Claude Code vs Cursor: pricing & features compared
Short answer: Claude Code has no free plan, with paid plans from US$20/mo (Pro). Cursor has a free plan, with paid plans from US$8/mo (Plus). Cursor is cheaper to start. They are different kinds of tool: Claude Code is in Terminal coding agents, Cursor is in AI code editors (IDEs). Verified from each vendor's pricing page on 28 Oct 2026.
A terminal-first agent bundled with Claude plans versus a dedicated AI editor.
Every cell links to the vendor page it came from. Last verified 28 Oct 2026.
Key differences (from the vendors' own pages)
- Cursor has a free option (free plan); Claude Code is listed as: no free plan.
- Cursor's cheapest paid plan (Plus, US$8/mo) costs less than Claude Code's (Pro, US$20/mo). Check what each includes: usage allowances differ.
- They are different kinds of tool: Claude Code is in Terminal coding agents, Cursor in AI code editors (IDEs).
Side-by-side
| Claude Code | Cursor | |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Terminal coding agents | AI code editors (IDEs) |
| Free tier | No free plan Claude Code is not included on the Claude Free plan source · verified 2026-10-28 | Free plan Limited agent and chat requests source · verified 2026-10-28 |
| Cheapest paid plan | Pro: US$20/mo source · verified 2026-10-28 | Plus: US$8/mo source · verified 2026-10-28 |
| All plans | Pro: US$20/mo Max 5x / 20x: US$100/mo Team: Contact / not captured Enterprise: US$20/seat/mo | Free: Free Plus: US$8/mo Premium: US$30/mo Super: US$100/mo Ultra: US$200/mo Teams: US$30/user/mo Enterprise: Contact / not captured |
| Platforms | Terminal, VS Code, JetBrains, Desktop, Web source · verified 2026-10-28 | macOS, Windows, Linux source · verified 2026-10-28 |
| Key features |
source · verified 2026-10-28 |
source · verified 2026-10-28 |
| Open source | - | - |
| Last verified | 28 Oct 2026 | 28 Oct 2026 |
| Visit Claude Code ↗Direct link: no affiliate ID | Visit Cursor ↗Direct link: no affiliate ID |
Hands-on notes
Placeholder - not yet tested. This section is reserved for our own hands-on test of Claude Code and Cursor:
what we built, how long it took, what broke, and what it cost. Nothing here is written until we have actually used it. No ratings or reviews are shown until then.