Source-backed analysis12
Review basis
The AppDuo team prepared this review by analysing product features, official documentation and user feedback to help you understand its strengths, limitations and suitability for your needs.
12 reference sourcesInformation updated Nov 10, 2026
How we review
By AppDuo Editorial Team · Updated
- Windows
- macOS
- Linux
- Web
- iOS
On this page
Decide at a glance
Our verdict
Cursor suits developers who want to hand longer tasks to AI agents and pick their own models, on Windows, macOS, Linux and iPhone. The trade-offs are usage-based pricing that is hard to predict, past controversies over pricing changes and model disclosure, and, since the August 2026 sale to SpaceX, plans built around Grok models.
Best for: Developers who want an AI agent to understand a whole project, plan and edit across files
Skip it if: Anyone who wants a fixed, easily budgeted monthly cost
Pros
- Agents run on desktop, CLI and cloud, with a Plan Mode that waits for approval before coding
- Models from multiple providers are selectable, plus an Auto option
- Available for Windows 10 and later, macOS 12 and later (Apple Silicon and Intel) and Linux, plus an iPhone app rated 4.7/5 on the App Store
Cons
- Pricing is usage-based across many tiers (8 to 200 USD a month); third-party models are billed separately at API price
- Per Wikipedia, in July 2025 Cursor moved its Pro plan to usage-based limits, drew complaints about unexpected charges, then rolled back the limits and promised refunds
All pros and cons · Who is it for?
Pros
- States SOC 2 Type II, ISO/IEC 27001 and 42001 certification, and offers a Privacy Mode
- Connects with GitHub, GitLab, Azure DevOps, Bitbucket, JetBrains, Slack and Linear
Cons
- Per Wikipedia, users found that Composer 2 (released March 2026) was built on Moonshot AI's Kimi 2.5, which Cursor had not disclosed at launch
Best for
- Teams that want several agents in parallel or cloud agents plus automated code review
- Organisations that need SSO, audit logs and SOC 2 certification for an AI coding tool
Skip it if
- Developers who only want a free editor without AI
Experience & key features
What is Cursor?
Cursor is developed by Anysphere and describes itself as a coding agent for building ambitious software. Per Wikipedia, Michael Truell, Sualeh Asif, Arvid Lunnemark and Aman Sanger founded the company in 2022. Cursor comes as a desktop app, CLI, web app and iPhone app (on the App Store since 28 June 2026), with Slack and GitHub integrations. The homepage says Cursor is now part of SpaceX, Wikipedia gives 14 August 2026 as the closing date, and the App Store now lists X Corp. as the app's seller.
Key features
The docs describe understanding a codebase, planning features, fixing bugs and reviewing changes. Plan Mode lets the agent research the project, ask questions and wait for your approval before coding. Cursor 2.0 (29 October 2025) added up to eight parallel agents and the Composer model. October and November 2026 releases added an Agent SDK, building apps and sharing them by link, and real-time voice calls with agents on desktop, web and iPhone.
Pricing and value
The pricing page lists Free, Plus at 8 USD, Premium at 30 USD, Super at 100 USD and Ultra at 200 USD a month, each giving a multiple of Plus usage (Premium 4x, Super 15x, Ultra 50x) that refreshes weekly. Plus is a usage pool shared between Cursor and Grok products. Teams starts at 30 USD per user per month and Enterprise is quoted by sales. Third-party models are billed separately at API list price, with optional spending caps. In-app purchases in the iPhone app use different plan names and prices from the website (such as Pro at 25.99 USD and Ultra at 259.99 USD). The page states no annual pricing, trial or student discount, so recheck the official page before buying.
More analysis
Who it's for and how it compares
In the 2025 Stack Overflow survey, 17.9% of respondents used Cursor, versus 75.9% for VS Code and 27.1% for IntelliJ IDEA. VS Code is the free and broader option; IntelliJ IDEA is strong for Java/Kotlin; Windsurf, Zed and GitHub Copilot also compete on AI. Cursor suits people who want AI at the centre of their workflow; those who need a fixed cost or no AI may weigh the others.
Screenshots
Plans & pricing
Prices last verified Nov 10, 2026
Free
Free
Limited AI usage and limited agent and Chat requests.
Plus
$8/mo
8 USD a month. One AI usage pool shared across Cursor and Grok products (Chat, Voice, Imagine, Build, API); Grok models only.
Premium
$30/mo
30 USD a month. 4x Plus usage; adds the latest Grok models, cloud agents, code hosting and AI code reviews. Third-party models are billed separately at API list price.
Super
$100/mo
100 USD a month. 15x Plus usage and priority model access at peak times.
Ultra
$200/mo
200 USD a month. 50x Plus usage and earliest access to all products and models.
Teams
$30/mo/user
From 30 USD per user per month. Centralised billing and admin, usage analytics, SSO and a team marketplace; admins can enforce Privacy Mode team-wide.
- Free plan limits
- The Free plan limits AI usage and agent and Chat requests. Allowances on paid plans refresh weekly; past that you buy top-offs or wait for the refresh.
- Free trial
- No free trial
Cancellation & refunds
The pricing page only says to cancel at least 24 hours before renewal to avoid further charges; it states no refund policy.
Privacy
Per its privacy policy, Cursor collects account and payment information, inputs and suggestions, communications, feedback, device, log and usage data, and location inferred from IP address. The policy says Cursor does not use inputs or suggestions to train models, or let third parties do so, unless they are flagged for security review, you report them (for example as feedback) or you explicitly agree. Data may be shared with service providers, including model services, which the policy does not name. The security page describes a Privacy Mode that users can switch on or team admins can enforce, with Cursor stating it will not train on your data when enabled. Cursor lists SOC 2 Type II, ISO/IEC 27001, ISO/IEC 42001 and AIUC-1, and says it has no infrastructure in China and uses no China-headquartered subprocessors.
