⌨️ Head to head · prices checked Oct 26, 2026
Cursor vs Claude Code: which should you use?
Short answer: Pick Cursor if you want AI built into a code editor at the lowest entry price, or a per-user Teams plan. Pick Claude Code if you work in the terminal and want one Claude plan that covers chat and coding. Cursor Plus is $8/mo (Grok models only) and Premium is $30/mo; Claude Code comes with Claude Pro at $20/mo billed monthly or $17/mo billed annually.
Side by side
| Cursor | Claude Code | |
|---|---|---|
| Paid plans | Plus: $8/mo billed monthly Premium: $30/mo billed monthly Super: $100/mo billed monthly Ultra: $200/mo billed monthly Teams: from $30/mo per user billed monthly | Pro: $20/mo billed monthly; $17/mo billed annually ($200 billed yearly) Max: from $100/mo billed monthly |
| Free tier | $0: Limited agent requests and limited Chat requests | $0: Chat on web, desktop and mobile, web search, files and code execution, memory, app connectors and Artifacts; Claude Code is not included (it comes with every paid plan) |
| What you get | An AI code editor with agent and chat requests; Premium and up add cloud agents and automations, code hosting and AI code reviews. | A terminal coding agent. It isn't sold on its own: it comes with every paid Claude plan, and the free plan doesn't include it. |
| Models | Plus runs Grok models only. Premium and up add the latest Grok models; third-party models are billed separately at API list price. | Claude models. Pro adds more Claude models than Free. |
| How usage is metered | A shared AI usage pool. Premium has 4x the usage of Plus, Super 15x. | One usage pool shared by chat and Claude Code. Max gives 5x or 20x the usage of Pro. |
| Strengths | Lowest paid entry ($8/mo) and AI inside the editor. Our top pick for AI coding. | Agentic coding from the terminal, with chat and Claude Code in one $20/mo plan ($17/mo billed annually). |
| Who it's for | Developers who want AI in their editor, and teams that want a per-user plan. | Developers at home in the terminal who use, or want, a Claude subscription. |
| Prices checked | cursor.com/pricing, checked | claude.com/pricing, checked |
| Official site | https://cursor.com | https://claude.com/product/claude-code |
Crossed-out prices appear only where the vendor's own pricing page shows that price struck through. "See official page" marks a price we could not read on the vendor's page on the check date. Prices exclude tax.
Free for subscribers
Which one fits how you code, and what to pair it with?
The free 5-Minute AI Stack Kit has our pick for every job and 4 starter stacks under $50/mo, and the weekday Brief sends price-drop alerts when Cursor or Claude Code changes price.
What each paid plan includes
- Cursor Plus: A shared AI usage pool for Cursor plus Grok Chat, Voice, Imagine and Build and Grok API access; only Grok models are available on this plan.
- Cursor Premium: 4x more usage than Plus, the latest Grok models, cloud agents and automations, code hosting and AI code reviews, and third-party models at API list price (billed separately by usage).
- Cursor Super: Everything in Premium with 15x more usage than Plus and priority model access at peak times; third-party models billed separately.
- Cursor Ultra: The top individual plan in Cursor's plan comparison table.
- Cursor Teams: Listed as $30+/user/month for teams; Enterprise is custom (contact sales).
- Claude Code Pro: Claude Code, more usage than Free, hand-off and scheduled tasks, Projects, more Claude models, and Claude in Chrome and Microsoft 365; Claude Code shares one usage pool with chat.
- Claude Code Max: Everything in Pro with 5x or 20x more usage than Pro (you choose), higher output limits, early access to new features, priority access at high traffic times, and $100 to $200/month in API credits for the Claude Platform.
Every option for this job, any price: best AI tools for AI coding. Only want free? Free AI tools for AI coding. Tool pages: Cursor · Claude Code.
How we check: every price and free tier on this page comes from the vendor's own pricing page, with the date we checked it. If we can't verify something, we say so. Found a wrong price? Email info@usethissi.com and we fix it within 24 hours.