Cursor

What it does

Cursor is a code editor with the AI built into its bones — not bolted on. Tab completions that read your whole codebase, an Agent mode that takes a task ("add auth to this endpoint") and plans, writes, and fixes the code, chat with your repo as context. It defined the category every other editor is now chasing.

Pricing that matters

Hobby is free with no card: roughly 2,000 tab completions plus 50 slow premium-model requests a month, and a one-week Pro trial at signup — genuinely enough to decide if it's for you. Pro is $20 a month ($16 annual). The fine print: since mid-2025, paid plans run on a credit pool, and heavy frontier-model agent sessions can bill over the flat $20. Auto mode is unlimited and free, so learn which mode you're in. As of Oct 2026.

Best for

Developers who want the deepest AI integration in their editor. If you write code for a living, the free tier alone will spoil every other editor for you.

The honest take

Category-defining, and the free tier is the best audition in coding AI. The catch is the metering: "$20 flat" isn't quite flat once frontier models enter the chat — heavy agent days draw from the pool. And like every coding agent, it's only as good as your review habits. It writes fast; you still have to read.

Alternatives

GitHub Copilot: pick this instead if you want the cheapest paid door ($10) and prefer your existing IDE. Claude Code: pick this instead if you live in the terminal and want Anthropic's best agent.