What is Cursor?
Cursor is a code editor with an AI agent built into it, made by Anysphere, Inc. Beyond conventional editing, inline autocomplete and Cmd+K targeted edits, it can take a task such as "build this" or "fix this bug" and work through a codebase on its own, showing a diff for review. It runs agents in the desktop editor, in a terminal CLI, and in the cloud, where they run in parallel on their own machines and keep going after the laptop is closed. You choose the model per task from OpenAI, Anthropic and Google alongside Cursor's own Composer models. The Hobby tier is free with limited Agent requests; paid plans start at $20 per month. It suits developers who want the agent to do real work in a repo rather than only autocomplete a line.
Verified product facts
- Type
- code editorEditorially reviewed
- Platform
- macOS
- Apple Silicon
- Yes
- Pricing
- FreemiumDeveloper-stated
- Developer
- AnysphereDeveloper-stated
- Relationship to Nuanyue
- Third-party product — not published by NuanyueEditorially reviewed
- Licence
- Proprietary
- Current version
- 3.23.12Developer-stated
- Official website
- cursor.com/
Last updated . Facts marked developer-stated come from the developer and are not independently confirmed; editorially reviewed marks a Nuanyue judgement.
Key features
What Cursor does at a glance.
AI agent
Plans and writes changes across a codebase
Inline autocomplete and Cmd+K targeted edits
Cloud agents
Run in parallel and continue while the laptop is closed
Choice of frontier models
From OpenAI, Anthropic, Google and Cursor's own Composer
Terminal CLI
Plus integrations with Slack, GitHub and JetBrains tooling
Plan Mode
For multi-file work and Bugbot for code review
What you can use Cursor for
- Having an AI agent implement a change across a codebase and reviewing the diff before accepting it
- Running coding tasks in the cloud that keep going after the laptop is closed
- Reviewing pull requests with Bugbot
- Choosing a different frontier model for a task without leaving the editor
Who is Cursor for?
- Developers who want the agent to do real work in a repo rather than only autocomplete a line
- Developers already working in a Visual Studio Code–style editor, whose extensions and settings Cursor inherits
- Teams that want cloud agents and Slack and GitHub integration rather than a desktop-only editor
Who is Cursor not for?
- Windows or Linux desktop users — the platform recorded for Cursor is macOS
- Developers who need an open-source editor — Cursor is proprietary and closed source
- Anyone wanting to avoid a recurring cost — past the free Hobby tier it is a per-user subscription
Limitations
- The free Hobby tier caps Agent requests
- Cursor is proprietary and closed source
- The minimum macOS version is not stated in the sources Nuanyue tracks
Strengths and trade-offs
What Cursor does well, and what to weigh before choosing it. Points marked developer-stated come from the developer’s own material and have not been independently confirmed.
Strengths
- Runs in the terminal and integrates with Slack and GitHub, not only as a desktop editor.
- Lets you choose the model per task from OpenAI, Anthropic and Google alongside Cursor's own Composer models.Developer-stated
- The Hobby tier is free and requires no credit card.
Trade-offs
- Past the free tier it is a subscription — Individual is $20 per month and Teams is $40 per user per month — and the free Hobby tier caps Agent requests.
- It is proprietary and distributed as a fork of Visual Studio Code, so its extension and settings compatibility is inherited from that upstream rather than independently designed.Editorially reviewed
First-use experience
What the app asks of you when you set it up. Only established facts appear here; anything we could not confirm is left out rather than guessed at.
- Installation
- Download the macOS build — ARM64, x64 or universal — from cursor.com/download, then open the app.
- First launch Developer-stated
- Sign in to a Cursor account, then pick a folder to open; the agent is invoked with Cmd+I.
- System integration Developer-stated
- Installs a terminal CLI (curl https://cursor.com/install -fsS | bash) and integrates with GitHub, Slack and JetBrains tooling.
- Apple Silicon
- Supported
What it does
Cursor is a code editor with an AI agent built into it. Alongside conventional
editing, inline autocomplete and Cmd+K targeted edits, it can take a task —
“build this dashboard”, “fix this bug” — and work through a codebase on its
own, showing the diff for review before anything is accepted. It is built and
distributed by Anysphere, Inc.
Agents and models
Cursor runs agents in three places: the desktop editor, a terminal CLI, and the cloud, where they run in parallel on their own machines and continue after the laptop is closed. It also integrates with Slack and GitHub, including for reviewing pull requests.
The model can be chosen per task. The docs list frontier models from OpenAI, Anthropic and Google alongside Cursor’s own Composer models, so the same task can be run against a different model without leaving the editor. The free Hobby tier limits Agent requests; paid plans raise those limits and add cloud agents and integrations.
Pricing
| Plan | Price |
|---|---|
| Hobby | Free (no credit card required) |
| Individual | $20/month |
| Teams | $40 per user/month |
| Enterprise | Custom |
Prices are listed in USD on cursor.com/pricing. The free Hobby tier is capped on Agent requests rather than time-limited.
Apple Silicon
Cursor publishes separate macOS builds for ARM64 (Apple Silicon), x64 (Intel) and a universal binary, so it runs natively on Apple Silicon. The download page lists all three explicitly.
Release history
Dated releases recorded for Cursor, newest first, each with the source it was read from.
3.22Developer-stated
Listed as the current desktop release on cursor.com/download. Recent changelog entries cover Rollouts, Security Review, Cursor Projects and self-hosted machines.
Source: Official website
Questions about Cursor
Is Cursor free?
There is a free Hobby tier with no credit card required and limited Agent requests. Paid plans start at $20 per month for Individual.
How much does Cursor cost?
Individual is $20 per month, Teams is $40 per user per month, and Enterprise is custom-priced. The Hobby tier is free.
Does Cursor run natively on Apple Silicon?
Yes. The download page publishes separate Mac ARM64, x64 and universal builds.
Who makes Cursor?
Cursor is developed by Anysphere, Inc., which describes itself as an applied research company working on automating coding.
Is Cursor open source?
No. Cursor is a proprietary, closed-source application from Anysphere, Inc.; its source code is not published.
Alternatives to Cursor
Apps that could replace this one — the same job, a different trade-off.
Zed
Fast, collaborative code editor written in Rust, with built-in AI agents.
Both are editors built around AI and collaboration, but Zed is a native Rust editor while Cursor is an Electron fork of VS Code.
Sublime Text
Fast native code editor with a Python package ecosystem.
Sublime Text is a native, closed-source editor without the integrated agent layer.
Competitors
Direct competitors: overlapping features aimed at the same users.
Devin Desktop
Agent-first code editor from Cognition, formerly Windsurf.
Both are AI-first code editors aimed at the same agentic coding workflow; the listing is filed under Windsurf, which Cognition renamed Devin Desktop in June 2026.
Compared with
Head-to-head comparisons Nuanyue has published.
Visual Studio Code
Free MIT-licensed code editor with a large extension marketplace.
Cursor is a fork of Visual Studio Code; the two are compared head to head on Nuanyue.
Links
Sources
Facts on this page are checked against the sources below. Last updated .
- Cursor — official websiteGrade B
- Anysphere — developer websiteGrade B
- Cursor — documentationGrade C
