Cursor
AI-first code editor with agents, now owned by SpaceX
Cursor is a developer tools tool for Developers and Small businesses, offered as freemium ($8/mo). Founded in United States in 2022.
About Cursor
Cursor is an AI code editor built by Anysphere, a San Francisco company founded in 2022 by four MIT students: Michael Truell, Sualeh Asif, Arvid Lunnemark and Aman Sanger. It is a fork of VS Code, so extensions, themes and keybindings carry over, and its job is to let developers write, refactor and debug code with AI agents that understand the whole repository. SpaceX closed its $60 billion all-stock acquisition of Anysphere on August 14, 2026, and Cursor is being folded into SpaceXAI next to Grok.
The editor combines multi-line Tab completion that predicts your next edit, an Agent that plans changes across files and runs terminal commands, parallel cloud agents, Bugbot reviews on GitHub pull requests, project Rules and MCP servers. Since October 12, 2026 it is sold as part of The X Subscription, one plan shared with Grok and X Premium: a free tier, then Plus, Premium, Super and Ultra with a common usage pool, plus Teams and Enterprise plans.
Cursor fits professional developers who want an agent-centric IDE rather than a plug-in. Costs are harder to predict than before: third-party models such as Claude or GPT are now billed at API prices on the new plans, and JetBrains users get only the agent, through the ACP plugin. GitHub Copilot is cheaper and works in more IDEs, Claude Code suits terminal-first work, and ChatGPT's Codex covers similar agent tasks.
Buying tip: existing Cursor subscribers can stay on their old plans, and those who switch get a prorated refund. If your team relies on non-Grok models, estimate API spend before moving to the bundled tiers.
Key features of Cursor
- Tab autocomplete that predicts multi-line edits and the next cursor jump
- Agent mode that edits many files and runs terminal commands
- Cloud agents that work on tasks in parallel in remote sandboxes
- Bugbot automated code review on GitHub pull requests
- Codebase indexing so chat and agents understand the whole repo
- Project Rules, skills and MCP servers to shape agent behavior
- VS Code fork that imports extensions, themes and keybindings
- Admin controls, SSO, SCIM and audit logs on Teams and Enterprise
Pros and cons
Pros
- Agent workflow is among the most mature in any code editor
- Familiar VS Code interface with near-zero migration effort
- Fast, accurate Tab completion that many developers rate above rivals
- Free tier and an $8 entry plan lower the cost of trying it
- Strong team features: pooled usage, SSO and privacy settings
Cons
- Third-party models such as Claude and GPT cost extra at API prices
- Plus plan only offers Grok models
- Pricing has changed repeatedly, including a 2025 backlash over Pro limits
- Full feature set only in Cursor's editor; JetBrains gets the agent only
- SpaceX ownership raises roadmap and model-access questions for some teams
Cursor pricing
Cursor uses a freemium model.
| Plan | Price | Includes |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | Limited agent and chat requests |
| Plus | $8 / mo | Shared Grok, Cursor and X pool; Grok models only |
| Premium | $30 / mo | 4x Plus usage, cloud agents, Bugbot code reviews |
| Super | $100 / mo | 15x Plus usage, priority model access at peak times |
| Ultra | $200 / mo | 50x Plus usage, earliest access to new models |
| Teams | $30+ / user/mo | Pooled usage, SSO, admin and usage analytics |
Source: cursor.com · checked on Oct 20, 2026
How Cursor compares in Developer tools
- Rank by votes
- #2 / 36
- Starting price
- $8
- Free alternatives
- 7
0 votes from members
54% below the category median ($18/mo)
Free or open-source tools in Developer tools
Cursor ranks #2 of 36 developer tools tools by community votes and is priced below most tools in the category.
Common use cases
- 1Refactoring a large codebase across dozens of files with an agent
- 2Shipping features from a ticket with cloud agents running in parallel
- 3Automated review of pull requests before human review
- 4Onboarding to an unfamiliar repository by asking questions about it
- 5Writing tests and fixing failing builds from terminal output
Best for
Professional developers and engineering teams who want an AI agent built into the editor rather than bolted on.
Not ideal for
Developers who want Tab completion inside JetBrains or Vim, or teams that need predictable flat pricing for Claude and GPT models (GitHub Copilot, Claude Code).
Integrations
- GitHub
- GitLab
- Slack
- Linear
- MCP servers
- VS Code extensions
Our take
Cursor remains one of the strongest AI coding environments, especially for agent-driven work across large repositories. Start on Free or Plus to test the workflow, and model API costs carefully if your team prefers Claude or GPT over Grok.
FAQ
- What is Cursor?
- Cursor is a Developer tools tool: AI-first code editor with agents, now owned by SpaceX.
- How much does Cursor cost?
- Cursor uses a Freemium model; paid plans start at $8 per month.
- What does Cursor integrate with?
- Cursor integrates with GitHub, GitLab, Slack, Linear, MCP servers, VS Code extensions and more.
- Which platforms does Cursor support?
- Cursor is available on macos, windows, linux, web.
- Who is Cursor for?
- Professional developers and engineering teams who want an AI agent built into the editor rather than bolted on.
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