✓ ReviewedLast updated November 1, 2026 by Florian Schröder
Neither tool wins outright. Claude Code is Anthropic’s coding agent. It runs in the terminal, in VS Code and JetBrains IDEs, in a desktop app and on the web, and its usage is included in Claude plans from $20 per month. Cursor is an AI code editor, owned by SpaceX since August 2026, with Tab autocomplete and models from several vendors. Its plans start at $8 per month with Cursor’s own models. Claude, Gemini and other outside models cost extra at API prices and need a plan of at least $30 per month.
Part of our Claude AI guide. Plans, prices and features were last checked on November 1, 2026 on each vendor’s own pages. Prices are in US dollars before tax.
Disclosure: this comparison was drafted with the help of Claude, which is made by Anthropic, the company behind Claude Code. Product facts therefore come only from each vendor’s own pages, outside assessments are named, and our own judgement is labeled as such. We did not run either tool for this comparison.
This table is our editorial assessment, based on the facts further down.
If you want…
Choose
Why
Autocomplete as you type
Cursor
Tab suggests code as you type, including edits across several lines. We found no equivalent in Claude Code’s docs.
To choose between model vendors
Cursor, with a caveat
Grok, Composer, Claude, Gemini and others share one model picker. OpenAI plans to stop supplying Cursor, as explained below.
The cheapest paid plan
Cursor Plus
It costs $8 per month but covers only Cursor’s own models. Claude Code starts at $17 per month with annual billing.
Included usage on low-cost, non-Claude models
Cursor
Paid plans include a weekly pool for its own models. Composer 2.5 lists at $0.50 per million input tokens on its standard tier and $3 on Fast, the default. Claude Sonnet 5.5 lists at $2 and Haiku 5.5 at $0.10. Only your own tasks can show which is good enough.
To point at UI changes in a running app
Cursor, narrowly
Design Mode lets you leave notes on elements of your app for an agent to act on. Claude Code’s desktop app has a browser pane and a shortcut for selecting an element, but its docs describe less of this workflow.
To work mainly with Claude at a fixed monthly price
Claude Code
Usage is included from Claude Pro at $20 per month, within limits, and heavy use may need Max or Ultra. Cursor bills Claude by the token on top of its plan.
To stay in VS Code or a JetBrains IDE
Claude Code
It has an extension for VS Code and a plugin for JetBrains, which needs the command-line tool installed separately. Cursor reaches JetBrains on paid plans through the Agent Client Protocol, and its own editor replaces VS Code.
A visual workspace for parallel agents
Either
Cursor has the Agents Window. Claude Code’s desktop app runs parallel sessions beside a diff view, browser pane and terminal.
Agents in the cloud, in CI or on pull requests
Either
Both offer cloud sessions, automation and code review. Cursor’s cloud agents start at the $30 plan and Claude Code’s cloud sessions at the $20 plan.
Tab in your editor and Claude as your agent
Both
Claude Code’s extension installs inside Cursor and draws on your Claude plan.
What changed at Cursor in 2026
Older comparisons often describe an independent Cursor with a $20 Pro plan that includes Claude usage. For new customers, that no longer applies:
Plans: new customers buy The X Subscription, a single plan for Grok, Cursor and X, with one weekly usage pool shared between Grok and Cursor. Cursor says each new paid plan includes at least twice the coding usage on its own models as the legacy plan it replaces. Existing Pro, Pro+, Ultra and Teams customers can stay on their legacy plans. Switching is optional, but it cannot be undone.
Claude in Cursor: Claude, GPT and Gemini are not part of the included pool on the new plans. On Premium and above, they are billed at API list price from prepaid credit. Legacy plans keep a separate monthly pool for these models.
OpenAI: on August 28, OpenAI said it plans to end its contract with Cursor and will not supply future models. It proposed November 12, 2026 as the end date. OpenAI’s help page says the official date is still to be confirmed and that Cursor may end access sooner. Your own OpenAI API key or the Codex extension would still work for local chat and agent use, according to the same page. Cursor’s CEO said OpenAI models serve about 5% of Cursor’s traffic and that the companies were talking, CNBC reported.
Claude’s status: Cursor’s docs still list Opus 5.5, Sonnet 5.5, Fable 5.1 and Haiku 5.5, and we found no announced change. Anthropic co-founder Tom Brown said in August that Anthropic will keep adding compute for Claude in Cursor, according to CNBC. Model access can still shift for commercial reasons: Channel Insider notes that Anthropic cut Windsurf’s direct access to Claude in 2025 after reports of an OpenAI takeover.
