Cursor

Cursor is the most discussed AI-native code editor of 2024 and 2025. Built by Anysphere, founded by ex-OpenAI researchers, it takes a fundamentally different approach than GitHub Copilot: rather than adding AI as an extension to an existing editor, Cursor rebuilt VS Code from the ground up with AI as a core part of the architecture.

The most significant practical difference is codebase context. Where GitHub Copilot understands the current file and nearby files, Cursor's Composer feature understands the entire project structure and makes changes across multiple files simultaneously from a single natural language instruction. This makes it far more capable for refactoring, feature implementation, and large-scale code changes than autocomplete-style assistants. Developers routinely report saving multiple hours per week on complex tasks.

Cursor uses multiple AI models including Claude Sonnet, GPT-4o, and others, letting users choose which model to apply per task. The Tab autocomplete predicts multi-line edits rather than single-line suggestions, which feels qualitatively different from older autocomplete tools.

Pricing changed significantly in mid-2025, moving from a request-based system to a credit-based model. Each paid plan comes with a credit pool equal to the plan price in dollars, and using expensive models or longer contexts depletes credits faster. This generated community frustration because it made actual costs harder to predict. Users relying heavily on Claude Opus can incur overages beyond the base plan.

Cursor crossed one million users and over a billion dollars in annualised revenue within 18 months, reflecting strong product-market fit. Companies including Stripe and Figma have adopted it as their default editor.

The main limitation compared to GitHub Copilot is editor coverage. Cursor only works in its own VS Code fork. Developers who use JetBrains IDEs, Neovim, or Xcode cannot use it. For teams where developers use different editors, Cursor is harder to standardise.