Our ‘Top AI Coding Agents and Development Platforms‘ guide covered what each AI coding agent does and where it fits. This piece is for a different reader. It is written for the procurement lead, the general counsel and the security reviewer.
Those readers ask 4 questions before any rollout. Who pays if generated code triggers an IP claim? Where do prompts live? What can admins log? What do 500 seats actually cost?
We read the current contract language for GitHub Copilot, AWS Kiro, Cursor, Devin and Windsurf. Every term below was checked against the vendor’s own pages on September 26, 2026. This is reporting, not legal advice. Run final terms past counsel.
First, 5 Brands are Really 4 Contracts
Cognition acquired Windsurf. On June 2, 2026, Cognition renamed the Windsurf editor Devin Desktop. Devin and Windsurf now sit on one pricing table and one set of terms.
The Indemnity Table Nobody Publishes
This is the clause that blocks enterprise rollouts. Each row uses the vendor’s current contract. Quotes are short and taken directly from the linked source.
| Vendor (plan) | Governing contract | What the vendor says | Covers generated code? | Cap | Key conditions |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GitHub Copilot (Business, Enterprise) | Copilot Product Specific Terms or Microsoft Product Terms | “uncapped IP indemnification for unmodified outputs” (Copilot Trust Center) | Yes, unmodified output. The Trust Center says this includes unmodified code from the Copilot coding agent. | Uncapped | Duplicate Detection filter no longer required since April 3, 2026. Free, Pro, Pro+ and Max are excluded. |
| AWS Kiro (Pro, Pro+, Pro Max, Power) | AWS Customer Agreement and AWS Service Terms | “Kiro offers indemnity for its output.” (Kiro Enterprise) | Yes, for copyright claims on output | Uncapped for copyright claims, per the AWS Bedrock FAQ | No infringing inputs. Do not disable service filtering features. Free tier not covered. |
| Cursor (business customers) | Cursor MSA, updated August 13, 2026 | Defends claims “that the Service or any Suggestion infringes or misappropriates” third-party IP | Yes, Suggestions are named explicitly | Indemnity is carved out of the 12-month fee cap | Excluded if modified or combined code causes the claim, filters are disabled, or you knew it likely infringed. |
| Cognition: Devin and Devin Desktop (Enterprise) | Cognition MSA, updated June 8, 2026 | Defends claims that the Services infringe patents, copyrights or trade secrets. Excludes Customer Data, defined as “including Outputs”. | No. Outputs fall inside excluded Customer Data. | Supercap: 2x fees paid in the prior 12 months | An executed order form controls over the MSA. Negotiate here. |
| Cognition (Pro, Max, Teams) | Platform Terms, updated June 30, 2026 | Indemnity “applies only to Customers on the Paid Service Tiers” | No. Same Customer Data exclusion. | Greater of 6 months of fees or US$100 | Free tier gets no indemnity. |
Axis 1: Legal Exposure on Generated Code
GitHub Copilot: Microsoft’s April 3, 2026 change matters more than any feature launch. Before it, one admin setting could void coverage. Microsoft’s required-mitigations page now lists no additional mitigations for GitHub offerings. The remaining limit is the word “unmodified”. Most shipped code gets edited, so ask counsel how far edits move code outside scope.
AWS Kiro: Kiro inherits AWS’s generative AI indemnity. AWS describes it as uncapped for copyright claims on output from services listed in Section 50.10. Coverage drops if your inputs infringe or you disable filtering features. Kiro states that paid subscribers ship with this protection included.
Cursor: The MSA is the broadest on paper. It names Suggestions and removes indemnity from the fee cap. The exclusions still bite when a claim relates to a modification or an unapproved combination. The consumer Terms of Service run the other way: users indemnify Anysphere.
Cognition (Devin, Windsurf): Cognition is the outlier. Its MSA defines Customer Data to include Outputs, then excludes Customer Data from indemnity. Generated code therefore sits outside the standard promise. Indemnity is also capped at 2x trailing 12-month fees. Any Devin or Devin Desktop rollout needs this fixed in the order form.
Axis 2: Where Prompts Are Stored
GitHub Copilot: For Business and Enterprise, the plans FAQ says IDE chat and completion prompts are not retained. Prompts from other surfaces, such as github.com, mobile and CLI, are retained for 28 days. User engagement data is kept for 2 years. GitHub does not train on Business or Enterprise data.
Enterprises on GitHub Enterprise Cloud with data residency can pin Copilot inference to the United States or the European Union. That policy adds 10% to AI credit consumption. Each region also exposes a narrower model list.
AWS Kiro: Per Kiro’s data protection page, enterprise content is never used for service improvement. It is stored in the region where your Kiro profile is configured. Inference stays inside the US or Europe geography, except for models tagged experimental. Admins can encrypt data with customer-managed KMS keys.
