Cursor vs Claude Code
Cursor shines in the visual editor with diffs; Claude Code stands out in long terminal sessions on large repos.
Cursor
💻 Vibe Coding
AI-native IDE (a VS Code fork) with a multi-file agent, autocomplete and Cloud Agents. Part of The X Subscription.
Pricing
Freemium — Free; Plus $8/month; Premium $30/month; Super $100/month; Ultra $200/month (official prices at cursor.com/pricing; third-party models billed separately on Premium+)
Use cases
- Daily development with an agent
- Multi-file edits
- Code review with Bugbot
- Cloud Agents
Claude Code
💻 Vibe Coding
Anthropic's terminal coding agent: reads and edits your repo, runs tests and iterates. Included in paid Claude plans.
Pricing
Included in Claude Pro ($17/month billed annually or $20/month) and Max (from $100/month); not sold separately (claude.com/pricing)
Use cases
- Refactoring large repos
- Autonomous CLI sessions
- CI / headless work
- Codebase mapping
How to choose
- Cursor — Vibe Coding. A good fit for: Daily development with an agent; Multi-file edits.
- Claude Code — Vibe Coding. A good fit for: Refactoring large repos; Autonomous CLI sessions.
- Check current prices on the official websites before deciding.