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AI Coding Plan Comparison

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

How this tool works

This tool helps answer the broad buyer-side question first: which AI coding plan is actually cheapest for my team once seats, activity, and my own usage-priced baseline are explicit? It compares fixed coding plans against your API-equivalent monthly developer cost, applies published seat prices and minimum-seat rules, and keeps soft limits qualitative unless a vendor publishes deterministic overage pricing.

Use this when

  • You are comparing Codex, Claude Code, Cursor, or GitHub Copilot at plan-choice time.
  • You want to start from a realistic team shape before going deeper on workflow-side cost.
  • You need an honest seat-spend comparison without fake token-cap conversions.

How It Works

  1. Start from a buyer-shaped preset or enter your own team size, monthly active developers, and API-equivalent monthly cost.
  2. Apply published fixed plan seat prices and minimum-seat rules from the dated tool-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: daily tool-plan snapshot in repo with per-source refresh status, 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 when the real question is which fixed coding plan is the best fit for your usage pattern before you go deeper on workflow cost or model routing.

FAQs

What does best plan mean here? The lowest honest monthly team spend after active share, minimum-seat rules, billing cadence, and your own usage-priced baseline are all explicit.

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 Because most coding-tool plan pages do not publish one stable deterministic quota.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

Need Codex vs Claude only? Use Codex vs Claude Cost for a focused head-to-head with plan-only, plan-plus-overflow, and usage-priced modes.

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: Codex vs Claude Cost, AI Coding Agent Cost, Best AI Coding Plan for My Usage, Codex vs Claude 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.

Plan pricing snapshot: 2026-04-21Plans compared: 17Billing: Monthly

Decision Signal

Fixed plan wins

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.

A common manager-buying case: 10 seats, 8 active developers, and a moderate usage-priced baseline.

  • Start from a named buying shape, then move to custom once the real seat count and baseline are known.
  • Use active developers, not total headcount, when some licensed seats stay mostly quiet.
  • Keep the API baseline honest. This tool compares fixed plan spend against your own workload baseline.

Scenario actions

Copy scenario URL

Paste into ChatGPT or Claude, or share with a teammate.

Save and track this scenario

Track pricing drift on this scenario and get an email if the latest result changes.

How tracking works

After you click Save and track, we carry this exact calculator state into the tracked-scenarios page so you can sign in and confirm the save.

We save your assumptions and the pricing snapshot used for this result.

When a newer pricing snapshot lands, we recompute the same scenario, show what changed, and email you if the latest result moved.

1 tracked scenario free, then $12/mo or $120/yr for up to 25 tracked scenarios.

Winner monthly team spend

$100.00

API baseline spend

$600.00

Cheapest fixed plan / active developer

$12.50

Active share

80%

What changes the result

Sensitivity shows how the fixed-plan-versus-API gap changes if one input rises by 10%. Negative values favor fixed plans more; positive values favor the API baseline more.
Monthly active developers-$75.00
API baseline per active developer-$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 seat-spend comparison against your API baseline.

