Do free AI coding assistants train on your code?
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The Short Answer
- GitHub Copilot — GitHub states that free, Pro and Pro+ interactions may be used to train its models "unless they have opted out", and puts that opt-out in account settings at no cost.
- Cursor — Cursor's security page says Privacy Mode is "available to anyone (free or Pro)" and guarantees code is not used for training when it is on — without saying it is on to begin with.
- Amazon Q Developer — AWS marks data collection "Opt-out available" on the Free tier and "Automatically opted out" on Pro, which puts a $19 monthly price on not having to remember.
- Windsurf — windsurf.com/pricing redirected to devin.ai/pricing when we opened it, and that page says nothing about training, retention or opt-out, so we publish no verdict for it.
| Product | Best for | From | Free plan | Free-tier training |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GitHub Copilot | Published numbers, published opt-out | $10/mo | Yes | Free opt-out |
| Cursor | Privacy Mode, stated to include free users | $20/mo | Yes | Free opt-out |
| Amazon Q Developer | The free-versus-paid gap, printed in the price table | $19/mo | Yes | Free opt-out |
| Windsurf | No statement to check | $20/mo | Yes | Not confirmed |
What we checked, and what we did not test
The free tier of a coding assistant is not free in the way a sample is free. You pay in completions, and the question worth asking before you install one is whether you are also paying in code — whether what you type into the editor becomes training data, and what it costs to stop that.
We opened each vendor’s own documentation on 6 August 2026 — GitHub’s plans page, Cursor’s security page, the Amazon Q Developer pricing page, and whatever windsurf.com/pricing resolved to — and read the sentence that answers it. We quote that sentence and link the page. We did not install the tools or inspect network traffic, so nothing here is a hands-on finding.
We expected this axis to split the field, and it did not. The hypothesis was that some free tiers train on your code and others do not. Every vendor that addresses the question describes the same arrangement instead: training happens unless you go and turn it off, and turning it off is free. What actually varies is smaller and more useful — whether the vendor documents the question at all, and whether paying converts the switch from manual to automatic.
Published numbers, published opt-out
1. GitHub Copilot — Published numbers, published opt-out
Copilot is the most legible of the four: the free tier’s limits are numbers, and the training behaviour is a sentence with an “unless” in it.
Best for A free tier with published numbers and a published opt-out
From $10/mo. Free plan: Free — 2,000 code completions and 50 chat requests a month.
- Pro — $10/mo · 1 seat
- Pro+ — $39/mo · 1 seat
- Max — $100/mo · 1 seat
GitHub's own plans page says it "may also use interactions from users with a Copilot Free, Copilot Pro, and Copilot Pro+ subscription … to train and improve our AI models unless they have opted out", and that "individual subscribers can opt out of having their data used for AI model training at any time through … GitHub account settings". The opt-out is free; it is also something you have to go and do.
Pros
- The free tier's limits are stated as numbers — 2,000 completions and 50 chat requests a month — not as the word "limited".
- The training opt-out is in account settings and costs nothing.
Skip it if
- Free, Pro and Pro+ interactions feed model training until you opt out; the default runs against you.
- No annual price is published on the plans page for any tier.
Privacy Mode, stated to include free users
2. Cursor — Privacy Mode, stated to include free users
Cursor is the only one here that puts free users and paying users on the same line of its privacy guarantee, in writing.
Best for A privacy switch that free accounts are explicitly allowed to use
From $20/mo. Free plan: Hobby — "Limited Agent requests" and access to Composer, with no number attached.
- Pro — $20/mo · 1 seat
- Teams — $40/mo (Per user)
Cursor's security page states that "Privacy Mode is available to anyone (free or Pro)" and that when enabled "we guarantee that code data is not used for training by us or our model providers". The same page does not say Privacy Mode is on by default, so on a fresh free account it is a setting you have to find rather than one you inherit.
Pros
- Privacy Mode is stated in writing to be available to free users, not just paying ones.
- The guarantee names model providers as well as Cursor itself.
Skip it if
- The free plan's limits are published as the word "limited" with no number, so you cannot size it before installing.
- Nothing on the security page says what happens to your code when Privacy Mode is off.
The free-versus-paid gap, printed in the price table
3. Amazon Q Developer — The free-versus-paid gap, printed in the price table
Amazon Q is unusual for stating the free-versus-paid privacy difference in the pricing table itself, where a buyer will actually see it.
