# Best AI coding plan for students

Verified 2026-10-14. Every figure is copied from the official vendor page; unknown means the vendor does not publish it.

If you are on a student budget, start with the free tiers and the cheapest paid plans. We have not verified student discounts, so check each vendor before you pay.

## Free tiers

| Tool | Plan | Price | Usage | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cursor | Free | $0 | Limited agent and chat requests | https://cursor.com/pricing |
| Claude Code | Free | $0 | No Claude Code | https://claude.com/pricing |
| OpenAI Codex | Free | $0 | Limited Codex | https://chatgpt.com/pricing |
| GitHub Copilot | Free | $0 | FAQ: 2,000 completions + 50 chat requests/month | https://github.com/features/copilot/plans |
| Windsurf (now Devin Desktop) | Free | $0 | Light agent quota, limited models, unlimited Tab | https://devin.ai/pricing |

## Paid plans at $20 or less

| Tool | Plan | Price | Usage | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cursor | Plus | $8/mo | Basic shared pool; Grok models only | https://cursor.com/pricing |
| OpenAI Codex | Go | $8/mo | Limited Codex; may include ads | https://learn.chatgpt.com/docs/pricing |
| GitHub Copilot | Pro | $10/mo | $15/mo of AI credits ($10 base + $5 flex); unlimited completions | https://github.com/features/copilot/plans |
| Claude Code | Pro | $20/mo | At least 5x Free per 5-hour session; exact tokens unknown | https://claude.com/pricing |
| OpenAI Codex | Plus | $20/mo | Expanded Codex; 5-hour message estimates by model | https://learn.chatgpt.com/docs/pricing |
| Windsurf (now Devin Desktop) | Pro | $20/mo | Increased quotas, all frontier models; exact quota unknown | https://devin.ai/pricing |

## FAQ

### Which AI coding tools have a free plan?

Cursor (Limited agent and chat requests), Claude Code (No Claude Code), OpenAI Codex (Limited Codex), GitHub Copilot (FAQ: 2,000 completions + 50 chat requests/month), Windsurf (now Devin Desktop) (Light agent quota, limited models, unlimited Tab).

### What is the cheapest paid AI coding plan?

Cursor Plus and ChatGPT Go are $8 a month; Copilot Pro is $10.

### Do these tools offer student discounts?

Our dataset does not track student pricing. Check each vendor's own pages for education offers.


## Related

- [Best AI coding plan under $10](https://whichaiplan.dev/best-ai-coding-plan-under-10/)
- [Best AI coding plan under $20](https://whichaiplan.dev/best-ai-coding-plan-under-20/)
- [GitHub Copilot pricing](https://whichaiplan.dev/copilot-pricing/)
- [Codex pricing](https://whichaiplan.dev/codex-pricing/)
- [Full comparison of all tools](https://whichaiplan.dev/compare/)
- [Price changelog](https://whichaiplan.dev/changelog/)