Review of Cursor
Cursor is a fork of VS Code that bakes AI into every part of the editor. Tab completion, inline editing, multi-file refactors, codebase chat — all powered by GPT-5, Claude, and Cursor's own models. Founded in 2022, it crossed 1M users in 2025 and reportedly hit $500M ARR.
Tab completion is genuinely magical. Cursor predicts your next edit, not just your next word. It understands 'rename this variable across the file' and does it in one keystroke.
The codebase chat is best-in-class. Ask 'where is the auth logic?' and it points you to the exact files, with line numbers. Beats GitHub Copilot Chat and Codeium Chat by a wide margin.
Multi-file edits work. The 'Composer' feature (formerly 'Composer 1') can refactor across files, write migrations, and update tests. It's like having a junior dev pair-programming with you.
It's still VS Code. All your extensions, themes, and keybindings work. The migration from VS Code is one click.
Price is high. Pro is $20/month, Business is $40/month. The free tier is severely limited (2,000 completions/month).
Occasional hallucinations. Composer sometimes writes code that doesn't match the codebase style, or invents APIs that don't exist. You still need to review everything.
It can get distracted. Long Composer sessions sometimes lose track of the original task and start refactoring things you didn't ask for.
Free tier: 2,000 completions + 50 slow requests. Pro: $20/month for unlimited. Business: $40/month with privacy mode. Enterprise: custom.
Full-time devs who write code every day. If you're a hobbyist or only code occasionally, the free tier of GitHub Copilot is fine. If you're a working dev, Cursor is worth $20/month.
★ 4.5/5. The best AI-first editor in 2026. Tab completion alone justifies the price.
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