Claude Code vs Cursor vs GitHub Copilot in 2026 - Which Are You Actually Using

[FairDos96]

The AI coding assistant market has matured enough that most developers have settled on something or are actively choosing between options. Claude Code has been getting attention partly for the Fable 5 coding benchmark results but also because the Miasma worm specifically targeted it via the SessionStart hook. Cursor has a large user base. Copilot is baked into the Microsoft ecosystem.

Practically: which one do you actually have open most days, what are you using it for, and what has made you stick with it or think about switching?

[AJStyles92]

Claude Code for anything involving extended context or complex refactoring. Copilot for quick completions because it is already in VS Code and the latency is lower. Using both together is sensible rather than picking one

[RogueDepot]

Switched from Copilot to Cursor about eight months ago and have not looked back. The chat interface that can see the whole codebase changed how I think about asking questions

[Dark Jaguar]

After the Miasma incident I audited what permissions my coding assistant has. Claude Code had broader access than I had consciously granted. Fixed that but it made me think more carefully

[Cheeky Kernel]

The benchmark results for Fable 5 on SWE-bench are impressive but my day to day experience is that it works well on greenfield code and struggles more with large existing codebases with unusual patterns

[Jordan89]

Copilot wins purely on distribution. It is in every Microsoft product, what enterprise IT departments approve, and for teams that do not want to manage another tool it just works

[Rogue Sam]

I rotate between tools for different tasks and that is probably the honest answer for most experienced developers

[Jade]

The security question from Miasma is now part of my tool evaluation. What does this agent have access to and how would I know if something had been added to its config