--- title: "Cursor vs GitHub Copilot: Which is searched more?" description: "Is Cursor or GitHub Copilot more popular in search? Compare estimated monthly branded-search demand and Share of Search inside the AI coding assistants set worldwide. Branded searches tell you how often people look for a brand by name or related terms. Comparing these searches across competitors helps you see how popular each brand is over time." canonical: "https://gobrandwave.com/demand/global-en/categories/ai-coding-assistants/compare/cursor-vs-github-copilot" publisher: "Brandwave" --- # Cursor vs GitHub Copilot: Which is searched more? Is Cursor or GitHub Copilot more popular in search? Compare estimated monthly branded-search demand and Share of Search inside the AI coding assistants set worldwide. Branded searches tell you how often people look for a brand by name or related terms. Comparing these searches across competitors helps you see how popular each brand is over time. ## Key facts - **Compared**: Cursor and GitHub Copilot - **Competitive set**: AI coding assistants - **Market**: Global - **Month measured**: Sep 2026 - **Cursor Share of Search**: 8.6% - **GitHub Copilot Share of Search**: 8.2% ## Is Cursor or GitHub Copilot more popular in search? - In September 2026, Cursor and GitHub Copilot were level in searches among AI coding assistants worldwide, with an estimated 616K versus 583K branded searches, at 8.6% and 8.2% of the total. - The lead changed hands 2 times in the 12 months ending September 2026: GitHub Copilot took it in March 2026, Cursor took it in June 2026. - Across the 12 months ending September 2026, Cursor’s share of searches among AI coding assistants worldwide moved from 17.7% to 8.6%, and its estimated monthly branded searches moved from 864K to 616K. - Across the 12 months ending September 2026, GitHub Copilot’s share of searches among AI coding assistants worldwide moved from 17.1% to 8.2%, and its estimated monthly branded searches moved from 832K to 583K. ## Top AI coding assistants in ChatGPT and Google AI Overviews In three ChatGPT questions and two Google AI Overviews, both Cursor and GitHub Copilot showed up in all five answers. Cursor was listed before GitHub Copilot in every answer. Brands get a higher AI rank if they are mentioned earlier in the answers that list options. | Brand | AI rank | ChatGPT answers that named it | Google AI Overviews that named it | All answers that named it | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Cursor | 1st | 3 of 3 | 2 of 2 | 5 of 5 | | Claude Code | 2nd | 3 of 3 | 2 of 2 | 5 of 5 | | GitHub Copilot | 3rd | 3 of 3 | 2 of 2 | 5 of 5 | | OpenAI Codex | 4th | 3 of 3 | 0 of 2 | 3 of 5 | | Replit | 5th | 0 of 3 | 1 of 2 | 1 of 5 | | Windsurf | 6th | 1 of 3 | 1 of 2 | 2 of 5 | | Lovable | 7th | 0 of 3 | 1 of 2 | 1 of 5 | | Bolt | 8th | 0 of 3 | 1 of 2 | 1 of 5 | ## Every AI answer about AI coding assistants - Asked ChatGPT "Which AI coding assistant should I use?": 1. Cursor, 2. Claude Code, 3. OpenAI Codex, 4. GitHub Copilot - Asked ChatGPT "What are the best AI coding assistants?": 1. Cursor, 2. Claude Code, 3. GitHub Copilot, 4. OpenAI Codex, 5. Windsurf - Asked ChatGPT "What's the best AI coding assistant for help coding?": 1. Cursor, 2. OpenAI Codex, 3. Claude Code, 4. GitHub Copilot - Searched Google, AI Overview "ai coding assistant": 1. Cursor, 2. GitHub Copilot, 3. Claude Code, 4. Replit, 5. Lovable, 6. Bolt - Searched Google, AI Overview "programming ai assistant": 1. Cursor, 2. GitHub Copilot, 3. Claude Code, 4. Windsurf Brands are listed in the order each answer named