Cursor

Cursor is an AI-powered integrated development environment (IDE) designed to function as an intelligent coding partner. Built as a fork of Microsoft’s popular Visual Studio Code, it retains all the familiar functionality of VS Code while deeply integrating advanced artificial intelligence capabilities directly into the coding workflow. Launched to significant attention, Cursor quickly distinguished itself by focusing on context-aware AI that understands an entire codebase, not just the current file.

A key milestone was the introduction of its Composer and Agent Mode, which allows for complex, multi-file code generation and refactoring based on natural language prompts. By 2025, it had grown into an essential tool for over a million developers, praised for its ability to significantly accelerate development. Its core philosophy is to reduce boilerplate coding and cognitive overhead, allowing developers to focus on solving complex problems and architecture rather than syntax and repetitive tasks.

Features and Functionality

Cursor enhances the traditional IDE with a suite of powerful, AI-native features:

• AI-Powered Autocomplete (Tab): Provides intelligent, context-aware code completions that can predict and suggest multi-line edits, significantly speeding up coding and reducing typos.

• AI Chat Assistant: A central chat panel that allows developers to interact with the AI using natural language. It can explain code, generate new code from descriptions, debug errors, and answer questions, all while being aware of the open files and project context.

• Composer Mode: A powerful feature for complex, multi-file changes. Users can describe a feature or refactor (e.g., “Build a user registration page”), and Composer will generate the necessary code across all relevant files, presenting the changes in a diff viewer for easy review and acceptance.

• Agent Mode: The most autonomous mode, where the AI can independently explore the codebase, run terminal commands, and identify and edit files to complete a high-level task with minimal guidance.

• Advanced Context Management (@ Symbol): A robust system for controlling context. Typing @ allows users to reference specific files, folders, code symbols, documentation, past chats, and even web searches, ensuring the AI’s responses are highly relevant and accurate.

• Cursor Rules (.cursorrules file): Allows users and teams to define global or project-specific rules to guide the AI’s behaviour, such as coding style preferences, commit message conventions, or architectural patterns, ensuring consistency.

• Integrated Terminal with AI: Brings AI to the command line. Users can describe a command in natural language (e.g., “find all files modified today”), and Cursor will generate and run the appropriate shell command.

• Image-to-Code Generation: Users can drag and drop images of UI mockups or diagrams into the chat, and the AI will generate the corresponding HTML, CSS, or JavaScript code.

• VS Code Compatibility: As a fork of VS Code, it supports the vast ecosystem of VS Code extensions, themes, and keybindings, making adoption seamless for existing users.

Pros & Cons Table

Overall Rating

4.7 / 5 ★★★★☆

Cursor is a transformative AI-powered IDE that excels in boosting developer productivity and enabling rapid, context-aware coding. It stands as the leading choice for professional developers who want deep AI integration without leaving their familiar VS Code environment. It is held back primarily by a learning curve, the cost of professional use, and the inherent unpredictability of AI that requires vigilant oversight. It is less ideal for those needing a completely free tool or those working on extremely sensitive code that cannot leave their machine.

Key Reviews

• Product Hunt (4.9/5 from 679 reviews): Users widely praise it as “the best copilot tool in the industry”, highlighting its seamless integration and context awareness. Many state that “once you use it, there’s no turning back” from traditional coding.

• AltexSoft (The Good and Bad of Cursor): The review concludes that Cursor is a “leading option” for teams integrating AI. It praises its chat and agent modes but cautions that users must be “extremely precise” with instructions to avoid unexpected results.

• Random Coding Blog (2024): “Cursor probably has the best developer experience out of all the AI code editors I’ve used.” The review specifically highlights the multi-file code generation using Composer and its excellent diff-viewer UX as game-changing features.

• Medium (Critical Review – “Why I don’t use Cursor.ai”): A dissenting voice argues that Cursor is “good for POCs, bad for real-world, complex projects,” citing struggles with complex architecture, performance issues on large codebases, and the time spent cleaning up AI-generated code.

Summary: Key Points

• 🏆 Core Strength: Deep, multi-file context awareness. Its ability to understand and operate across an entire codebase sets it far apart from simple autocomplete tools.

• 🚀 Key Differentiator: Composer Mode for orchestrating complex changes across multiple files and seamless VS Code compatibility.

• 🎯 Ideal For:

  • Professional developers and engineering teams looking to integrate AI deeply into their workflow for a significant productivity boost.

  • Developers building new features or prototyping who want to accelerate scaffolding and boilerplate creation.

  • VS Code users who want to upgrade their IDE with powerful AI without losing their existing setup and extensions.

• ⚠️ Important Considerations:

  • It is an assistant, not a replacement. All AI-generated code must be rigorously reviewed, tested, and understood by a human developer.

  • Be prepared for a learning curve. Investing time to learn features like @ context control and .cursorrules is essential to unlock its full potential.

  • Factor in the cost for professional use, as the free tier is limited.

• 💰 Pricing:

  • Free: Limited number of “fast” model requests per month.

  • Pro: $20/month per user for unlimited fast requests and all features.

  • Business: $40/month per user for team management features.

• 🛠️ Alternatives: Windsurf offers a more automated, agentic experience but is less controllable. GitHub Copilot is a simpler, more integrated assistant for those who don’t need a full IDE switch. Lovable AI is a better fit for non-coders who want to generate entire apps from descriptions.