Developers and engineering managers look past Cursor when the bill depends on which model they choose, when the SpaceX acquisition and the X Subscription change who they are buying from, or when they would rather keep their current IDE. Most go to GitHub Copilot, Devin Desktop (formerly Windsurf) or Claude Code, and cost-minded teams go to Zed or Cline.
Visibility in our rankings can be paid for. Payment moves a vendor's position within
the shortlist; it never adds a vendor, and it never changes a word of the review or of this page. The first three alternatives
go to challengers, vendors outside the best-known brands in a category, wherever the category has them; the
established names follow in their ranked order. How it works:
placement disclosure · editorial process.
What each alternative does differently
1. GitHub Copilot
GitHub's assistant for completion, chat and agents · United States
Works inside the editor you already use and ties into GitHub pull requests, where you can assign work to its agent and request reviews. Individual tiers are cheap, and Business and Enterprise add IP indemnity. It is a plugin, so the editor stays unchanged, and it favors teams that host code on GitHub.
Switch from Cursor if your code lives on GitHub and you want AI inside your current editor.
Pricing: Free includes 2,000 inline suggestions a month; Pro is $10 per month, Pro+ $39, Max $100; Business and Enterprise add policy controls and IP indemnity. (free plan)
Full review: #7 of 12 in our ranking ·
Visit GitHub Copilot →
2. Windsurf (Devin Desktop)
Cognition's agent editor, formerly Windsurf · United States
The closest like-for-like editor, now sold as Devin Desktop by Cognition. It adds a Kanban view for supervising several agents and a handoff of heavy tasks to cloud execution. The old Windsurf name redirects to Devin pages, so older documentation and contracts need a second look.
Switch from Cursor if you want another full AI editor with a board for supervising several agents.
Pricing: Free at $0; Pro $20 per month; Max $200 per month; Teams is $80 per month plus $40 per full developer seat; Enterprise is custom. (free plan)
Full review: #8 of 12 in our ranking ·
Visit Windsurf (Devin Desktop) →
3. Claude Code
Terminal and IDE coding agent from Anthropic · United States
An agent rather than an editor. It runs in a terminal, in VS Code and JetBrains, in a desktop app and on the web, and it reads CLAUDE.md for project standards. It uses Anthropic models only, so there is no model menu to price, and no autocomplete as you type.
Switch from Cursor if you prefer delegating whole tasks from a terminal over editing with suggestions.
Pricing: Included in Claude Pro at $17 per month billed annually ($20 monthly), Max from $100, Team from $20 per seat; the free Claude plan does not include it. (none)
Full review: #6 of 12 in our ranking ·
Visit Claude Code →
4. Zed
A fast code editor with agents, built by its own team · United States
A fast native editor in which you can plug in your own keys from Anthropic, OpenAI, Mistral or Ollama and pay Zed nothing for that traffic. The paid plans are small and the team plan adds organization-wide AI policies. The extension library is far smaller than the VS Code ecosystem.
Switch from Cursor if you want a lightweight editor with your own model keys and low fixed fees.
Pricing: Personal is free with 2,000 accepted edit predictions; Pro is $10 per month with a 14-day trial and $5 of tokens; Business is $30 per seat per month. (free plan)
Full review: #1 of 12 in our ranking ·
Visit Zed →
5. OpenAI Codex
OpenAI's coding agent inside ChatGPT plans · United States
Included in ChatGPT plans, so a company that already buys ChatGPT Business gets a coding agent with no extra vendor review. It runs on the web, in a CLI and as an IDE extension. Cost is counted in credits per task, and it uses OpenAI models only.
Switch from Cursor if your company already pays for ChatGPT and you want coding agents under that contract.
Pricing: Free at $0; Go $8 per month; Plus $20; Pro from $100; Business $20 per user per month on annual billing ($25 monthly); Enterprise is custom. (free plan)
Full review: #9 of 12 in our ranking ·
Visit OpenAI Codex →
6. Cline
Open source coding agent that uses your own model keys · United States
An open source agent under the Apache 2.0 license that runs as an extension in VS Code and JetBrains. You bring keys from any major model provider, and the vendor charges individuals nothing. The risk is an uncapped inference invoice, since nobody sets a ceiling on your behalf.
Switch from Cursor if you want an open source agent and direct control over which model you pay.
Pricing: Free for individual developers, who pay only for model inference by usage; Enterprise is quote only. (open source)
Full review: #2 of 12 in our ranking ·
Visit Cline →
7. JetBrains AI Assistant
AI chat and agents inside JetBrains IDEs · Czech Republic
Built into IntelliJ, PyCharm and the other JetBrains IDEs, so Java, Kotlin and Python teams add AI without leaving their IDE. Usage is measured in credits, and it can run on JetBrains' subscription, personal API keys or external agents. The company is registered in Prague.
