AI Coding Tools Pricing Comparison 2026 — Every Tool, Every Plan
AI coding tool pricing is confusing — subscriptions, API tokens, free tiers, and hidden limits. Here’s every tool’s actual cost.
Update (April 28, 2026): GitHub Copilot is moving to usage-based billing on June 1. Base prices stay the same but premium features now cost AI Credits based on token usage. This follows Claude Code being removed from Pro. The industry is shifting away from flat-rate subscriptions.
🆕 April 2026: DeepSeek V4-Flash just changed the pricing landscape — 79.0% SWE-bench at $0.14/$0.28 per million tokens. That’s frontier-class coding for less than most budget models charged last year.
Subscription tools
| Tool | Price | Model | Limits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cursor Pro | $20/mo | Multi-model | 500 fast requests/mo |
| GitHub Copilot Individual | $10/mo | Multi-model | Unlimited completions |
| GitHub Copilot Business | $19/mo | Multi-model | + admin controls |
| Claude Code (Pro sub) | $20/mo | Claude Opus 4.6 | Usage limits ⚠️ Being removed for new signups |
| Claude Code (Max sub) | $100/mo | Claude Opus 4.7 | Higher limits |
| Codex CLI (Plus sub) | $20/mo | GPT-5.4 | Usage limits |
| Windsurf Pro | $15/mo | Multi-model | Generous limits |
| Kimi Code Pro | ~$19/mo | Kimi K2.6 | Quota-based |
Free tools (bring your own key)
| Tool | Cost | You pay for |
|---|---|---|
| Aider | Free | API tokens only |
| OpenCode | Free | API tokens only |
| Continue.dev | Free | API tokens (or $0 with Ollama) |
| Gemini CLI | Free | Free tier included |
| Kimi CLI | Free | API tokens |
API pricing (per 1M tokens)
| Model | Input | Output | Best via |
|---|---|---|---|
| Claude Opus 4.6 | $15.00 | $75.00 | Anthropic / OpenRouter |
| GPT-5.4 | $10.00 | $30.00 | OpenAI / OpenRouter |
| Gemini 3.1 Pro | $3.50 | $10.50 | Google / OpenRouter |
| Devstral 2 | $2.00 | $6.00 | Mistral / OpenRouter |
| Kimi K2.5 | $0.60 | $2.50 | Moonshot / OpenRouter |
| DeepSeek V4-Flash 🆕 | $0.14 | $0.28 | DeepSeek / OpenRouter |
| DeepSeek V4-Pro 🆕 | $1.74 | $3.48 | DeepSeek / OpenRouter |
| DeepSeek Chat | $0.27 | $1.10 | DeepSeek / OpenRouter |
| Qwen 3.5 Flash | $0.065 | $0.26 | Alibaba / OpenRouter |
| GLM-5.1 | $1.00 | $2.30 | Z.ai / OpenRouter |
Completely free options
| Setup | Quality | Catch |
|---|---|---|
| Ollama + local models | Good | Need 16GB+ RAM |
| OpenRouter free models | Good | 50 req/day limit |
| Gemini CLI free tier | Good | 60 req/min |
| GLM Coding Plan Lite | Excellent | $3/mo (almost free) |
Real monthly costs by usage
| Usage level | Cheapest | Mid-range | Premium |
|---|---|---|---|
| Light (1hr/day) | $0 (local) | $3 (DeepSeek) | $20 (Cursor) |
| Moderate (3hr/day) | $0 (local) | $5-10 (DeepSeek) | $20-40 (Cursor + Claude) |
| Heavy (6hr/day) | $0 (local) | $15-25 (mixed APIs) | $50-200 (Claude API) |
See our cheapest AI coding setup and how to choose an AI coding agent guides for detailed recommendations.
Related: Free vs Paid AI Coding Tools · Best AI Coding Tools 2026 · OpenRouter Complete Guide