GitHub Copilot Alternatives That Don't Suck as Much

Copilot killed my flow state

I used to defend the delay: "it's just 3 seconds, whatever." But I tracked my behavior for a week and realized I'd stopped using AI suggestions entirely. I'd start typing manually while waiting, then Copilot would finally respond and overwrite what I'd already typed.

Switched to Cursor for a week and my AI usage went from maybe 20% of my typing to like 70%. When suggestions show up in 180ms instead of 3.2 seconds, you actually use them.

The exact moment I realized Copilot was broken

Writing a React hook, typed const [isLoading, setIsLoading] = use. Waited 4 seconds for Copilot to suggest useState(false). In those 4 seconds I'd already typed useState(false) manually.

Then Copilot's suggestion appeared and overwrote my typing with the exact same text. That's when I realized this shit was broken.

Real differences between tools

Cursor 0.41.3: Suggests useCallback with correct dependencies when I'm about to fuck it up. Auto-imports are aggressive - imported lodash/debounce when I just wanted a basic timeout. Cmd+K chat conflicts with VS Code keybindings.

Windsurf 1.0.2: Knows modern React patterns. Suggested React.startTransition for a heavy list render I was debugging. Crashed on me Tuesday while refactoring a 400-line component - just quit, no error dialog, lost 20 minutes of work.

Codeium: Free is nice until you hit the 500 completion limit. Happened to me yesterday at 3:15pm during a deadline push. Suggestions are decent but it suggested print() instead of console.log() in a JavaScript file. What the fuck?

Tabnine Pro: Works offline which saved my ass during the office internet outage last month. Model download was 2.3GB - had to delete old Docker images to make space. Suggestions are basic but reliable.

GitHub Copilot v1.45.0: Still suggests componentDidMount when I'm writing function components. Broke my VS Code settings sync twice - had to restore from backup both times.

Why Microsoft built a slow piece of shit

They were first - probably optimized for enterprise compliance instead of speed. Lots of safety checks and logging that slow it down.

Enterprise customers pay more - they care about security audits, not 3-second delays.

Too many users - millions of developers hammering their servers. They probably can't scale fast enough.

Microsoft moves slow - takes them 6 months to fix basic bugs. Startups can ship fixes in days.

My typing behavior changed completely

With Copilot: Type 3-4 characters, wait for spinner, get impatient, type manually, get annoyed when suggestion overwrites my work.

With Cursor: Type 2-3 characters, suggestion appears instantly, press Tab to accept or keep typing. Actually useful.

The numbers: Measured myself for a week. With Copilot: ~20% AI suggestions, 80% manual typing. With Cursor: ~70% AI suggestions, 30% manual typing.

What actually works for different situations

React/TypeScript: Windsurf understands modern patterns better than anything else. Just don't work on files over 500 lines or it crashes.

Python/Django: Cursor gets imports right and knows Django patterns. Suggested select_related() optimization I forgot about.

Tight budget: Codeium until you hit daily limits, then suffer.

Shitty internet: Tabnine offline mode works when everything else times out.

AWS APIs: CodeWhisperer if you can stomach 2-second delays for AWS-specific suggestions.

If Copilot's delay pisses you off, try anything else. They're all faster.

Infrastructure decisions Microsoft made in 2021 that fuck them now

I'm not a distributed systems engineer but I've dealt with enough API performance issues to have opinions about why Copilot is slow.

Architecture choices that kill performance

Copilot has to work everywhere. VS Code, IntelliJ, Vim, Emacs, Visual Studio, probably some enterprise IDE nobody's heard of. Each editor integration adds compatibility overhead.

Cursor controls everything. They built their own editor, so they can optimize the AI integration. No extension API bottlenecks, no cross-process communication delays.

Windsurf focuses on frontend. Smaller scope means they can use specialized models. React-specific suggestions are faster than general-purpose suggestions.

Tabnine runs locally. 2.3GB model on your SSD is faster than any network call. The 45-minute download sucked but now it's instant.

Real performance bottlenecks I've noticed

Network round trips

Measured with browser dev tools: Copilot makes 2-3 API calls per suggestion. Cursor makes 1. Each extra round trip adds 100-200ms latency.

Model size vs accuracy

Bigger models give better suggestions but take longer to run. Microsoft probably uses huge models for accuracy. Newer tools trade some accuracy for speed.

Caching strategies

Cursor caches aggressively. If I type the same pattern twice in a session, the second suggestion is instant. Copilot seems to recompute everything every time.

Safety and compliance overhead

Every Copilot suggestion probably goes through content filters, audit logging, enterprise compliance checks. Adds processing time but enterprise customers demand it.

Why Microsoft can't just \"make it faster\"

Millions of existing users. Change the API and break thousands of editor extensions. Enterprise customers will riot.

Enterprise contracts. Fortune 500 companies have security requirements that prevent aggressive caching or local models.

Technical debt. Built on Azure infrastructure from 2021. Rewriting for performance means months of downtime.

