Alternatives · checked 7 November 2026 · by Guilherme Jovanovic
Best Cursor alternatives
Cursor is an AI code editor with chat, agents and tab completion, now owned by SpaceX and sold as part of The X Subscription alongside Grok and X Premium.
Free $0; Plus $8/mo (Grok models only); Premium $30/mo (first tier that can use Claude and GPT, billed separately at API list price); Super $100/mo; Ultra $200/mo; Teams from $30/user/mo; Enterprise custom. Source
Quick Answer: Cursor alternatives
If you used Cursor for Claude, Claude Code (from $20/mo with Claude Pro) is the most direct replacement because Claude usage is included. If you want to keep a Cursor-style editor with several model vendors in the plan, Devin Desktop (formerly Windsurf, Pro $20/mo) is the closest match. If price is the main concern, GitHub Copilot Pro ($10/mo) or the free, bring-your-own-key options Cline and Zed cost the least.
Why people leave Cursor
Claude and GPT are no longer covered by the subscription.
Under The X Subscription, third-party models such as Claude and GPT are not included in any plan; they are billed at API list price from the first request, paid from prepaid credit. Developers who mainly used Claude in Cursor now pay the plan fee plus API costs. cursor.com
The cheapest paid plan only runs Grok.
Plus at $8/mo covers Grok models only. To use Claude or GPT at all you need Premium at $30/mo or higher, and even then that usage is billed on top. cursor.com
Billing moved to X Subscription Corp. and a pool shared with Grok.
Plans are sold only through X Subscription Corp., billing and top-ups are managed at grok.com/dashboard, and Cursor usage draws from one weekly pool shared with Grok apps. Switching from a legacy plan is permanent. cursor.com
Users say the billing rules are unclear.
On the day after launch, an existing Ultra subscriber who mainly uses Claude and GPT asked on Cursor's forum whether third-party models get any included allowance and whether staying on the old plan keeps current terms. forum.cursor.com
A history of pricing changes that cut what a plan buys.
In July 2025 Pro users reported losing premium-model access after the switch from request limits to compute limits, being pushed to 'Auto' models or usage-based billing, and said they would cancel. forum.cursor.com
7 alternatives, and who each one suits
Listed by use case, not by who pays us. Prices from each tool's official pricing page.
- 01
Claude Code
Pro $20/mo ($17/mo billed annually); Max $100/mo; Ultra $200/mo; Team from $20/seat/mo annually source- Best for
- Developers who used Cursor mainly for Claude: Claude Pro at $20/mo includes Claude Code in the terminal, VS Code, JetBrains, a desktop app and the web, with Claude usage covered by the subscription instead of billed at API rates.
- Fixes
- Claude no longer covered by the subscription; Grok-only cheap tier.
- Skip it if
- You want to switch between Claude, GPT and Gemini in one tool, or you need a free plan (Claude's free plan does not include Claude Code).
- 02
Devin Desktop (formerly Windsurf)
Free; Pro $20/mo; Max $200/mo; Teams $80/mo + $40 per dev seat source- Best for
- People who want to stay in a Cursor-style AI editor and keep frontier models from OpenAI, Anthropic and Google in the plan: Pro at $20/mo includes quotas for those models.
- Fixes
- Claude and GPT not covered by the subscription; Grok-only cheap tier.
- Skip it if
- You work in long bursts; usage runs on daily and weekly quotas, and reviewers report being locked out after heavy days.
- Best for
- Developers who want the lowest paid price and to keep their current editor: Pro at $10/mo includes unlimited completions, model selection and the Claude Code and Codex agents, inside VS Code, JetBrains and others.
- Fixes
- Claude and GPT not covered by the subscription; X billing.
- Skip it if
- You run long agent sessions every day; usage is billed in AI Credits by tokens, and users report burning through a month's credits in days.
- 04
OpenAI Codex
Free (limited); Go $8/mo; Plus $20/mo; Pro from $100/mo; Business $20/user/mo annually source- Best for
- Developers who mostly used GPT models in Cursor: Codex (CLI, IDE extension, desktop app and cloud) is included in ChatGPT plans, so usage is covered by a subscription you may already pay for.
- Fixes
- GPT not covered by the subscription; Grok-only cheap tier.
- Skip it if
- You prefer Claude models or want an AI-first editor rather than an agent that plugs into one.
- Best for
- Developers who want a fast, open-source editor and to pay model providers directly: the Personal plan is free with your own API keys or external agents such as Codex via ACP.
- Fixes
- Third-party models billed through Cursor; X billing; past pricing changes.
- Skip it if
- You depend on VS Code extensions; Zed is a separate editor written in Rust with its own extension system.
- Best for
- Developers who want to pay only for the tokens they use, at the provider's own rates: the open-source agent is free for individuals, runs in VS Code, Cursor, JetBrains or a CLI, and takes your own OpenAI, Anthropic or Google keys or local models.
- Fixes
- Claude and GPT billed on top of a plan fee; Grok-only cheap tier.
- Skip it if
- You want one predictable monthly bill; your cost is whatever your API usage comes to.
- Best for
- Developers who want Claude in an AI IDE under a credit plan: Kiro, built by AWS, includes Claude Sonnet 4.5 even on the free tier and premium models from Pro at $20/mo, with a spec-first workflow.
- Fixes
- Claude not covered by the subscription; X billing.
- Skip it if
- You do not want to write specs before code, or you want models outside Kiro's list.
Sponsored alternative
Building an alternative to Cursor? This labelled spot, kept apart from the list above, is open. How sponsorship works
Cursor alternatives: questions
Can I still use Claude in Cursor?
Is there a free alternative to Cursor?
What is cheaper than Cursor for Claude?
Does my old Cursor Pro plan keep working?
Checked 7 November 2026. Checked 2026-11-07. All prices read from official pricing pages on that date. Cursor's annual prices are not recorded here. The forum thread on third-party model billing had no staff answer visible when read. The 2025 forum complaint predates the X Subscription and is included as history, not current terms. GitHub's April 2026 changelog said each plan's credits equal its price, while the current plans page lists Pro at $15 of credits ($10 base + $5 variable 'flex'); the plans page is used here. How we choose and how we make money: disclosure.
Sources (18)
- https://cursor.com/pricing
- https://cursor.com/help/the-x-subscription/overview
- https://forum.cursor.com/t/introducing-the-x-subscription/174450/17
- https://forum.cursor.com/t/disappointed-with-cursor-1-2-4-pricing-changes-20-pro-plan-no-longer-viable/117336
- https://claude.com/pricing
- https://code.claude.com/docs/en/overview
- https://devin.ai/pricing
- https://github.com/features/copilot/plans
- https://learn.chatgpt.com/docs/pricing
- https://learn.chatgpt.com/docs
- https://zed.dev/pricing
- https://zed.dev/
- https://cline.bot/pricing
- https://cline.bot/
- https://kiro.dev/pricing/
- https://kiro.dev/
- https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/windsurf.com?page=2
- https://www.theregister.com/ai-and-ml/2026/06/02/github-copilot-users-threaten-exit-as-metered-billing-kicks-in/5249826