Cursor is a code editor with an AI agent built into it, made by a company called Anysphere, which became part of SpaceX in August 2026. A code editor is the program developers write software in: a window with the files of a project listed on the left and the text of one file in the middle. Cursor is that window with an assistant in a side panel that can build and change the project for you. You describe what you want in plain language, and the agent edits the files, runs the commands a developer would run, and shows you what changed. Someone who cannot code can use it, because you type in the panel, never in the middle. There is a free plan with no card, it runs on Mac, Windows and Linux, and it is not a website builder: it hosts nothing and includes no database or login.
What “a code editor with an agent inside” means for you
If you have only ever used Lovable or Base44, the first shock is that Cursor shows you the code. Your project is a folder on your computer, and the editor lists every file in it. Cursor’s docs say it shares its shortcuts with VS Code, the free editor most developers use, and can import its settings. If you have never seen VS Code, that is fine.
The Agent is what Cursor’s docs call “Cursor’s assistant that can complete complex coding tasks independently, run terminal commands, and edit code.” It searches your files and edits them, runs commands in the terminal (the text-only window every computer has), and can open a browser to take screenshots and test what it built. It asks before doing anything sensitive. For a bigger change there is Plan Mode, where it studies your project, asks you questions, and writes a plan before touching a file. When it finishes you get a diff view, a screen that shows exactly what changed.
The same agent also comes as a terminal-only version, the Cursor CLI, and as cloud agents that run on Cursor’s computers instead of yours, which need your project on GitHub or a similar service first.
Is Cursor free? What the free plan gives, in shape
Yes, to start. The free plan needs no credit card. Cursor’s pricing page describes it as “limited Agent requests” plus access to Composer, which is Cursor’s own model, and its help pages say you can use Agent, Chat and Tab, the feature that suggests code as you type, with Cursor picking the model for each request. Free users get a smaller set of models than paid users.
Paid plans work differently from Lovable’s credits. In Cursor’s words: “Every plan includes a set amount of model usage. On-demand usage allows you to continue using models after your included amount is consumed, billed in arrears.” Which model you choose changes how fast that monthly bucket drains, because each request is billed at the price of the model that handled it. When the bucket is empty you see a notice in the editor and choose: wait for the month to reset, upgrade, or switch on on-demand usage, which is pay-as-you-go. Unused usage does not roll over, and the higher paid tiers are the same bucket, several times larger.
The trap for a non-coder is the on-demand switch. Once it is on, the meter no longer stops at the bucket, so set the spending limit in the account dashboard before you need it.
Where Cursor runs, and how to find the real one
Cursor runs on Mac, Windows and Linux, and the download for all three is at cursor.com/download. You install it like any app, open it, and sign in with a Cursor account when it asks.
The word “cursor” mostly means the blinking line or the mouse pointer, so a bare search for “cursor download” brings back mouse pointers. Search for “Cursor AI” or “Cursor editor”, and check that the page you land on is cursor.com before you download anything.
What Cursor does not do
Cursor is not a browser builder. There is no Publish button, no built-in hosting, no included database and no included login. The app lives in your folder until you pick a hosting service and put it there, a step the agent can do with you but which needs an account Cursor does not provide. Lovable made those decisions for you; Cursor hands them back.
Cursor vs Claude Code: an editor with an agent, or an agent in your editor
Claude Code is Anthropic’s agent. It reads, edits and runs files in a folder from plain-language instructions, and it lives wherever you put it: a terminal, the Claude desktop app, the browser, or a side panel inside an editor, Cursor included. Codex, OpenAI’s agent, installs into Cursor too. Cursor is an editor with its own agent inside; Claude Code is an agent you can add to that editor, or use with none.
| Cursor | Claude Code | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | A code editor with an agent in a side panel | An agent, with a desktop app, a terminal, a browser version and editor extensions |
| Who makes it | Anysphere, part of SpaceX since August 2026 | Anthropic |
| Free way in | A free plan with limited agent requests, no card | None of its own; needs a paid Claude plan |
| How usage is metered | A monthly bucket of model usage, then optional pay-as-you-go | Time windows shared with the Claude chat app, five-hour and weekly |
| Which models | Its own, plus models from OpenAI, Anthropic and Google | Anthropic’s |
| What you see on screen | The whole project, all the time | The changes it made; the rest stays in your folder |
For someone who cannot code, three things decide it. First, whether you want the files in front of you all the time. Second, the meter: a monthly bucket that can turn into pay-as-you-go, or a time window that resets and stops. Third, the account you already own: a paid Claude plan already includes Claude Code, and Cursor’s free plan costs nothing to try. Neither is a winner, and you can run both, with Claude Code in Cursor’s side panel.
You can learn more, and get the full prompts and the decision tables, in our course: Lesson 1, How to Direct Your AI Builder. The first lesson is free, no card.
In the next ten minutes, download Cursor from cursor.com, sign in on the free plan, and open an empty folder on your Desktop. Ignore the file list. Open the Agent panel, ask for the smallest thing you actually want, and look at what changed before you say anything else.