GitHub Copilot ProPremium request allowances and model availability vary by plan.
Seats billed
10
Team spend
$100.00
Cost / active developer
$12.50
Delta vs API
-$500.00
Source
GitHub Copilot plans
GitHub Copilot BusinessBusiness pricing is seat-based and premium-request overage is separate from the monthly license.
Seats billed
10
Team spend
$190.00
Cost / active developer
$23.75
Delta vs API
-$410.00
Source
GitHub Copilot plans
OpenAI ChatGPT PlusPlus is for lighter use and usage limits still depend on task size and complexity.
Seats billed
10
Team spend
$200.00
Cost / active developer
$25.00
Delta vs API
-$400.00
Source
ChatGPT Pro plans
Anthropic Claude ProAnthropic publishes qualitative usage tiers rather than deterministic included quotas.
Seats billed
10
Team spend
$200.00
Cost / active developer
$25.00
Delta vs API
-$400.00
Source
Claude plan guide
Cursor ProIncluded usage is plan-specific and overflow can add on-demand charges.
Seats billed
10
Team spend
$200.00
Cost / active developer
$25.00
Delta vs API
-$400.00
Source
Cursor pricing
OpenAI ChatGPT Business Standard seatStandard ChatGPT seats start at 2 users, and Codex-only seats use separate usage-based pricing.
Seats billed
10
Team spend
$250.00
Cost / active developer
$31.25
Delta vs API
-$350.00
Source
ChatGPT Business
Anthropic Claude Team Standard seatTeam plans require at least 5 members and usage limits apply per member.
Seats billed
10
Team spend
$250.00
Cost / active developer
$31.25
Delta vs API
-$350.00
Source
Claude Team plan
GitHub Copilot EnterpriseEnterprise pricing is seat-based and premium-request overage is separate from the monthly license.
Seats billed
10
Team spend
$390.00
Cost / active developer
$48.75
Delta vs API
-$210.00
Source
GitHub Copilot plans
GitHub Copilot Pro+Premium request allowances and model availability vary by plan.
Seats billed
10
Team spend
$390.00
Cost / active developer
$48.75
Delta vs API
-$210.00
Source
GitHub Copilot plans
Cursor TeamsOverflow usage is billed separately, so the headline seat price is not the full spend ceiling.
Seats billed
10
Team spend
$400.00
Cost / active developer
$50.00
Delta vs API
-$200.00
Source
Cursor pricing
Cursor Pro+Included usage is plan-specific and overflow can add on-demand charges.
Seats billed
10
Team spend
$600.00
Cost / active developer
$75.00
Delta vs API
$0.00
Source
Cursor pricing
OpenAI ChatGPT Pro 5xPro plans include guardrails and higher allowances, not a deterministic token quota.
Seats billed
10
Team spend
$1,000.00
Cost / active developer
$125.00
Delta vs API
+$400.00
Source
ChatGPT Pro plans
Anthropic Claude Max 5xAnthropic publishes qualitative usage tiers rather than deterministic included quotas.
Seats billed
10
Team spend
$1,000.00
Cost / active developer
$125.00
Delta vs API
+$400.00
Source
Claude plan guide
Anthropic Claude Team Premium seatTeam plans require at least 5 members and usage limits apply per member.
Seats billed
10
Team spend
$1,250.00
Cost / active developer
$156.25
Delta vs API
+$650.00
Source
Claude Team plan
OpenAI ChatGPT Pro 20xPro plans include guardrails and higher allowances, not a deterministic token quota.
Seats billed
10
Team spend
$2,000.00
Cost / active developer
$250.00
Delta vs API
+$1,400.00
Source
ChatGPT Pro plans
Anthropic Claude Max 20xAnthropic publishes qualitative usage tiers rather than deterministic included quotas.
Seats billed
10
Team spend
$2,000.00
Cost / active developer
$250.00
Delta vs API
+$1,400.00
Source
Claude plan guide
Cursor UltraIncluded usage is plan-specific and overflow can add on-demand charges.
Seats billed
10
Team spend
$2,000.00
Cost / active developer
$250.00
Delta vs API
+$1,400.00
Source
Cursor pricing
PlanSeats billedTeam spendCost / active developerDelta vs APISource
GitHub Copilot ProPremium request allowances and model availability vary by plan.10$100.00$12.50-$500.00GitHub Copilot plans
GitHub Copilot BusinessBusiness pricing is seat-based and premium-request overage is separate from the monthly license.10$190.00$23.75-$410.00GitHub Copilot plans
OpenAI ChatGPT PlusPlus is for lighter use and usage limits still depend on task size and complexity.10$200.00$25.00-$400.00ChatGPT Pro plans
Anthropic Claude ProAnthropic publishes qualitative usage tiers rather than deterministic included quotas.10$200.00$25.00-$400.00Claude plan guide
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 seatStandard ChatGPT seats start at 2 users, and Codex-only seats use separate usage-based pricing.10$250.00$31.25-$350.00ChatGPT Business
Anthropic Claude Team Standard seatTeam plans require at least 5 members and usage limits apply per member.10$250.00$31.25-$350.00Claude Team plan
GitHub Copilot EnterpriseEnterprise pricing is seat-based and premium-request overage is separate from the monthly license.10$390.00$48.75-$210.00GitHub Copilot plans
GitHub Copilot Pro+Premium request allowances and model availability vary by plan.10$390.00$48.75-$210.00GitHub Copilot plans
Cursor 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 Pro+Included usage is plan-specific and overflow can add on-demand charges.10$600.00$75.00$0.00Cursor pricing
OpenAI ChatGPT Pro 5xPro plans include guardrails and higher allowances, not a deterministic token quota.10$1,000.00$125.00+$400.00ChatGPT Pro plans
Anthropic Claude Max 5xAnthropic publishes qualitative usage tiers rather than deterministic included quotas.10$1,000.00$125.00+$400.00Claude plan guide
Anthropic Claude Team Premium seatTeam plans require at least 5 members and usage limits apply per member.10$1,250.00$156.25+$650.00Claude Team plan
OpenAI ChatGPT Pro 20xPro plans include guardrails and higher allowances, not a deterministic token quota.10$2,000.00$250.00+$1,400.00ChatGPT Pro plans
Anthropic Claude Max 20xAnthropic publishes qualitative usage tiers rather than deterministic included quotas.10$2,000.00$250.00+$1,400.00Claude plan guide
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 baseline per active developerYour 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
  • Tool plan snapshot2026-04-21
  • 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 tool-plan snapshot.
  • Snapshot date: 2026-04-21
  • Plans compared: 17
  • Billing view: Monthly

Official plan docs

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

Codex vs Claude CostBest AI Coding Plan for My UsageFixed Plan vs API Pricing for Coding ToolsAI Coding Agent CostCompare Model Costs

Continue Analysis

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