Cursor
An AI-first code editor built on VS Code, with an agent that reads your whole repo and edits across many files at once.
Who it's for
Solo builders who already work in VS Code and want an agent that can rewrite twenty files without leaving the editor.
Standout details
- The Hobby tier is free with limited Agent requests, so you can judge the agent before paying
- Pro at $20/mo includes MCP servers, skills, hooks and cloud agents alongside the editor itself
- Pro+ at $60/mo and Ultra at $200/mo buy 3x and 20x the Pro agent allowance, with the same feature set
- Privacy mode means your code is not used for training by Cursor or its model providers
- Usage past your included allowance is billed in arrears, so a heavy month costs more than the sticker price
What it is
Cursor is a fork of VS Code with the AI built into the editor itself. Your keybindings, themes and extensions carry over. What you get on top is an agent that reads the repo, plans a change and applies it across files, plus Composer, tab completion and codebase-aware chat.
The paid plans add MCP servers, custom skills, hooks, and cloud agents that run off your machine. Bugbot, the automated code reviewer, sits on its own usage-based billing separate from your plan.
Who should use it
People who already live in VS Code and write enough code that multi-file edits save real hours. Solo founders with something to ship. If you are a JetBrains or Neovim person, the switching cost is the whole argument against it.
What stands out
The tier ladder is unusually flat. Pro, Pro+ and Ultra are the same product with a bigger allowance attached, so upgrading never unlocks a feature you were missing. That turns the choice into arithmetic about how much agent work you do, which is an easier question than most pricing pages let you ask.
Teams at $40 per user per month is the first tier that changes the product. You get centralised billing, usage analytics, team-wide privacy mode, SAML and OIDC single sign-on, and an internal marketplace where a team publishes its own rules, skills and plugins.
Cursor also sells direct only. Its pricing page states that it authorises no resellers and that subscriptions bought anywhere else may be suspended, which is worth knowing if you spot a cheap seat somewhere.
The verdict
Cursor is the tool I would pick first for agent-driven coding, and $20 buys a lot at the Pro tier.
The catch is that you cannot see the bill coming. Cursor moved from a fixed count of fast requests to usage-based pricing in 2025, and the arithmetic underneath is unforgiving: one long agent session that touches twenty files and runs a dozen tool calls consumes far more than a single request ever did. Cursor has raised the included limits since, which helped. It did not change the fact that on-demand usage bills in arrears, so the month is over before you know what it cost.
If a variable invoice would be a real problem for you, stay on Hobby and treat the agent as an occasional tool.
Honest verdict
If you already think in VS Code, this is the agent I would put $20 a month behind. The bill is the thing to watch, because your plan includes a fixed amount of model usage and everything past it is charged in arrears, so you find out what a heavy month cost after you have had it. Anyone who writes a handful of lines a day, or who is settled in JetBrains, is better off not switching.
Published 29 Aug 2026