Pick Cursor if you want an AI editor: you watch every diff in a full desktop IDE, switch between many models (Cursor's own Grok and Composer models, plus Claude, GPT and Gemini), and send larger jobs to cloud agents. Pick Claude Code if you want an agent that works from the terminal, IDE, desktop app or web on Claude models included in your Claude plan, with deeper hooks and cloud routines. You don't have to choose only one: the Claude Code extension runs inside Cursor.
Cursor and Claude Code at a glance
Figures are as of October 2026, from cursor.com and claude.com.
| Cursor | Claude Code | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | AI editor and coding agent | Coding agent |
| Price | Free; Plus $8; Premium $30; Super $100; Ultra $200 a month; Teams $30, $100 or $200 per seat | Pro $20 ($17 billed annually); Max $100 or $200; Team $25 per seat; Enterprise $20 per seat plus usage |
| Models | Cursor models (Grok 4.7, Composer 2.5) in the plan; Claude, GPT, Gemini and others at API list price on Premium and up | Claude only (Opus 5.5 default, Sonnet 5.5, Haiku 5.5, Fable 5.1) |
| Where it runs | Desktop editor, CLI, cloud agents, iOS app, Slack and Teams | Terminal, VS Code, Cursor, JetBrains, desktop app, web, mobile app, Slack |
| Cloud agents | Yes, on Premium and up; Projects (beta) for long work | Cloud sessions on the web, background agents, Projects |
| Skills, MCP, subagents | Yes | Yes |
| Hooks | hooks.json, about 20 events, no permission event | 33 events, including PermissionRequest |
| Scheduling | Automations: cron or GitHub and Slack events, run as cloud agents | Routines (schedule, API, GitHub), desktop scheduled tasks, /loop |
| Platforms | macOS, Windows, Linux | macOS, Windows, Linux |
Cursor's pricing changed in October 2026
Cursor is now sold as part of The X Subscription, one plan covering Grok, Cursor and X. Paid plans share one usage pool for Cursor's own models, refreshed every week. Third-party models such as Claude Opus 5.5 or Sonnet 5.5 are not in that pool: on Premium and above they bill at the provider's API list price from prepaid credit, and Free and Plus don't offer them at all. Existing Pro, Pro+ and Ultra customers keep their old plans for now.
That matters for this comparison. If most of your work runs on Claude, a Claude Pro or Max plan gives you Claude usage in a flat fee, while in Cursor you pay per token. If you are happy with Cursor's own models, Plus at $8 is the cheapest paid entry of the two.
Editor first or agent first
Cursor is built around the editor. You select code, ask for a change, and review it inline; Tab completions, the Agents Window and Design Mode all live in the IDE. The Cursor CLI (curl https://cursor.com/install -fsS | bash) brings the same agent to the terminal, with a headless mode for CI.
Claude Code is built around the agent loop. You give it a task in plain language and it reads files, runs commands, edits across the repo and commits. The VS Code and JetBrains integrations add inline diffs and plan review, and the desktop app lets you review diffs visually and run several sessions side by side. It never asks you to switch editors.
A common split: keep Cursor (or VS Code) as the editor for the code you write yourself, and let Claude Code take whole tasks in a terminal tab or in the cloud.
Cloud agents, automations and routines
Both now run work in the cloud while your laptop is closed.
- Cursor cloud agents can be started from the editor, the iOS app, Slack, or an Automation: a cloud agent that runs on a cron schedule or on events such as a pull request opened, CI finished, or a Slack message. Cursor Projects (beta since September 2026) put a coordinator agent in charge of several others, and bots such as Bugbot and Security Review comment on pull requests. Since October 6, 2026, the iOS app can also reply to agents running on your own computer.
- Claude Code runs cloud sessions from claude.ai/code and the mobile app, and routines start on a schedule (hourly at most), from an HTTP call, or on a pull request or release. Remote Control lets you drive a local session from your phone, and Channels can push Telegram, Discord or iMessage messages into a session.
Hooks, skills and MCP
Both support skills, subagents, MCP servers, plugins and rules files, so the difference is in the details:
- Hooks: Cursor reads
~/.cursor/hooks.jsonor.cursor/hooks.jsonwith events such asbeforeShellExecution,afterFileEditandstop. Cloud agents skip your user-level file and run only command hooks. Cursor has no permission event. Claude Code has 33 events, includingPermissionRequestandNotification, and handlers can be shell commands, HTTP calls, MCP tool calls, prompts or subagents. Our Claude Code hooks guide has working examples. - Instructions: Cursor uses rules; Claude Code uses
CLAUDE.mdand.claude/rules/, and can readAGENTS.md.
Running both
If Cursor is your editor and Claude Code your agent, the Briefkin installer adds a hook to each, so Cursor agent turns and Claude Code sessions show up on one board. Claude Code sessions that stop for a permission or a question also ping you on Telegram; Cursor reports prompts, its todo list and turn ends, since it has no permission hook.
Which to choose
- You want to see and steer every edit in an IDE: Cursor.
- You want model choice, including Grok, GPT and Gemini, in one place: Cursor.
- You mostly use Claude and want a flat monthly price: Claude Code.
- You want long autonomous runs, scheduled or triggered by GitHub: both work; Claude Code routines and Cursor Automations are close, with Claude Code's hooks giving more control over permissions.
- You like your current editor: Claude Code works in it, including in Cursor.
- You are also weighing OpenAI's agent: read Codex vs Claude Code and Codex vs Cursor.
Questions
Can I use Claude models in Cursor?
Yes, on Premium ($30 a month) and higher plans, billed at Anthropic's API list price from prepaid credit (for example $4 per million input tokens and $20 per million output tokens for Opus 5.5, as of October 2026). The Free and Plus plans only include Cursor's own models.
Can I run Claude Code inside Cursor?
Yes. The Claude Code extension installs in Cursor the same way as in VS Code, so you can keep Cursor as your editor and use Claude Code on your Claude plan.
What happened to Cursor Pro?
In October 2026 Cursor's plans became part of The X Subscription. New customers choose Free, Plus, Premium, Super or Ultra; existing Pro, Pro+ and Ultra subscribers keep their plans and can switch later.
Which is cheaper, Cursor or Claude Code?
Both start at $20 or less: Claude Pro is $20 a month with Claude usage included, and Cursor Plus is $8 with Cursor models only. If you mainly want Claude models, Claude Code's plan is usually the simpler deal, since Cursor bills Claude at API rates.