Cursor
BuildersAI code editorAnysphere
AI-first code editor with agent mode, tab completion and background agents.
- Who it's for: people building software and AI agents
- Pricing: Free Hobby plan; paid Pro and Business plans (verify on the official site)
- Official site: https://cursor.com
- Source / changelog: https://cursor.com/changelog
Best for / Not for
Best for
- Developers who want AI built into a VS Code-style editor
- Fast inline edits and tab completion
- Mixing chat, agent and manual coding
Not for
- People who prefer a terminal-only agent
- Teams locked into another IDE such as JetBrains
3 concrete use cases
- Agent edits: Prompt in Agent mode: "Add pagination to the users table, update the API and tests."
- Codebase Q&A: "Where do we validate email addresses? Show all call sites."
- Refactor with rules: Add a project rule describing your code style, then ask for a refactor that follows it.
Pros and cons
Pros
- Familiar editor; imports VS Code settings and extensions
- Strong tab completion
- Supports MCP servers
Cons
- Heavy agent use needs a paid plan
- Another editor to adopt for teams
- Changes still need review
How to get started with Cursor in 10 minutes
- Download from cursor.com and install
- Import your VS Code settings when prompted
- Open a project folder
- Press the chat shortcut and ask about the codebase
- Try one Agent task and review the diff
Playbooks using Cursor
- Set up MCP servers for Claude (Desktop and Claude Code)
- Ship an internal tool with Lovable (no engineers required)
Comparisons
Cursor alternatives
- Windsurf: AI-native code editor with the Cascade agent for multi-file edits.
Recent changes
Weekly updates for Cursor will be logged here as they appear in issues.