Claude Code vs Cursor pricing
Monthly price
Claude Code
Cursor (new customers)
$0
Not included in Claude’s Free plan
Free: limited Agent and Chat use
$8
No plan
Plus: Cursor’s own models at fixed settings. No Cloud Agents, Bugbot, third-party models or own API keys. $80 per year.
$20
Pro: usage included, with a 5-hour and a weekly limit. $17 per month with annual billing.
No new plan. Legacy Pro stays at this price.
$30
No plan
Premium: 4x Plus usage on Cursor’s own models, plus Cloud Agents, Automations, Bugbot and code hosting. Third-party models at API price. $300 per year.
$100
Max: 5x Pro usage
Super: 15x Plus usage and priority access at peak times. $1,000 per year.
$200
Ultra: 10x Pro per week, with no 5-hour limit on verified accounts
Ultra: 50x Plus usage and earliest access to new products. $2,000 per year.
Per seat
Team: $25 standard or $125 premium, or $20 and $100 with annual billing
Teams: $30, $100 or $200, plus $0.25 per million tokens on eligible third-party models
The multipliers are not comparable. Cursor’s are multiples of Plus for its own models, and Anthropic’s are multiples of Pro for Claude. On the pages we checked, neither vendor states its allowance in tokens. Cursor’s paid plans also include the Grok apps and X Premium benefits, which may or may not matter to you. For every Claude plan detail, see our Claude pricing guide.
What Claude models cost in each tool
On a Claude subscription, Claude Code draws on your plan’s limits rather than a per-token bill. The exception is Fable 5.1, which takes usage credits on Pro and standard Team seats. With a Claude Console account, you pay API rates. On Cursor’s new plans, you pay the same API list prices from prepaid credit, from the first request and without a markup for individuals.
Model
Input, per million tokens
Output, per million tokens
Available in
Claude Fable 5.1
$10
$50
Both
Claude Opus 5.5
$4
$20
Both
Claude Sonnet 5.5
$2
$10
Both
Claude Haiku 5.5
$0.10
$0.50
Both. Anthropic charges more for prompts over 100K tokens.
Grok 4.7
$2
$6
Cursor, in the included pool
Composer 2.5, Fast (the default)
$3
$15
Cursor, in the included pool
Composer 2.5, standard
$0.50
$2.50
Cursor, in the included pool
For scale, Anthropic says Claude Code averages about $13 per developer per active day and $150 to $250 per month across enterprise deployments. If your Claude use in Cursor looked like that, the token bill could add a similar amount to your plan fee. On a Claude subscription, usage at that level would probably need more than Pro, so the fair comparison is Max at $100 or Ultra at $200. These are our rough estimates, not vendor figures, and your use may differ.
Our reading: Cursor makes the most financial sense if its own models handle most of your work and you pay for Claude only on harder tasks. Claude Code makes the most sense if you want Claude most of the day and a plan’s limits fit your use. Anthropic does not state those limits in tokens, so you can only find out by trying.
Features compared
The two products have converged. Cursor now has a command-line agent, subagents and skills, and Claude Code now has IDE extensions, a desktop app and cloud sessions. The main remaining difference is the starting point: Cursor starts from an editor, and Claude Code starts from a conversation with an agent.
Feature
Claude Code
Cursor
Main interface
Terminal, VS Code extension, JetBrains plugin, desktop app with parallel sessions, web
Its own editor, Agents Window, command-line agent, iOS app and web for cloud agents
Autocomplete
Not described in its docs
Tab. Legacy paid plans list it as unlimited, and the current plan pages state no limit.
Models
Claude only, directly or through Amazon Bedrock, Google Cloud’s Agent Platform and Microsoft Foundry
Grok, Composer, Claude, Gemini, DeepSeek and others. OpenAI’s GPT-5.6 models for now.
Project instructions
CLAUDE.md. It reads AGENTS.md if there is no CLAUDE.md, or through an import.
Claude Code on the web, on Pro and above, plus cloud scheduled tasks
Cloud Agents in isolated VMs, started from the editor, iOS, Slack, GitHub or Linear, plus Automations, on Premium and above
CI and pull requests
GitHub Actions, GitLab CI/CD and Code Review
GitHub Actions through its command-line agent, and Bugbot on Premium and above
Your phone
The Claude app on iOS and Android, for cloud sessions and Remote Control
A native iOS app, and the web at cursor.com/agents, for cloud agents
UI work
Browser pane in the desktop app for previewing your app and selecting elements, plus Chrome integration
Browser tool and Design Mode
Training on your code
Free, Pro, Max and Ultra: your setting decides, with 5-year retention if it is on and 30-day if off. Team, Enterprise and API: no training unless you opt in.
