Cursor is an AI-first code editor built on VS Code's foundation with integrated Claude AI assistance, while VS Code is a free, lightweight editor optimized for speed and extensibility through community plugins. Cursor costs $20/month for pro features, whereas VS Code remains completely free.
Cursor vs VS Code — Side-by-side comparison on A Versus B
AI-native code editor IDE built on VS Code with Claude integration and agentic features.
Lightweight, free code editor by Microsoft with extensive plugin ecosystem.
AI Code Assistance. Base Price. Codebase Analysis Depth. Startup Time. Community Extensions. Tab Multi-line Edit. Privacy Model
Choose Cursor if you want seamless AI-assisted coding with deep context understanding and don't mind the $20/month subscription or sending code to Anthropic's servers. Choose VS Code if you prioritize a lightweight, free editor with the largest extension ecosystem and prefer privacy-first development, accepting that AI features require manual extension setup.
Cursor: 3 (familiar) | Visual Studio Code: N/A
Cursor: VS Code-based only | Visual Studio Code: N/A
Cursor: 5-10 minutes | Visual Studio Code: N/A
Cursor: Excellent | Visual Studio Code: N/A
Cursor: Limited | Visual Studio Code: N/A
Cursor: Native & Superior | Visual Studio Code: N/A
Cursor: Growing | Visual Studio Code: N/A
Cursor: 7 days | Visual Studio Code: N/A
Cursor: 2 model choices | Visual Studio Code: N/A
Cursor: Not publicly disclosed | Visual Studio Code: N/A
Cursor: Not disclosed | Visual Studio Code: N/A
Cursor: Significant but undisclosed | Visual Studio Code: N/A
Cursor: Enterprise-grade | Visual Studio Code: N/A
Cursor: VS Code fork | Visual Studio Code: N/A
Cursor: Baseline (1.0x) | Visual Studio Code: N/A
Cursor: Full IDE | Visual Studio Code: N/A
Cursor: <5 minutes | Visual Studio Code: N/A
Cursor: Proprietary Commercial | Visual Studio Code: N/A
Cursor: Cursor Pro $20/mo | Visual Studio Code: N/A
Cursor: Business $40/user/mo | Visual Studio Code: N/A
Cursor: Standalone editor — a fork of VS Code (install Cursor itself) | Visual Studio Code: N/A
Cursor: Anthropic Claude, OpenAI GPT, Google Gemini, plus Cursor fast models (per-request switching) | Visual Studio Code: N/A
Cursor: Composer (Agent) plan-execute-verify loop across many files; runs commands and tests | Visual Studio Code: N/A
Cursor: Whole-repo semantic embeddings with automatic relevant-file retrieval; built for monorepos | Visual Studio Code: N/A
Cursor: Very fast predictive Tab completions that jump to the next edit location | Visual Studio Code: N/A
Cursor: SSO, privacy mode (no retention/training), admin controls, SOC 2 | Visual Studio Code: N/A
Cursor: Graphical IDE (VS Code fork) | Visual Studio Code: N/A
Cursor: Interactive in-editor coding | Visual Studio Code: N/A
Cursor: ~$20/mo (Pro) | Visual Studio Code: N/A
Cursor: Flat plan with request quota + usage add-ons | Visual Studio Code: N/A
Cursor: Monthly fast-request quota | Visual Studio Code: N/A
Cursor: Multi-model (Claude, GPT, Gemini, etc.) | Visual Studio Code: N/A
Cursor: Not designed for it | Visual Studio Code: N/A
Cursor: Workspace indexing + @-mentions | Visual Studio Code: N/A
Cursor: Low (VS Code familiarity) | Visual Studio Code: N/A
Cursor: Interactive feature building & quick edits | Visual Studio Code: N/A
Cursor: $20/mo | Visual Studio Code: N/A
Cursor: Yes — free Hobby tier plus a 2-week Pro trial | Visual Studio Code: N/A
Cursor: Agent (formerly Composer) | Visual Studio Code: N/A
Cursor: Cursor Tab model | Visual Studio Code: N/A
Cursor: Claude, GPT, Gemini families (frequent day-one additions) | