Cursor
Free tier availableAI-first code editor
About Cursor
VS Code rebuilt with AI deep in the architecture. Codebase-aware chat, multi-file edits, and terminal generation that understands your whole project rather than just the file you have open. Rapidly became the default IDE for AI-native development teams — and the tool most developers mean when they say they can't imagine writing code without AI anymore.
Pricing plans
- 2,000 completions/mo
- 50 slow premium requests
- Unlimited completions
- 500 fast premium requests
- Full codebase chat
- Team management
- Privacy mode
- SSO
How Cursor compares
| Directr tier | S | S | S | S |
| Price | From $20/mo | From $20/mo or usage-based | From $20/mo | Free (pay API tokens only) |
| Free tier | Free tier available | None | 150k tokens/day | Free |
| API access | ✗ | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ |
Alternatives to Cursor
Anthropic's CLI agent reads your entire codebase, plans multi-file changes, runs tests, and executes complex engineering tasks autonomously from the terminal. Built for engineers who want AI that understands a full project in context rather than autocompleting in isolation — agentic by design and unusually good at not breaking things. Included with Claude Pro ($20/mo) and Max ($100/mo or $200/mo) subscriptions with weekly usage allowances, or pay per token via the Anthropic API.
Build and deploy full-stack web apps from the browser by describing what you want. Bolt writes the code, installs the packages, and runs the server — no local environment required and no setup time. Strong for rapid prototyping and for non-developers who need something working fast rather than a codebase they'll be maintaining long-term.
VS Code extension with Plan/Act modes giving fine-grained control over how autonomously the AI operates. Supports any LLM provider and costs only API tokens with no markup — with file editing, terminal access, browser use, and MCP integration built in. Five million developers and growing fast; the open-source alternative with genuine capability.