With Privacy Mode on, no training by Cursor or model providers. It is on by default for Enterprise teams.
Cursor runs most models under zero data retention agreements. That does not cover requests made with your own API keys, and Fable 5.1 requires Anthropic to store inputs and outputs for safety reviews. Check Anthropic’s and Cursor’s data pages against your own requirements. Our guide to Claude Code workflows goes deeper into subagents and worktrees.
Cursor CLI vs Claude Code
In the terminal, the two look similar. Both offer an interactive session and a print mode with -p for scripts. Cursor’s command is agent and can use models from several vendors, while Claude Code’s is claude and uses Claude. Cloud handoff differs: in Cursor, & before a message sends the conversation to a Cloud Agent. In Claude Code, --cloud starts a new cloud session, and an existing terminal session cannot be pushed up, although --teleport pulls a cloud session down.
How to use Claude Code in Cursor
Yes, this works, and Anthropic documents it. Anthropic’s VS Code extension also installs in Cursor:
Usage then draws on your Claude plan or Console account, not on your Cursor plan. An ANTHROPIC_API_KEY that you have set and approved takes priority over your subscription, so check for one to avoid unplanned API charges.
Is it better to use Claude Code in VS Code or Cursor? It is the same extension. Our view: if you do not use Tab or Cursor’s own agent, VS Code is the simpler base, because a Cursor plan adds nothing to Claude Code itself.
Keeping your setup in one place: Cursor reads AGENTS.md. Claude Code reads it too if the repository has no CLAUDE.md, and otherwise you can import it from CLAUDE.md, so one instruction file can serve both. Cursor also loads skills from .claude/skills/ and subagents from .claude/agents/.
What developers say
The most useful outside data we found is The Pragmatic Engineer’s AI tooling survey, which drew 906 responses between January 27 and February 17, 2026. Asked which tools they love, 46% named Claude Code and 19% named Cursor. By mentions, Claude Code ranked first among AI tools used and Cursor fourth.
Three caveats apply. The respondents were the newsletter’s own subscribers, the survey predates the SpaceX deal and Cursor’s new plans, and it measures preference rather than results.
Model quality does not cleanly separate the two products, because Opus 5.5 runs in both. Cursor’s own docs say Opus 5.5 had the highest score on CursorBench, Cursor’s benchmark, of any model in Cursor at launch.
Claude Code vs Cursor FAQ
Is Cursor better than Claude Code?
It depends on how you work. In our assessment, Cursor is the stronger choice for typing with autocomplete, visual work and model choice. Claude Code is the stronger choice if you mainly want Claude as an agent on a monthly plan.
Cursor vs Claude Code: which is cheaper?
Cursor has the cheaper entry point at $8 per month, and its plans include a pool for its own models. If you mainly want Claude, compare Cursor’s $30 plan plus your token bill with Claude Pro at $20, or Max at $100 if Pro’s limits are too tight. Neither vendor publishes enough to settle this in general, so check your own volume.
Is Cursor owned by Elon Musk?
Cursor is owned by SpaceX, Elon Musk’s company. The acquisition closed on August 14, 2026, and Cursor’s team works with SpaceXAI on models such as Grok 4.7.
Is Cursor still relevant now that Claude Code exists?
Yes. We found no match in Claude Code’s docs for Tab or for access to several model vendors, and Design Mode goes further than what those docs describe for the browser pane. The SpaceX deal and OpenAI’s decision do change the picture, so check the current model list before you commit to an annual plan.
Can you still use Claude in Cursor?
Yes. On new plans, you need Premium or above and pay API list price from prepaid credit. You can also add your own Anthropic API key on Premium and above, and Anthropic then bills you directly.
Can Claude Code use models other than Claude?
Claude Code is built around Claude. Its third-party provider options cover Amazon Bedrock, Google Cloud’s Agent Platform and Microsoft Foundry, which serve Claude models.
How much does Claude Code cost per month?
It costs $20 on Pro, or $17 with annual billing, $100 on Max and $200 on Ultra. It is not included in the Free plan. Team seats start at $20 with annual billing.
Where does Codex fit in?
Codex is OpenAI’s coding agent and comes with every ChatGPT plan, with restrictions on Free and Go. OpenAI also documents running it as an extension inside Cursor. Our Claude vs ChatGPT comparison covers the wider choice between the two vendors.
Florian Schröder is a co-founder of AI Rockstars and an expert in AI strategies for marketing. He advises companies on integrating AI tools such as ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini into their workflows. With over 10 years of experience in digital marketing, he combines technical expertise with practical applications.
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