Switch from Cursor if you work in a JetBrains IDE and do not want to adopt a new editor.
Pricing: AI Free gives 3 credits per 30 days; AI Pro is $20 per month for 20 credits; AI Ultimate is $60 for 70; AI Enterprise is $60 per month. (free plan)
Full review: #4 of 12 in our ranking ·
Visit JetBrains AI Assistant →
8. Kiro
Spec-driven agent IDE and CLI from AWS · United States
An agent IDE and CLI from AWS built around specs: a prompt becomes a requirements file, a design file and a task list before code is written. Billing is in credits with published add-on pricing. Individual content may be used for service improvement unless the user opts out.
Switch from Cursor if you want agents to plan from written specs and already sign in through AWS.
Pricing: Free is $0 with 50 credits a month; Pro is $20 per user per month with 1,000 credits, Pro+ $40 with 2,000, Pro Max $100 with 5,000 and Power $200 with 10,000; add-on credits cost $0.04 each; Enterprise is quoted. (free plan)
Full review: #12 of 12 in our ranking ·
Visit Kiro →
9. Augment Code
Coding agents with a codebase context engine · United States
Sells an agent platform with a codebase context engine, a terminal tool called Auggie and automated review of pull requests. Team credits are pooled and billed with a service fee on model usage. It runs in VS Code and JetBrains and shows no free plan.
Switch from Cursor if you want deep indexing of a large repository and pooled team credits.
Pricing: Standard is $20 per month flat with $20 of usage, Business $100 with $100 of usage, both up to 50 seats; a 40% service fee applies to LLM usage. (none)
Full review: #3 of 12 in our ranking ·
Visit Augment Code →
10. Amazon Q Developer
AWS's developer assistant for IDEs and console · United States
Strongest on AWS work: a Java upgrade tool, a Windows-to-Linux transformation for .NET, a console assistant and a command line agent. The Pro tier lists IP indemnity and an admin dashboard. Outside AWS projects it has no clear advantage over the rest.
Switch from Cursor if most of your estate runs on AWS and you need code transformation tooling.
Pricing: Free tier with 50 agentic requests per month; Pro is $19 per user per month, adding higher limits, an admin dashboard and IP indemnity. (free plan)
Full review: #10 of 12 in our ranking ·
Visit Amazon Q Developer →
11. Gemini Code Assist
Google Cloud's coding assistant for teams · United States
Sold through Google Cloud as Standard and Enterprise editions, with agent mode and the Gemini CLI under one daily request cap per user. Billing and identity stay in the Google Cloud console. We could not read a published seat price, so the cost comes by written quote.
Switch from Cursor if your company already administers Google Cloud and wants billing in one console.
Pricing: Sold as Standard and Enterprise editions through Google Cloud; the documented quotas are 1,500 requests per user per day on Standard and 2,000 on Enterprise. (none)
Full review: #11 of 12 in our ranking ·
Visit Gemini Code Assist →
Questions and answers
Can I export my Cursor rules and settings?
Yes, because rules are plain files in your repository. Project rules sit in .cursor/rules as .mdc files and AGENTS.md is plain markdown, so both stay with the code. MCP servers live in mcp.json. Chat history is not described as exportable in the pages we read.
How do I cancel Cursor?
You can cancel from your account, and the pricing page says to do so at least 24 hours before renewal. The terms state that subscriptions renew automatically for periods of the same length until you cancel. Teams and Enterprise accounts are managed by an admin in the dashboard.
Is Cursor still run by Anysphere?
Anysphere, Inc. is still named in the terms of service, but Cursor's blog says SpaceX completed its acquisition on 14 August 2026. The pricing page says subscriptions are sold only through X Subscription Corp. Ask your account contact which entity will sign new contracts.
Will my legacy Cursor plan keep working?
Yes, the models and pricing docs say Pro, Pro+, Ultra, Start and older Teams seats are legacy plans that keep working as they are. They use two monthly usage pools plus on-demand usage. New plans use a weekly pool, so moving between old and new changes how you budget.
What happens to code Cursor stored when I leave?
Most code is not stored, since requests go to model providers and Privacy Mode blocks training. Cloud Agents are the exception and keep encrypted copies only while an agent runs. The docs say those copies are deleted after the agent finishes. Account deletion is available in settings.
Can I keep VS Code instead of switching to a new editor?
Yes, an assistant that runs as a plugin leaves your editor unchanged. Cline, GitHub Copilot and Claude Code all list VS Code support. You lose Cursor's own agent window and its team marketplace, but not your extensions.
