Cursor

Cursor, from Anysphere, is the AI-native code editor — a VS Code fork rebuilt so that AI runs through the entire editing experience. Its standout capabilities are Composer for multi-file edits and refactors, full-codebase context, and an Agent mode that autonomously plans, writes, tests, and fixes code across files. Because it is built on VS Code, switching is nearly frictionless, and it lets you choose frontier models per task. Its explosive adoption reflects real productivity gains for people who write code all day.

The tradeoffs center on cost and lock-in. Its credit-based pricing is variable and hard to predict — manually selecting frontier models or running agents drains credits quickly — and a mid-2025 pricing change drew real backlash. It costs about double GitHub Copilot, and as a fork it only works as its own editor. For deep AI-first coding it is exceptional; for predictable budgets and editor flexibility, weigh the alternatives.