Cursor alternatives
8.0/10Visual Studio Code
Microsoft's free code editor, extended by add-ons, with built-in AI agents
7.5/10GitHub Copilot
An AI coding assistant that runs in most major IDEs and ties into GitHub
Frequently asked questions
Is Cursor free?
There is a Free plan with limited AI usage and agent and Chat requests. The paid plans on the pricing page are Plus at 8 USD, Premium at 30 USD, Super at 100 USD and Ultra at 200 USD a month.
Which operating systems does Cursor support?
Windows 10 and later, macOS 12 (Monterey) and later on Apple Silicon and Intel, and Linux (apt or dnf/yum packages preferred over AppImage). There is also a CLI, a web app and an iPhone and iPad app that needs iOS 26 or later.
Does Cursor train on my code?
The policy says Cursor does not use inputs or suggestions to train its models unless they are flagged for security review, you report them or you opt in. With Privacy Mode on, Cursor states it will not train on your data.
Who owns Cursor?
Cursor is made by Anysphere. The Cursor homepage says it is now part of SpaceX; Wikipedia reports an implied equity value of 60 billion USD and a closing date of 14 August 2026, with Anysphere becoming a wholly owned SpaceX subsidiary.
Review evidence & sources12
Scores
- Ease of use
- 8.0
- Features
- 8.7
- Value for money
- 6.8
- Performance
- 7.2
- Support
- 6.4
- Privacy & security
- 7.3
Why this score
The quickstart is clear: sign in, open a project folder, open Agent with Cmd I and toggle Plan Mode with Shift+Tab. Marked down because many pricing tiers, agent types and models can confuse newcomers. The interface is English-only.
Why this score
Desktop, CLI and cloud agents, parallel runs, an integrated browser, sandboxed terminals, Bugbot code review, an Agent SDK and a steady release cadence. In the 2025 Stack Overflow survey 17.9% of respondents used Cursor, sixth in the list and far behind VS Code (75.9%), so it is not the category leader.
Why this score
Plus at 8 USD and Premium at 30 USD are reasonably accessible, but Plus is limited to Grok models, third-party models are billed separately at API price, and there was a 2025 pricing controversy. The top tier reaches 200 USD a month.
Why this score
Cursor says its Composer model is 4x faster than similarly intelligent models. That is a vendor figure; no independent benchmarks appeared in the sources opened, so the score is cautious.
Why this score
Official docs, a changelog and a security reporting channel exist; Enterprise includes priority support. Marked down because Cursor scores 1.5/5 from 358 Trustpilot reviews and, per Wikipedia, in April 2025 its AI support bot invented a login policy, leading to cancellations before staff stepped in with refunds.
Why this score
The policy says inputs and suggestions are not used for training (with listed exceptions), and there is a Privacy Mode, SOC 2 Type II and ISO 27001/42001. Marked down because data may reach unnamed third-party model providers and the pages opened do not describe codebase indexing or retention for individual accounts.
What users say
- App Store (United States)4.7/5 · 1,084
- Trustpilot1.5/5 · 358
Sources
- Vendor-providedOfficial homepageNov 10, 2026
- Vendor-providedOfficial pricing pageNov 10, 2026
- Vendor-providedOfficial security pageNov 10, 2026
- Vendor-providedOfficial privacy policyNov 10, 2026
- Vendor-providedOfficial documentationNov 10, 2026
- Vendor-providedOfficial quickstart and installationNov 10, 2026
- Vendor-providedOfficial changelogNov 10, 2026
- Vendor-providedOfficial changelog: Cursor 2.0Nov 10, 2026
- storeApp Store listing: Cursor (US)Nov 10, 2026
- review-siteTrustpilot: Cursor reviewsNov 10, 2026
- Community-reportedWikipedia: Cursor (code editor)Nov 10, 2026
- pressStack Overflow Developer Survey 2025: TechnologyNov 10, 2026
Specs & compatibility
- Developer
- Anysphere
- Headquarters
- United States
- Launched
- 2022
- Category
- Development
Capabilities
- AI features
- Public API
- Integrations
- Real-time collaboration
- Mobile app
Platforms
- Windows
- macOS
- Linux
- Web
- iOS
Interface languages
- English
Integrations
- GitHub
- GitLab
- Azure DevOps
- Bitbucket
- JetBrains
- Slack
- Linear
- MCP servers
Support
- Help center
- Community forum
Change history
- Feature.Build Live Apps launches: create apps in Cursor and share them by link.
- Feature.The Agent SDK becomes generally available: define an agent as a folder of code, test with evals and deploy to Cursor or your own infrastructure.
- Company.Per Wikipedia, SpaceX completes its acquisition of Cursor and Anysphere becomes a wholly owned SpaceX subsidiary. Cursor's homepage says it is now part of SpaceX.
Full change history (8)
- Launch.The Cursor app for iPhone and iPad arrives on the App Store, for directing and monitoring agents from a phone.
- Feature.Cursor 2.0 launches with up to eight parallel agents, the Composer model and a new agent-management interface.
- Price.The Pro plan moves to usage-based limits, drawing complaints about unexpected charges; Cursor rolls the limits back and promises refunds, per Wikipedia.
- Company.A 900 million USD Series C led by Thrive Capital values the company at 9.9 billion USD, per Wikipedia.
- Company.Anysphere raises an 8 million USD seed round led by the OpenAI Startup Fund, per Wikipedia.