What Is Cursor AI? How It Works and What It Costs

Cursor is a code editor — the program where you write and edit code — with AI built into almost every part of it. If you've seen people "vibe coding" by typing what they want and watching files change, there's a good chance they were in Cursor.

What it looks like

Cursor is a fork of VS Code, the most popular free code editor. That means it looks and feels like VS Code: same layout, same extensions, same shortcuts. If you've used VS Code, you already know where everything is. (VS Code for beginners)

On top of that, it adds three main AI features.

1. Tab: autocomplete that predicts your next edit

As you type, Cursor suggests the rest of the line — or several lines, or a change somewhere else in the file that it predicts you'll want next. Press Tab to accept.

2. Chat that knows your project

Cursor indexes your codebase so you can ask questions like "where do we handle password resets?" and get answers that point at your actual files.

3. Agent: multi-file changes from a description

Describe a task — "add a dark mode toggle to the settings page" — and the agent works out which files to change, edits them, and can run terminal commands like tests. You review the changes and accept or reject them. Background agents can work on tasks in the cloud while you do something else.

Which AI models does it use?

Cursor lets you pick between models from several providers — Anthropic's Claude, OpenAI's GPT models, Google's Gemini and Cursor's own. You don't need separate accounts; it's included in Cursor's plans (with limits).

Is Cursor free?

There's a free Hobby plan with limited agent requests — enough to try it. As of October 2026, the individual paid plan is $20/month with larger limits, Teams is $40 per user per month, and heavy use beyond the included amount is billed on usage. Check cursor.com/pricing for current details.

Telling Cursor how your project works

You can write rules — instructions Cursor follows every time, like "use TypeScript", "validate input with Zod", "never edit generated files". They live in .cursor/rules/ in your project. (Cursor rules explained)

What Cursor doesn't do

Cursor is an editor. It helps you write code. It doesn't:

Host your app. You still need somewhere to deploy it. (What is web hosting?)
Set up a database or domain for you.
Run when your laptop is closed (except for its cloud background agents on your repo).

People are often surprised by this: the app works in Cursor, and then there's a whole second job of getting it online. (You built an app with AI. Now what?)

Cursor vs the alternatives

GitHub Copilot adds AI to the editor you already have instead of replacing it. (Cursor vs Copilot)
Claude Code is an agent rather than an editor — it works in your terminal or inside any editor, including Cursor. (Claude Code vs Cursor)
App builders like Lovable or Replit do more for you, including hosting, but give you less control.

Who Cursor is for

Developers who want AI deeply woven into their editor.
Beginners who are comfortable with the idea of files and folders and want to learn while the AI helps.
Less ideal for someone who never wants to see code at all — an app builder may suit them better. (How to choose an AI app builder)

EasySpawn gives your Cursor project somewhere to live: a server with your app, database and HTTPS set up, that you can open from Cursor over SSH. See how it works for AI-built apps or join the waitlist.

What Is Cursor? The AI Code Editor Explained for Beginners