What is Cursor?
Cursor is a code editor based on VS Code with AI built in natively. It’s not a plugin for your editor: it’s a full editor built from scratch with AI in mind. In 2026 it has become the favorite tool of thousands of professional programmers and the benchmark in the AI code editor space.
New ownership: Cursor now belongs to SpaceX
Updated 31 August 2026. It is the most important development of the year for this tool and worth knowing before you subscribe.
On 14 August 2026, SpaceX closed its acquisition of Anysphere, the company behind Cursor, for $60 billion. Two weeks later, OpenAI announced it will pull its models from the editor on 12 November, saying it cannot be confident SpaceX will use its technology within its terms of service.
What it means in practice:
- The editor does not change. Tab, multi-file editing and agents all stay.
- From November you will not be able to pick OpenAI models inside Cursor.
- Per CEO Michael Truell, those models were around 5% of traffic, and Anthropic has already promised deeper Claude support inside the editor.
- The open question: Cursor’s pitch was always neutrality - connecting you to the best model wherever it comes from. Its owner now builds models too. Worth watching which one comes selected by default over the coming months.
Why Cursor is different from GitHub Copilot
GitHub Copilot adds AI autocomplete to your editor. Cursor goes much further:
- Tab: predictive autocomplete that anticipates multiple lines
- Chat (Ctrl+L): talk to a model that knows your entire codebase
- Composer (Ctrl+I): edit multiple files at once with natural-language instructions
- Agent: runs complete tasks autonomously (create features, fix bugs, write tests)
The difference in practice: with Copilot you complete lines. With Cursor you implement whole features.
Cursor Agent: the most impressive mode
Cursor’s agent mode can:
- Read the relevant files in your project
- Plan the necessary changes
- Edit multiple files simultaneously
- Run terminal commands to verify it works
- Automatically fix errors if they appear
For tasks like “add JWT authentication to my API” or “refactor this component to use React hooks”, the agent can complete the work in minutes with minimal supervision.
Plans and pricing
October 2026 change: Cursor has reorganized its offer under a subscription unified with Grok. The new plans are Plus, Premium, Super and Ultra. According to Cursor’s documentation, Premium gives 4 times the usage of Plus, Super 15 times and Ultra 50 times, and they all share a single usage pool that refreshes weekly (the previous plans had two monthly pools). Plus is the base tier and covers only Cursor’s own models and Grok; third-party models (Claude, GPT) are billed at API list price from Premium up. Per trade-press reports the prices are Plus $8, Premium $30, Super $100 and Ultra $200 a month, but only Ultra’s price appears clearly in the documentation we could check: confirm the rest at cursor.com/pricing before subscribing.
The plans in the table below (Hobby, Pro, Pro+, Ultra, Teams) keep working for people who already have them, and switching is optional.
| Plan | Price | What’s included |
|---|---|---|
| Hobby | Free | Limited completions and agent requests |
| Pro | $20/mo ($16/mo yearly) | $20 of usage credits/mo, frontier models, cloud agents |
| Pro+ | $60/mo | 3x usage credits |
| Ultra | $200/mo | 20x usage, priority access to new features |
| Teams | from $40/user/mo | Centralised billing, SSO, admin controls |
| Teams Premium | $120/user/mo | Includes Grok Bot, expanded usage limits |
Note how Cursor bills: the seat fee includes a pool of usage credits, and heavy use adds charges on top. It is not a flat rate.
August 2026 news: Grok Bot
On 11 August 2026, SpaceXAI and Cursor launched Grok Bot in early beta, a family of persistent agents that goes well beyond the usual coding assistant: they log into the apps and websites you already use, carry out multi-step tasks to completion, and only interrupt when a decision from you is actually needed. They’re designed to remember past conversations and adapt to your preferences over time.
It’s available on macOS, Windows, Linux and iOS, with Android on the way, and enterprise access is waitlist-only.
The important part for deciding: it is not included in the Pro plan. Only Cursor Ultra ($200/mo) and Cursor Teams Premium ($120/user/mo) subscribers get it, plus SuperGrok Heavy. In other words, Cursor’s flashiest news of the year sits behind its most expensive tiers, out of reach for most individual developers.
Available models
Cursor gives access to the best models on the market: the latest Claude models from Anthropic, GPT from OpenAI, Gemini from Google and Cursor’s own. You switch between them per task, or leave Auto mode on and let Cursor choose.
With one date on the calendar: OpenAI models stop being available inside Cursor on 12 November 2026, following the SpaceX acquisition. The rest continue.
Comparison with the competition
| Cursor | GitHub Copilot | Windsurf (now Devin Desktop) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Autocomplete quality | ★★★★★ | ★★★★ | ★★★★ |
| Chat with context | ★★★★★ | ★★★★ | ★★★★ |
| Multi-file editing | ★★★★★ | ★★★ | ★★★★ |
| Price | $20/mo | $10/mo | $20/mo |
| VS Code compatibility | ★★★★★ | ★★★★★ | ★★★★ |
What users say
Cursor is the most talked-about AI editor on Reddit. The consensus: for most workflows, multi-file editing and codebase awareness are a real step up from GitHub Copilot.
The big complaint is the June 2025 switch to the credit system: many developers saw their ~500 monthly requests turn into ~225, and some got unexpected bills. The CEO apologized publicly, but part of the community migrated to Windsurf - today renamed Devin Desktop after its acquisition by Cognition, with a Pro tier that also costs $20/mo. Heavy users report the Pro plan runs out after about 50 heavy Composer uses a day.
Verdict
Cursor is the best AI programming tool in 2026, no question. The productivity jump over Copilot is real and measurable. If you code more than 2 hours a day, $20/mo is money well spent. The free plan is enough to try it and convince yourself.
👉 Cursor vs Windsurf (Devin Desktop): which to choose in 2026
👉 Cursor vs GitHub Copilot: which to choose
👉 Lovable vs Cursor: the comparison
Community rating
Affiliate link - no extra cost to you