Cursor: With Privacy Mode on, Cursor holds zero data retention agreements with all model providers and does not train on your code. File contents are cached temporarily, encrypted with client-generated keys. Cursor’s public pages do not offer a customer-selectable processing region. Every request still passes through Cursor’s backend.
Cognition: The MSA bars training on Customer Data without written consent. The Customer Dedicated Deployment runs Devin’s devbox in a single-tenant VPC linked by AWS PrivateLink. The agent’s reasoning layer still runs in Cognition’s cloud. On self-serve paid tiers, Cognition may train on Customer Data until the customer opts out. On Teams, only an admin can opt out.
Axis 3: Audit Logging and Admin Controls
GitHub Copilot: The enterprise audit log records Copilot events under action:copilot. Agent activity appears under actor:Copilot for 180 days, per GitHub’s agent audit reference. GitHub is explicit that prompts sent locally are not in the audit log. Admins also set model, preview-feature and spending policies.
AWS Kiro: SSO runs through IAM Identity Center, Okta or Entra ID. Admins can enable prompt logging and daily user activity reports. Both land in an S3 bucket inside the customer’s AWS account, so prompt records stay under your control.
Cursor: Teams includes SAML or OIDC SSO, team-wide Privacy Mode and usage analytics. Audit logs, SCIM, repository and model access controls, and an AI code tracking API require Enterprise.
Cognition: Teams offers an admin dashboard with analytics. SAML or OIDC SSO, centralized admin controls and VPC deployment are Enterprise only. Cognition’s Enterprise API exposes audit log endpoints.
Axis 4: True Per-Seat Cost at 500 Seats
List prices below are monthly, in USD, before usage overages and taxes. The ‘true’ figure is the cheapest tier that delivers indemnity plus SSO.
| Option | Per seat / month | 500 seats / month | 500 seats / year | Included usage | Buyer note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GitHub Copilot Business | $19 | $9,500 | $114,000 | 1,900 AI credits per seat, pooled | SAML SSO and data residency need GitHub Enterprise Cloud |
| Copilot Business + GitHub Enterprise Cloud | $40 | $20,000 | $240,000 | Same pool | Real cost if you do not already pay for Enterprise Cloud |
| Copilot Enterprise + GitHub Enterprise Cloud | $60 | $30,000 | $360,000 | 3,900 AI credits per seat, pooled | Adds codebase indexing and github.com integration |
| AWS Kiro Pro | $20 | $10,000 | $120,000 | 1,000 credits per user | Add-on credits $0.04 each. Self-serve tiers cover teams up to 500. |
| AWS Kiro Pro+ | $40 | $20,000 | $240,000 | 2,000 credits per user | Same indemnity as Pro |
| Cursor Teams | $40 | $20,000 | $240,000 | Per plan allowance | Lacks audit logs and SCIM. Enterprise is custom priced. |
| Cognition Teams (Devin, Devin Desktop) | $40 + $80 team fee | Not available | Not available | Daily and weekly quotas | Teams is capped at 200 users. 500 seats means Enterprise, custom priced. |
Sources: GitHub Copilot billing docs, GitHub pricing (Enterprise Cloud from $21 per user), Kiro pricing, Cursor pricing, Devin pricing.
Two meters sit on top of every seat. GitHub moved Copilot to usage-based AI credits on June 1, 2026, where 1 credit equals $0.01. Kiro bills extra credits at $0.04, and enterprise overages are off by default. Agent-heavy teams should model usage, not just seats.
Feature Comparison: Copilot vs Kiro vs Cursor vs Cognition
| Feature | GitHub Copilot | AWS Kiro | Cursor | Cognition (Devin, Windsurf) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| IP indemnity on generated code | Yes, unmodified output | Yes, copyright claims | Yes, Suggestions | No, Outputs excluded in standard terms |
| Indemnity cap | Uncapped | Uncapped (copyright) | Outside fee cap | 2x trailing 12-month fees (MSA) |
| Trains on business data | No | No (enterprise users) | No, with Privacy Mode | No (Enterprise). Self-serve opt-out needed. |
| Prompt retention | IDE: not retained. Other surfaces: 28 days. | Profile region; optional logging to your S3 | ZDR with model providers under Privacy Mode | Customer tenant with dedicated VPC deployment |
| Customer-selectable region | US or EU (+10% credits) | US or Europe geography, plus GovCloud | Not offered publicly | Dedicated single-tenant VPC (Enterprise) |
| SSO | SAML via GitHub Enterprise Cloud | IAM Identity Center, Okta, Entra ID | SAML or OIDC on Teams | SAML or OIDC on Enterprise |
| Audit logs | Yes, prompts excluded | Prompt logs and activity reports | Enterprise only | Enterprise API audit endpoints |
| 500-seat list price, monthly | $9,500 to $30,000 | $10,000 (Pro) | $20,000 (Teams) or custom | Custom |
Interactive Explainer: Run the Contract Scenarios
Toggle a claim scenario, trace where a prompt travels, and price your own seat count.
Credit: Source link
