Cursor
About CursorCursor is a smart code editor, like a super-powered version of VS Code, that uses AI to understand your entire project. It helps you write, fix, and change your code faster by letting you simply ask the computer what you want it to do in plain English.
What is Cursor?
Cursor is a coding tool (based on VS Code) that comes with powerful built-in AI. It’s not just for autocompleting code, it can understand your whole project and help you make big changes across many files at once.
You can ask it to write new code, fix old code, reorganize things, or explain parts of your project using plain English. Instead of doing everything manually, you guide the AI, and it does the heavy work.
Key Features of Cursor
- Codebase-Aware Chat: Ask questions about your entire project in English, and the AI will respond with full context, making it easy to understand legacy code or complex logic.
- Inline Code Generation & Editing: Generate, edit, and refactor selected code blocks or entire functions by typing a natural language prompt.
- Multi-File Refactoring/Agent Mode: Describe a complex task (e.g., Refactor this component to use a new library across all related files), and the AI Agent can execute changes across multiple files in your repository.
- AI Code Completion: Beyond basic word completion, this feature suggests and completes entire blocks, functions, or multi-line edits based on the surrounding context and recent changes.
- Smart Debugging & Error Correction: The editor proactively highlights potential errors, suggests intelligent fixes, and can help resolve issues directly from the chat interface by analyzing stack traces.
- Flexible AI Model Selection: Users can choose between multiple frontier AI models, such as GPT-4o and Claude 3.5 Sonnet, or even use their own OpenAI API key for greater flexibility.
Who Can Use Cursor?
- Solo Developers and Startups building minimum viable products (MVPs) quickly.
- Full-stack Developers who need to manage both frontend and backend complexities efficiently.
- Teams maintaining large, complex, or legacy codebases that require deep understanding and project-wide refactoring.
- Students and Learners who want a powerful tool to accelerate their learning and productivity in an AI-assisted environment.
Why Is It Better Than Its Competitors?
- Deep Codebase Understanding: Indexing and querying the entire repository, not just the current file, for full context.
- Agentic Multi-File Edits: Ability to perform complex, multi-step tasks across a project, acting more like an engineering partner than just an autocomplete function.
- Natural Language IDE Control: Commands in plain English can manage the entire development workflow, from generating code to running tests and refactoring.
- Flexibility in AI Models: Allows users to select and swap between top-tier Large Language Models (LLMs) like GPT-4o and Claude 3.5 Sonnet, instead of being limited to a single model.
English
Cursor is the next-generation, AI-native code editor designed to multiply developer productivity by transforming how code is written, understood, and maintained. Built as a fork of VS Code, it seamlessly integrates advanced AI capabilities, including deep codebase understanding, intelligent multi-file refactoring, and natural language command execution—to eliminate boilerplate and friction.
Developers can ask complex questions about their project, generate new functions with simple prompts, and let the AI agent handle multi-step edits, allowing them to focus on high-level logic and innovation rather than the mechanics of typing. It’s a complete, modern IDE that makes every developer feel like a 10x engineer.
2022
San Francisco, California, USA
Private
We’ve developed Cursor, the world’s first AI-native code editor, to fundamentally change software development. We provide a proprietary platform that deeply integrates cutting-edge AI models, such as GPT-4o and Claude 3.5 Sonnet, into a familiar VS Code environment. Our commitment is to offer a coding experience that is not only faster and more accurate but also deeply context-aware, ensuring the AI is a true partner in every stage of development, from debugging to large-scale refactoring. We offer flexible pricing, enterprise-grade security, and centralized team management features, making Cursor the trusted choice for ambitious developers and leading engineering teams worldwide.
Hobby
Free
MonthlyPro
$20
MonthlyPro+
$60
MonthlyUltra
$200
MonthlyIs Cursor a VS Code Extension?
No, Cursor is a completely independent, AI-native code editor built on a fork of VS Code, allowing it to integrate AI features far more deeply than a standard extension.
Does Cursor support my existing VS Code extensions?
Yes, Cursor maintains compatibility with the vast majority of existing VS Code extensions and plugins, ensuring developers don’t lose access to their favorite tools.
How does Cursor handle my code's privacy?
Cursor is designed with privacy in mind; for paid tiers, it offers features like Privacy Mode and the option to use self-hosted or locally run models to ensure code and data remain secure.
Can Cursor help me with an entirely new codebase?
Yes. One of its greatest strengths is its ability to index an entire codebase, allowing you to ask the AI high-level questions in natural language to quickly understand architecture, logic, and file relationships.
What does "Agent Mode" mean?
Agent Mode refers to Cursor’s ability to take on complex, end-to-end coding tasks, like a multi-file refactor or a complete feature implementation with minimal human intervention, acting as a highly autonomous pair programmer.
Does Cursor use my code for training the AI models?
By default, code is used to provide context for suggestions but is not used to train the underlying Large Language Models (LLMs) unless you explicitly opt-in or use a model where this is a default setting.
Cursor represents a fundamental shift in the developer experience, moving beyond mere suggestion to full-fledged, context-aware agency. It’s the first IDE where the AI feels less like a tool and more like an integral, omniscient collaborator. For teams buried in technical debt or those scaling rapidly, Cursor’s ability to deeply understand and refactor the entire codebase with natural language prompts offers a non-linear leap in productivity that few competitors can match.
Pros:
- Deep, project-wide code understanding is a game-changer for large repositories.
- Agentic features automate complex, multi-file refactoring and bug-fixing.
- Familiar VS Code interface makes adoption nearly instantaneous for most developers.
- Flexible choice of premium LLMs (GPT-4o, Claude 3.5 Sonnet).
Cons:
- The usage-based pricing for premium models can be less predictable than fixed-limit plans.
- Full potential is only unlocked on paid tiers, limiting high-end use cases for free users.
- As a newer tool, its ecosystem and community support are still maturing compared to decades-old IDEs.
Final Verdict:
Cursor is the current benchmark for AI-native coding, turning the dream of a truly intelligent pair programmer into reality. Its core strength lies in its comprehensive codebase context and agentic workflow, making it the top recommendation for developers and teams ready to fully embrace an AI-first development lifecycle.
CA Tushar Makkar
