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AI Coding Tool Plan Comparison

Which fixed coding plan is cheapest for my team's usage?

How this tool works

This tool compares fixed AI coding tool plans against your own API-equivalent monthly developer cost. It applies published seat prices, annual-equivalent discounts where available, and minimum-seat rules without pretending every plan page translates into one exact token allowance.

How It Works

  1. Set team size, monthly active developers, and your API-equivalent monthly cost per active developer.
  2. Apply published fixed plan seat prices and minimum-seat rules from the dated coding-plan snapshot.
  3. Compare monthly team spend, cost per active developer, and delta versus the API baseline.

Formulas

api_monthly_spend = monthly_active_developers * api_equivalent_cost_per_active_developer_month

fixed_plan_monthly_spend = billed_seats * monthly_seat_price

fixed_plan_beats_api when fixed_plan_monthly_spend < api_monthly_spend

Assumptions and Units

  • Currency: USD
  • Plan pricing source: dated coding-plan snapshot in repo, no runtime scraping
  • API-equivalent monthly cost is your own baseline estimate, not a vendor allowance conversion
  • Soft limits and included usage stay qualitative unless a vendor publishes deterministic overage pricing

Example Scenario

Use this for Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, or GitHub Copilot when the real question is which fixed plan is cheaper for your team before you go deeper on workflow cost.

FAQs

Why not convert every plan into tokens? Because most coding-tool plan pages do not publish one stable deterministic quota. The honest first-order comparison is seat spend against your own API-equivalent monthly baseline.

What if I need workflow-side cost after I pick a plan? Move next to AI Coding Agent Cost to model request volume, retrieval, reranking, cache, and infra behind the workflow itself.

Related resources: AI Coding Agent Cost, Fixed Plan vs API Pricing for Coding Tools, AI Coding Agent Cost per Developer, Model Selection: Quality vs Unit Cost, How Model Switching Changes Margin.

Coding plan snapshot: 2026-04-12Included plans: 16Billing: Monthly

Headline metric

Fixed plan wins

GitHub GitHub Copilot Pro is currently lowest at $100 per month.

That is -$500 versus your API baseline of $600 per month.

Step 1 Team and Usage

Use your own team shape and API-equivalent baseline instead of guessing from vendor marketing allowances.
  • Use active developers, not total headcount, when some licensed seats stay mostly quiet.
  • Keep the API baseline honest. This tool compares against your own workload, not a fake quota conversion.

Scenario actions

Copy scenario URL

Share this exact team-size and API-baseline comparison.

Save and track

This comparison is share-only for now. Fixed-plan allowances, premium-request bundles, and soft limits are better reviewed against the latest coding-plan snapshot than treated as a saved tracked scenario.

Winner monthly team spend

$100.00

API baseline spend

$600.00

Cheapest fixed plan / active developer

$12.50

Active share

80%

What moves the comparison

Sensitivity shows how the current winner-versus-API gap changes if one variable rises by 10%.
Monthly Active Developers-$75.00
Api Equivalent Cost Per Active Developer Month-$60.00
Team Size+$10.00

Plan comparison

Fixed plans are ranked by current monthly team spend after minimum-seat rules are applied.

Soft limits and included allowances stay qualitative. Use this table for first-order spend comparison, not fake token-cap math.

