Cursor
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AI-assisted editing.
Cursor is an AI-first editor built as a fork of VS Code. It inherits the full VS Code extension ecosystem while putting AI assistance at the center of the editing experience.
Cursor is developed by Anysphere and was first released in 2023. It is free to download; a paid tier unlocks higher AI usage limits. Because it is built on VS Code, it supports the same extensions, settings, and keybindings — the transition from VS Code is minimal.
AI integration
AI features in Cursor include multi-line autocomplete, an inline edit command, and a chat panel with codebase-wide context. Multiple model providers are supported (Anthropic, OpenAI, Google) and the model used for each feature is configurable.
Performance
Cursor is an Electron application, sharing the same performance profile as VS Code — flexible and extensible, but heavier than a native editor. AI completions add some latency depending on the model and network conditions.
Privacy
When AI features are active, Cursor sends code context to the configured model provider. A privacy mode is available on paid plans, in which code is not stored or used for training. Cursor's privacy policy has the details.