them. The answers were collected in the United States on October 20, 2026. ## How did search popularity change for AI coding assistants worldwide in September 2026? - In September 2026, Cursor lost share of searches among AI coding assistants worldwide, from 10.1% to 8.6%. - Estimated monthly branded searches for GitHub Copilot worldwide fell 29.9% over 12 measured months, from 832K to 583K in September 2026. ## Month by month | Month | Cursor estimated searches | Cursor Share of Search | Cursor rank | GitHub Copilot estimated searches | GitHub Copilot Share of Search | GitHub Copilot rank | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Oct 2025 | 864K | 17.7% | 3 | 832K | 17.1% | 4 | | Nov 2025 | 860K | 19.5% | 3 | 690K | 15.6% | 4 | | Dec 2025 | 719K | 15.6% | 3 | 677K | 14.7% | 4 | | Jan 2026 | 891K | 11.7% | 3 | 712K | 9.3% | 4 | | Feb 2026 | 902K | 9.6% | 4 | 856K | 9.1% | 5 | | Mar 2026 | 1.1M | 8.7% | 4 | 1.3M | 10% | 3 | | Apr 2026 | 1.1M | 8.1% | 4 | 1.5M | 11.6% | 3 | | May 2026 | 908K | 7.6% | 5 | 1.2M | 10.2% | 4 | | Jun 2026 | 1M | 10.9% | 4 | 880K | 9.1% | 5 | | Jul 2026 | 748K | 9% | 4 | 587K | 7.1% | 5 | | Aug 2026 | 740K | 10.1% | 4 | 575K | 7.9% | 5 | | Sep 2026 | 616K | 8.6% | 4 | 583K | 8.2% | 5 | ## How each brand is measured Brandwave collects information about searches that people make online using Cursor’s and GitHub Copilot’s names. When viewed over time, estimated search volumes for these branded terms can be used to understand whether interest in the brands is growing, holding steady, or fading. - **Cursor**: Measured on the search terms “anysphere cursor”, “cursor agent”, “cursor agents”, “cursor ai”, “cursor ai agent”, “cursor ai app”, “cursor ai coding”, “cursor ai editor”, “cursor ai ide”, “cursor ai pro”, “cursor app”, “cursor bugbot”, “cursor cli”, “cursor code”, “cursor coding”, “cursor composer”, “cursor ide”, “cursor pro”, “cursor sh”, “cursor vscode” and “cursor.sh”, summed into one figure. - **GitHub Copilot**: Measured on the search terms “copilot github”, “copilot vscode”, “git copilot”, “GitHub Copilot”, “github copilot agent”, “github copilot ai”, “github copilot app”, “github copilot business”, “github copilot certification”, “github copilot cli”, “github copilot enterprise”, “github copilot extension”, “github copilot intellij”, “github copilot pro”, “github copilot vscode”, “github copilots”, “microsoft github copilot”, “vscode copilot” and “vscode github copilot”, summed into one figure. - [Cursor profile](/demand/global-en/brands/cursor) - [GitHub Copilot profile](/demand/global-en/brands/github-copilot) - [All AI coding assistants worldwide](/demand/global-en/categories/ai-coding-assistants): The set both shares are measured inside, 8 brands. ## Methodology - [How is the Brand Demand Index measured?](/demand/methodology): Where the figures come from, what they compare, and how they may be reused. ## Frequently asked questions ### Is Cursor or GitHub Copilot more popular in search? In September 2026, Cursor and GitHub Copilot were level in searches among AI coding assistants worldwide, with an estimated 616K versus 583K branded searches, at 8.6% and 8.2% of the total. ## Cite this page Brandwave. "Cursor vs GitHub Copilot: Which is searched more?". https://gobrandwave.com/demand/global-en/categories/ai-coding-assistants/compare/cursor-vs-github-copilot This page is also available as HTML at https://gobrandwave.com/demand/global-en/categories/ai-coding-assistants/compare/cursor-vs-github-copilot. Brandwave publishes an index of its Markdown pages at https://gobrandwave.com/llms.txt.