GitHub GitHub Copilot ProPremium request allowances and model availability vary by plan.
Billed seats
10
Team spend
$100.00
Cost / active developer
$12.50
Delta vs API
-$500.00
Source
Plans for GitHub Copilot
GitHub GitHub Copilot Business BusinessBusiness pricing is seat-based and premium-request overage is separate from the monthly license.
Billed seats
10
Team spend
$190.00
Cost / active developer
$23.75
Delta vs API
-$410.00
Source
Plans for GitHub Copilot
OpenAI ChatGPT PlusCodex usage limits vary by task size and complexity.
Billed seats
10
Team spend
$200.00
Cost / active developer
$25.00
Delta vs API
-$400.00
Source
Using Codex with your ChatGPT plan
Anthropic Claude ProAnthropic publishes qualitative usage tiers rather than deterministic included quotas.
Billed seats
10
Team spend
$200.00
Cost / active developer
$25.00
Delta vs API
-$400.00
Source
Claude pricing
Cursor Cursor ProIncluded usage is plan-specific and overflow can add on-demand charges.
Billed seats
10
Team spend
$200.00
Cost / active developer
$25.00
Delta vs API
-$400.00
Source
Cursor pricing
OpenAI ChatGPT Business Standard seatThe 2-seat minimum and credit-based overage can move effective monthly spend.
Billed seats
10
Team spend
$250.00
Cost / active developer
$31.25
Delta vs API
-$350.00
Source
What is ChatGPT Business?
GitHub GitHub Copilot Enterprise EnterpriseEnterprise pricing is seat-based and premium-request overage is separate from the monthly license.
Billed seats
10
Team spend
$390.00
Cost / active developer
$48.75
Delta vs API
-$210.00
Source
Plans for GitHub Copilot
GitHub GitHub Copilot Pro+Premium request allowances and model availability vary by plan.
Billed seats
10
Team spend
$390.00
Cost / active developer
$48.75
Delta vs API
-$210.00
Source
Plans for GitHub Copilot
Cursor Cursor Teams TeamsOverflow usage is billed separately, so the headline seat price is not the full spend ceiling.
Billed seats
10
Team spend
$400.00
Cost / active developer
$50.00
Delta vs API
-$200.00
Source
Cursor pricing
Cursor Cursor Pro+Included usage is plan-specific and overflow can add on-demand charges.
Billed seats
10
Team spend
$600.00
Cost / active developer
$75.00
Delta vs API
$0.00
Source
Cursor pricing
OpenAI ChatGPT Pro 5xConsumer Pro plans still follow abuse guardrails and task-dependent usage limits.
Billed seats
10
Team spend
$1,000.00
Cost / active developer
$125.00
Delta vs API
+$400.00
Source
About ChatGPT Pro plans
Anthropic Claude Max 5xThe help article discloses plan price and qualitative capacity tier, not a deterministic token quota.
Billed seats
10
Team spend
$1,000.00
Cost / active developer
$125.00
Delta vs API
+$400.00
Source
Choisir un plan Claude
Anthropic Claude Team Premium seatThe 5-seat minimum and qualitative usage limits matter more than the headline seat price on small teams.
Billed seats
10
Team spend
$1,500.00
Cost / active developer
$187.50
Delta vs API
+$900.00
Source
Anthropic pricing
OpenAI ChatGPT Pro 20xConsumer Pro plans still follow abuse guardrails and task-dependent usage limits.
Billed seats
10
Team spend
$2,000.00
Cost / active developer
$250.00
Delta vs API
+$1,400.00
Source
About ChatGPT Pro plans
Anthropic Claude Max 20xThe help article discloses plan price and qualitative capacity tier, not a deterministic token quota.
Billed seats
10
Team spend
$2,000.00
Cost / active developer
$250.00
Delta vs API
+$1,400.00
Source
Choisir un plan Claude
Cursor Cursor UltraIncluded usage is plan-specific and overflow can add on-demand charges.
Billed seats
10
Team spend
$2,000.00
Cost / active developer
$250.00
Delta vs API
+$1,400.00
Source
Cursor pricing
PlanBilled seatsTeam spendCost / active developerDelta vs APISource
GitHub GitHub Copilot ProPremium request allowances and model availability vary by plan.10$100.00$12.50-$500.00Plans for GitHub Copilot
GitHub GitHub Copilot Business BusinessBusiness pricing is seat-based and premium-request overage is separate from the monthly license.10$190.00$23.75-$410.00Plans for GitHub Copilot
OpenAI ChatGPT PlusCodex usage limits vary by task size and complexity.10$200.00$25.00-$400.00Using Codex with your ChatGPT plan
Anthropic Claude ProAnthropic publishes qualitative usage tiers rather than deterministic included quotas.10$200.00$25.00-$400.00Claude pricing
Cursor Cursor ProIncluded usage is plan-specific and overflow can add on-demand charges.10$200.00$25.00-$400.00Cursor pricing
OpenAI ChatGPT Business Standard seatThe 2-seat minimum and credit-based overage can move effective monthly spend.10$250.00$31.25-$350.00What is ChatGPT Business?
GitHub GitHub Copilot Enterprise EnterpriseEnterprise pricing is seat-based and premium-request overage is separate from the monthly license.10$390.00$48.75-$210.00Plans for GitHub Copilot
GitHub GitHub Copilot Pro+Premium request allowances and model availability vary by plan.10$390.00$48.75-$210.00Plans for GitHub Copilot
Cursor Cursor Teams TeamsOverflow usage is billed separately, so the headline seat price is not the full spend ceiling.10$400.00$50.00-$200.00Cursor pricing
Cursor Cursor Pro+Included usage is plan-specific and overflow can add on-demand charges.10$600.00$75.00$0.00Cursor pricing
OpenAI ChatGPT Pro 5xConsumer Pro plans still follow abuse guardrails and task-dependent usage limits.10$1,000.00$125.00+$400.00About ChatGPT Pro plans
Anthropic Claude Max 5xThe help article discloses plan price and qualitative capacity tier, not a deterministic token quota.10$1,000.00$125.00+$400.00Choisir un plan Claude
Anthropic Claude Team Premium seatThe 5-seat minimum and qualitative usage limits matter more than the headline seat price on small teams.10$1,500.00$187.50+$900.00Anthropic pricing
OpenAI ChatGPT Pro 20xConsumer Pro plans still follow abuse guardrails and task-dependent usage limits.10$2,000.00$250.00+$1,400.00About ChatGPT Pro plans
Anthropic Claude Max 20xThe help article discloses plan price and qualitative capacity tier, not a deterministic token quota.10$2,000.00$250.00+$1,400.00Choisir un plan Claude
Cursor Cursor UltraIncluded usage is plan-specific and overflow can add on-demand charges.10$2,000.00$250.00+$1,400.00Cursor pricing
Sensitivity RankingChange in the current winner-versus-API gap when one variable is increased by 10%.
VariableDelta winner gap
Monthly Active DevelopersDevelopers expected to use the tool materially in the month.-$75.00
Api Equivalent Cost Per Active Developer MonthYour own API-equivalent monthly cost for one active developer.-$60.00
Team SizeLicensed seats compared against the plan's minimum-seat rule.+$10.00

Assumptions and Units

Keep the baseline explicit so plan math stays honest.
  • CurrencyUSD
  • Coding plan snapshot2026-04-12
  • Team size10
  • Monthly active developers8
  • Billing cadenceMonthly
  • API baseline input$75.00 per active developer-month
  • Plan limitsSoft limits and included allowances stay qualitative unless fixed overage pricing is published

Sources and Snapshot

Source links come from official vendor plan pages captured in the current dated coding-plan snapshot.
  • Snapshot date: 2026-04-12
  • Plan rows in current snapshot: 16
  • Cheapest fixed plan right now: GitHub GitHub Copilot Pro

Vendor sources

Recommended Next Step

Move from buyer-side plan choice into workflow-side cost and routing decisions.

Use fixed-plan comparison first, then validate workflow-side cost once you know which seat model or chargeback assumption deserves deeper modeling.

Validate the second-order economics

Fixed Plan vs API Pricing for Coding ToolsAI Coding Agent CostCompare Model Costs

Continue Analysis

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