AI chat. You can switch it back to vertical in settings.

Cursor's pricing has changed

Cursor's current documentation says it is now sold inside The X Subscription, a single plan that covers Grok, Cursor and X. Each paid plan gets one weekly usage pool for Cursor models, and Grok draws from the same pool.

Plan	Price	Included usage
Free	$0	Limited
Plus	$8 per month	Base
Premium	$30 per month	4 times Plus
Super	$100 per month	15 times Plus
Ultra	$200 per month	50 times Plus
Teams	$30, $100 or $200 per seat per month	Matches the seat's tier
Enterprise	Custom	Pooled

Annual billing is $80 for Plus, $300 for Premium, $1,000 for Super and $2,000 for Ultra, according to the same page. Prices exclude tax.

What the Cursor plans include

Cursor's documentation says Plus covers Cursor's own models with fixed settings, and does not include Auto, Cloud Agents, Automations, Bugbot, third-party models or your own API keys.

Premium adds Cloud Agents, Automations, code hosting, code review with Bugbot and third-party models at API list price, paid from prepaid credit. Third-party model usage is not included in the monthly price.

Older Cursor plans

Cursor's documentation says the older plans, Hobby, Start, Pro, Pro+, Ultra and the Teams Standard and Premium seats, are legacy plans that keep working for existing customers.

That explains why many guides still quote $20 for Pro and $60 for Pro+. They describe plans a new customer may not see. Always check cursor.com/pricing before you decide.

JetBrains IDEs

JetBrains' store says its IDEs are free for non-commercial use, and the license terms decide what counts. Schools, universities and some community programs also qualify for free licenses.

The publisher's snap page says IntelliJ IDEA is now one unified product from the 2025.3 release onward. All former Community Edition functionality remains free for commercial and non-commercial use, and an Ultimate subscription unlocks more tools.

JetBrains prices vary by product, region and year of subscription, so I do not quote an IDE price here. Check the JetBrains store for your product.

JetBrains AI plans

JetBrains' licensing documentation lists AI tiers. Each license includes a quota of AI credits, which are used when you use features that rely on cloud models.

Tier	Price	AI credits
AI Free	Free	3 per 30 days
AI Pro	$10	10 per 30 days
AI Ultimate	$30	35 per 30 days
AI Enterprise	Organizations only	Through IDE services

The documentation says credits correspond to the subscription price, and that the AI Free and Ultimate tiers are available in most IDEs from version 2025.1.

Junie

JetBrains' IDE help describes Junie as an AI coding agent that can work on its own or alongside you. It performs tasks using project context, makes edits using IDE inspections and runs code and tests to reduce errors.

The Junie plugin works with IntelliJ IDEA and some other JetBrains IDEs, according to the same page.

Using Claude Code with each

Claude Code's IDE documentation offers extensions for VS Code and Cursor, and says the extension also installs in other VS Code forks. That gives you inline diffs and an interface inside the editor.

JetBrains is different for one detail. Claude Code's terminal documentation says Shift+Enter is not available in JetBrains IDE terminals such as PyCharm, so you use Ctrl+J or a backslash then Enter. Our terminal setup guide has the full table.

How to choose

This section is our analysis, built on the documents above. It is not a ranking, because the best editor depends on your work.

What each costs for AI

These are list prices for the entry tiers that include more than a trial. They are not total costs, because usage, taxes and third-party models change them.

Tool	Entry paid AI tier	Higher tiers
GitHub Copilot	Pro at $10 per month	Pro+ at $39 and Max at $100
Cursor	Plus at $8 per month	Premium at $30, Super at $100 and Ultra at $200
JetBrains AI	AI Pro at $10 per 30 days	AI Ultimate at $30

The tiers are not equal. Cursor's Plus excludes third-party models, and each product measures usage in a different unit. Compare what you will actually use.

Questions to ask before you switch

• Do you need third-party models? Cursor's cheapest paid plan does not include them.
• Do you work in one language? A JetBrains IDE may save more time than a general editor.
• Do you use a team license? Check Teams and Business pricing, which differ from individual plans.
• Will you keep using the terminal? Check terminal behavior for your tools.

What a team of five would pay

Price per seat is easy to compare once you multiply it out. I calculated the monthly and yearly cost for five developers from the plan prices that GitHub and Cursor listed on their pricing pages on October 23, 2026.

VS Code itself is free, so the cost is only the AI plan.

The individual plans are shown first, as a simple comparison. Organizations should check the team plans, because they differ in features and billing.

Plan	Per developer per month	Five developers per month	Five developers per year
GitHub Copilot Pro	$10	$50	$600
GitHub Copilot Business	$19 per seat	$95	$1,140
GitHub Copilot Enterprise	$39 per seat	$195	$2,340
Cursor Plus	$8	$40	$480
Cursor Premium	$30	$150	$1,800

The spread is large. The cheapest option here costs a quarter of the dearest, and the right answer depends on how much AI work your team does.

The plans also meter usage differently, so a low price can run out early for heavy users. Our guide to pricing AI features explains credits and allowances.

A one-week trial that gives real answers

Opinions about editors are loud and unreliable. A short, structured trial gives better evidence. This plan is our suggestion.

Moving settings and habits

Cursor is built on the same foundation as VS Code, so many keybindings and extensions carry over, but check each extension you rely on before you switch.

Keep your project settings in the repository so any editor reads them the same way.

Whichever editor you choose, put formatting and linting rules in files in the project and enforce them in continuous integration. Then the choice of editor stays a personal one and does not change the code.

Frequently asked questions

Is Cursor better than VS Code?

Cursor puts AI at the center and is based on VS Code. VS Code is free and flexible. Which is better depends on how much you want AI built in.

Is Cursor free?

Cursor has a free plan with limited usage, according to its documentation. The more capable plans are paid.

Is VS Code free?

Yes. The editor is free, and its source is available under the MIT license. Copilot has its own plans.

Is JetBrains free?

JetBrains says its IDEs are free for non-commercial use, and the unified IntelliJ IDEA keeps its Community features free.

Can I use Claude Code in these editors?

Yes for VS Code and Cursor through its extension. JetBrains terminals handle Shift+Enter differently.

What about Windsurf, Antigravity and Codex?

I did not verify those tools for this guide, so I do not compare them here.

How much does it cost to give a team AI coding tools?

For five developers, the listed plans I compared ranged from $480 to $2,340 a year. Check team plans and usage limits for your case.

Can I switch between editors easily?

Often yes, because Cursor shares VS Code's foundation, but test your extensions first.

A quick checklist

• Check each tool's live pricing page before you buy.
• Try one real project in each editor.
• Decide whether you need third-party models.
• Check how your terminal and extensions behave.
• Re-check after any big plan change.

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