Best for Seeing the free-versus-paid privacy gap written into the pricing table itself
From $19/mo. Free plan: Free tier — 50 agentic requests a month and 1,000 lines of code transformation a month.
- Pro — $19/mo · 1 seat
AWS's own pricing table marks data collection "Opt-out available" on the Free tier and "Automatically opted out" on Pro. It is the same product and the same setting; the row that changes is who has to go and switch it off.
Pros
- The free tier's monthly allowances are published as numbers: 50 agentic requests, 1,000 transformed lines.
- The difference between free and paid data handling is stated on the pricing page rather than buried in a policy document.
Skip it if
- On the free tier the opt-out is yours to perform; paying makes it automatic.
- Only one paid consumer tier is listed, at $19 per user per month.
No statement to check
4. Windsurf — No statement to check
Windsurf is on this page as an honest blank: the pricing page we landed on belongs to a different product and answers none of this.
Best for Nothing we can confirm on this axis yet
From $20/mo. Free plan: Free — $0 a month with a "light quota to code with agents", unlimited inline edits and unlimited tab completions.
- Pro — $20/mo · 1 seat
- Max — $200/mo · 1 seat
- Teams — $40/mo ($80 a month base plus $40 per seat)
windsurf.com/pricing answered with a 308 redirect to devin.ai/pricing when we opened it, and that page says nothing about training on your code, data retention, or an opt-out — for the free plan or any other. We source this axis from the vendor or not at all, so it stays blank.
Pros
- Unlimited tab completions and inline edits are listed on the $0 plan.
- Paid tiers are priced plainly at $20 and $200 a month.
Skip it if
- The pricing page you actually land on is Devin's — windsurf.com/pricing redirected to devin.ai/pricing when we checked on 2026-08-06.
- No statement about code training, retention or opt-out appears anywhere on that page.
What this means if you are choosing today
Treat “free tier” as “opted in until you say otherwise”. On Copilot and Cursor the first thing to do after installing is open settings and turn the training control off, before the first file is indexed. That takes a minute and costs nothing, and no vendor here does it for you at the free tier.
If you are choosing for a team where nobody will reliably do that, Amazon Q’s arrangement is the one that matches the risk: $19 a month per user converts the setting from something a person must remember into something the account arrives with. That is a real thing to buy, and it is rare to see a vendor price it this plainly.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does GitHub Copilot train on your code on the free plan?
By default, yes, on your interactions. GitHub's plans page says it "may also use interactions from users with a Copilot Free, Copilot Pro, and Copilot Pro+ subscription … to train and improve our AI models unless they have opted out". The opt-out is free and lives in GitHub account settings, so the cost is attention rather than money.
Is Cursor's Privacy Mode available on the free plan?
Yes. Cursor's security page states plainly that "Privacy Mode is available to anyone (free or Pro)", and that with it enabled "we guarantee that code data is not used for training by us or our model providers". What the page does not say is whether it is switched on for you, so on a new free account treat it as a setting to find.
What is the difference between "opt-out available" and "automatically opted out"?
It is the difference between a switch you have to flip and one that arrives flipped. Amazon Q Developer's pricing table uses the first phrase for its Free tier and the second for its $19 Pro tier. Same product, same control, and the paid row is the one where forgetting costs you nothing.
Why is there no verdict for Windsurf?
Because its own pricing page does not contain one. When we opened windsurf.com/pricing on 6 August 2026 it answered with a redirect to devin.ai/pricing, and that page describes quotas and prices without mentioning training, retention or an opt-out. We source this claim from the vendor or not at all, so the field is blank.
Is any free tier private by default?
Not among the three that document it. We expected the free tiers to split into ones that train on your code and ones that do not; instead all three describe an off switch that you operate yourself. The real variance is elsewhere — whether the vendor documents the question at all, and whether paying makes the switch automatic.
How We Keep This Updated
Prices move and vendors rewrite their plan tables, so every value on this page carries the date we read it. When a page changes, the change lands here rather than being edited away quietly. The procedure is on the methodology page; if something above is wrong or out of date, tell us and we will re-check it.
- 2026-08-06 — First published. Training and opt-out language read on GitHub's plans page, Cursor's security page and the AWS pricing page; Windsurf recorded as unstated after windsurf.com/pricing redirected to devin.ai/pricing.