In this guide · 8 sections
- 01Quick comparison: Copilot vs Cursor vs Claude Code
- 02Price per seat in October 2026
- 03What the benchmarks say: SWE-bench and coding agent indexes
- 04Is your code private? Training and data settings
- 05Risks of AI-written code for a small business
- 06A short AI policy for contractors working on your code
- 07Do it yourself or get help?
- 08Frequently asked questions
Short answer
For a small team, GitHub Copilot Business (US$19 per user a month) or Claude Team (from US$20 per seat a month, with Claude Code) are the usual choices. Use business plans, not personal ones, so your code is not used for training, and require human review of every AI-written change.
Quick comparison: Copilot vs Cursor vs Claude Code
The three tools work differently. Copilot lives inside the editor and GitHub; Cursor is its own editor; Claude Code is an agent that works in the terminal and can make multi-file changes. Prices are from each vendor's page, approximate, as of October 2026.
GitHub Copilot
Most commonBusiness US$19/user/mo
- Works in VS Code, JetBrains and on GitHub
- Business and Enterprise data not used for training
- Admin policies and content exclusion
- Usage measured in GitHub AI credits
Best for: Teams already on GitHub who want central control.
Cursor
Teams from US$30/user/mo
- A separate code editor with built-in agent
- Individual plans centre on Grok models
- Third-party models billed separately by usage
Best for: Developers who want an AI-first editor.
Claude Code (Anthropic)
Top benchmark scoresTeam from US$20/seat/mo
- Agent that plans and edits across many files
- Included with Claude Pro, Max and Team
- Team plan: no training on your content by default
Best for: Larger changes and agent-style work, with review.
Price per seat in October 2026
Sources: GitHub Copilot billing for organisations, GitHub Copilot plans, Cursor pricing and Claude pricing, checked 18 October 2026. US dollars, before tax.
| Plan | Price | What is included |
|---|---|---|
| Copilot Business | US$19/user/mo | 1,900 AI credits per user; broad model catalogue |
| Copilot Enterprise | US$39/user/mo | 3,900 AI credits per user; needs GitHub Enterprise Cloud |
| Copilot Pro (individual) | US$10/mo | Personal plan; no central admin |
| Cursor Teams | From US$30/user/mo | Pooled usage; third-party model usage extra |
| Claude Pro (individual) | US$17/mo annual, US$20 monthly | Includes Claude Code |
| Claude Team, standard seat | US$20/mo annual, US$25 monthly | 2 to 150 seats; Claude Code included |
| Claude Team, premium seat | US$100/mo annual, US$125 monthly | 5x the usage of a standard seat |
Usage limits matter as much as the headline price. Copilot meters chat and agent work in credits, Cursor bills third-party models by usage, and Claude plans have rolling usage limits. A developer who uses agents all day may need a higher tier.
What the benchmarks say: SWE-bench and coding agent indexes
SWE-bench Verified measures how many of 500 human-checked real GitHub issues a system can fix. Its 'bash only' view runs every model in the same minimal agent, for a fair model comparison. When we checked on 18 October 2026, the newest bash-only entries dated from February 2026, led by Claude 4.5 Opus at 76.8% resolved, so it does not yet cover the latest models.
For current tools, Artificial Analysis's coding agent benchmarks test whole agent products on three task sets, including cost and time per task:
| Agent and model | Coding Agent Index | API cost per task | Time per task |
|---|---|---|---|
| Claude Code, Sonnet 5.5 (max) | 68 | US$14.19 | 1.5 hours |
| Claude Code, Opus 5.5 (max) | 66 | US$13.04 | 1.1 hours |
| Antigravity CLI, Gemini 4 Argon | 64 | US$5.84 | 34.5 minutes |
| Codex, GPT-6 Astra (max) | 62 | US$7.47 | 29.4 minutes |
| Codex, GPT-6.1 Sol (max) | 60 | US$1.55 | 24.4 minutes |
The spread is narrow at the top and wide on cost. For routine fixes on a small business website, the cheaper, faster options are often enough. Our benchmark explainer covers what these scores do and do not tell you.
Is your code private? Training and data settings
This is the question to ask any developer working on your systems. The answer depends on the plan, not just the tool.
- GitHub Copilot: GitHub announced in March 2026 that from 24 April 2026, interaction data from Copilot Free, Pro and Pro+ users, including code snippets and context, is used to train its models unless the user opts out. Copilot Business and Enterprise are not affected.
- Claude: Anthropic's pricing page lists model training as opt-out on Free, Pro and Max, and 'no model training on your content by default' on Team and Enterprise.
- Content exclusion: Copilot's organisation plans let admins exclude files and folders, for example configuration files, from being used by Copilot.
If a freelancer uses a personal plan on your code with training switched on, snippets of your code may be used to train a vendor's models. Ask which plan they use and whether training is off.
Risks of AI-written code for a small business
AI assistants write plausible code quickly, which is also the risk. Three issues come up most:
- Unreviewed changes. An agent can change many files at once. Without review and testing, a bug or security hole reaches your live site.
- New packages. Assistants often suggest adding open-source packages. CSA's 2026 advisories show how poisoned npm packages spread; see our guide to the npm supply-chain attack.
- Secrets in prompts. Pasting API keys, database passwords or customer data into a chat sends them to the vendor.
A simple rule covers most of this: do not give an AI coding agent direct access to your live database, payment gateway keys or hosting control panel. Let it work on a copy, and have a person review and deploy the changes.
A short AI policy for contractors working on your code
Add these points to your contract or statement of work. They are short enough that a freelancer will actually read them.
Contractor AI rules
The last point matters beyond AI. Our guide to getting your website and domain access back from an agency explains why you should own the accounts.
Do it yourself or get help?
If you have an in-house developer, let them choose the tool, but pay for a business plan centrally so you control billing, settings and offboarding. If you rely on a freelancer, send them the policy above and ask for a written reply.
If you need a custom tool built, our Custom Tool or Dashboard service (from S$1,990) is written to a spec, reviewed by a person and delivered in repositories you own. Security Awareness Training (S$390) includes safe use of AI tools for your whole team, not just developers.
Frequently asked questions
On Artificial Analysis's coding agent index in October 2026, Claude Code with Sonnet 5.5 and Opus 5.5 scored highest, followed by Google's Antigravity CLI and OpenAI's Codex. The top scorers were also the most expensive and slowest per task. For routine website work, a cheaper option may be enough, so test on your own tasks.
GitHub lists Copilot Business at US$19 per user per month, including 1,900 AI credits per user, and Copilot Enterprise at US$39 per user per month with 3,900 credits, which requires GitHub Enterprise Cloud. Usage beyond the included credits can be paid for by setting a budget, at US$0.01 per credit.
It depends on the plan. GitHub says that from 24 April 2026, interaction data from Copilot Free, Pro and Pro+ users, including code snippets, is used for training unless the user opts out. Copilot Business and Enterprise users are not affected. Businesses should use an organisation plan for work on company code.
Yes. Anthropic's pricing page lists Claude Code as included with Pro, Max, Team and Enterprise plans, but not the Free plan. Team standard seats cost US$20 per month billed annually or US$25 monthly, and premium seats with five times the usage cost US$100 or US$125.
Yes, with rules. Ask them to use a business plan where code is not used for training, keep secrets and customer data out of prompts, review and test every AI change, get approval before adding new packages, and keep all repositories and accounts in your company's name.