Safety-first culture. Microsoft would rather have slow, safe suggestions than fast, potentially problematic ones.

The startup advantage

Cursor raised $8M in Series A. Small team, modern infrastructure, no legacy users to break.

Windsurf can iterate fast. No enterprise contracts, no backward compatibility promises.

Codeium can focus on free users. Don't need enterprise features that slow things down.

Tabnine went local. Sidesteps network performance entirely.

What this means for your tool choice

If you're at a big company: Might be stuck with Copilot for compliance reasons. Check with security team before switching.

If you're freelance/small team: Use whatever's fastest. No compliance requirements to slow you down.

If you need GitHub integration: Weigh speed vs features. Copilot's GitHub PR suggestions are actually useful.

If you're curious about performance: Network tab in dev tools shows the difference. Copilot: 3-4 requests per suggestion. Cursor: 1 request.

Why I finally switched from Copilot

Speed was the main reason, but Copilot also broke my VS Code settings sync twice. Had to restore from backup both times. When a tool is slow AND unreliable, it's time to try something else.

Cursor costs twice as much ($20 vs $10) but saves me way more than $10 worth of time per month.

Also, Copilot's suggestion quality went down around v1.45.0. Started suggesting class components in React projects, Python 2 syntax in Python 3 files. Felt like they changed something in the model and made it worse.

Individual vs team switching reality

Individual switching: Download, try, delete if it sucks. 30 minutes.

Team switching: Budget meetings, security reviews, training sessions, people bitching about change. 3 months minimum.

Our 8-person team switch timeline (actual experience)

Week 1: I tried Cursor, mentioned it in standup. "Yeah whatever, Mike."

Week 3: Showed side-by-side speed test. Two people got curious.

Week 6: Sarah tried Windsurf for React work, said it was "actually way better." Now three people using alternatives.

Week 10: Jake complained that his Copilot suggestions were slow compared to our screen shares. FOMO kicked in.

Week 12: Manager asked why our tool budget was random. Had to explain why half the team was on different tools.

Week 16: Official decision to standardize on Cursor. Canceled Copilot licenses.

Today: All 8 people using Cursor 0.41.3. Budget went from $80/month to $160/month.

What actually went wrong during our switch

Settings import disaster: Cursor's VS Code import failed for 3 people. Spent 2 hours manually recreating keyboard shortcuts and themes.

I became unofficial tech support: "How do I disable auto-imports?" "Why does Cmd+K open chat instead of git?" "Can you show me that again?" Every. Fucking. Day.

Code review inconsistency: For 2 months we had people using different tools suggesting different patterns. Code reviews got weird when Cursor suggestions didn't match Copilot suggestions.

Budget approval drama: Had to justify $80/month increase to finance team. "Why can't you just use the free tool Microsoft provides?" Took 3 meetings.

Two holdouts: Backend engineers who "don't see the point" and stayed on Copilot. Still dealing with mixed tooling.

When team switching actually works

Small teams (5-10 people): Easier to coordinate. Can have informal adoption instead of formal rollout.

Frontend-focused teams: Windsurf's React advantages are obvious to everyone. Clear value proposition.

Startup culture: People expect to try new tools regularly. Change isn't scary.

Individual tool freedom: If people already choose their own editors, AI tools aren't different.

When team switching fails hard

Enterprise environments: Security reviews take 6 months. InfoSec wants to audit every API call. Not worth it for speed improvements.

Large teams (20+ people): Too many people to train. Too many edge cases and preferences.

Heavy GitHub integration users: If your workflow depends on Copilot's PR suggestions, switching breaks established processes.

"If it ain't broke" teams: If nobody complains about 3-second delays, don't create problems.

How to not fuck up team adoption

Don't mandate anything initially. Let early adopters prove value organically.

Budget for the full cost upfront. Cursor at $20/person adds up fast. Get approval before people get attached.

Designate one person as expert. Someone needs to answer questions and help with setup issues.

Keep fallback options. Don't cancel old licenses immediately. Let people switch back if they hate it.

Set realistic timelines. Full team adoption takes 2-3 months minimum.

Red flags that mean you should give up

More than 50% resistance after trying it. Some people genuinely prefer slower tools for other reasons.

Security/compliance roadblocks. If InfoSec says no, it's not happening.

Budget rejection. If management won't pay 2x for developer tools, you're fighting uphill.

No clear champion. If nobody's willing to be the go-to person for questions, adoption will fail.

What we learned from switching 8 people

The speed difference is obvious to everyone. Even skeptics noticed 180ms vs 3.2 seconds immediately.

Setup pain is temporary. Two weeks of complaints, then people forgot they ever used Copilot.

Cost is justified. $10/month per developer for 18x speed improvement is a no-brainer.

Mixed tooling sucks. Having 2 holdouts using different tools creates ongoing friction.

Natural adoption works better than mandates. FOMO is more effective than management directives.

Would I do it again? Yeah. But I'd budget for the full team upfront and set a harder deadline for stragglers to decide.