Cursor, Copilot or Claude Code: what Australian developers pay (October 2026)
TL;DR: Cursor's old US$20 Pro plan is gone. For Claude or GPT work, the real plan is now Premium at US$30/month (~A$43 ex-GST), and Claude or GPT requests are billed on top at API list price.
What changed
Cursor replaced its plans between 11 and 14 October, as our 14 October review reported. We re-checked the pricing page on 23 October and nothing has moved since. It lists six priced plans plus Enterprise (custom): Free, Plus US$8, Premium US$30, Super US$100, Ultra US$200 and Teams from US$30 per user. Plus covers Grok models only. Premium and above include "generous usage of Grok models" but no allowance for third-party models, which stay available "at API list price". Prices are monthly; the page shows no annual option. Subscriptions are sold through X Subscription Corp, and Cursor's blog says the company "has officially been acquired by SpaceX" (14 August 2026).
What Australians pay, side by side
Cursor and GitHub Copilot bill in USD. Our AUD figures use 1 USD ≈ 1.43 AUD (ECB reference rate, 22 October 2026), ex-GST. GST-registered businesses quoting an ABN are not charged GST; other buyers add ~10%. Anthropic quotes Australians in AUD with GST included, so the Claude row uses its own figures.
| Tool | Working plan | Step up | What the plan includes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cursor | Premium US$30 (~A$43) | Super US$100 (~A$143) | Grok usage pool; Claude or GPT billed on top |
| GitHub Copilot | Pro US$10 (~A$14) | Pro+ US$39 (~A$56) | Completions plus a monthly AI-credit allowance (US$15 on Pro), then metered |
| Claude Code (Claude plans) | Pro A$28/mo annual or A$34 monthly, inc. GST | Max from A$170.01, inc. GST | Claude models only, within usage caps |
Team seats: Cursor Teams from US$30 (~A$43), Copilot Business US$19 (~A$27), Copilot Enterprise US$39 (~A$56).
Why it matters for Australians
The headline price for a professional rose about A$14, from the old US$20 Pro to US$30 Premium. The bigger cost is metering. If Claude or GPT does most of your work, every request lands on top of that A$43. There is no ceiling unless you set a spending cap. Cursor bills in USD only, so your bank's FX margin applies too.
Does this change our recommendation?
No. Our review already scores the new ladder at 17/25. Grok users get fair value at Premium. If Claude is your daily model, Claude Code on Pro is the cheaper way to get it, within its usage caps. If you want the cheapest paid start at A$14, GitHub Copilot is the value pick, though its credits run out for heavy agent work. See our Claude Code review for its limits.
Sources
- Cursor pricing: https://cursor.com/pricing, read 23 Oct 2026. Wayback: http://web.archive.org/web/20261022185419/https://cursor.com/pricing (22 Oct 2026)
- Cursor blog, "Cursor is now a part of SpaceX": https://cursor.com/blog/joining-spacex, read 23 Oct 2026. Wayback: http://web.archive.org/web/20261019114920/https://cursor.com/blog/joining-spacex
- GitHub Docs, Plans for GitHub Copilot: https://docs.github.com/en/copilot/get-started/plans, read 23 Oct 2026. Wayback: http://web.archive.org/web/20261022191542/https://docs.github.com/en/copilot/get-started/plans
- Claude pricing (anthropic.com/pricing redirects here): https://claude.com/pricing. Read in the in-app browser on an Australian connection, 23 Oct 2026: Pro $28 a month on annual billing ($340 billed up front) or $34 billed monthly, Max from $170.01. The page shows no currency label; these are the Australian amounts (a US render shows US$17, US$20 and US$100). GST inclusion is per our Claude Code review. Wayback: http://web.archive.org/web/20261022182529/https://claude.com/pricing
- USD/AUD, ECB via Frankfurter, 22 Oct 2026: 1 USD = 1.4261 AUD
Read the full Cursor review →
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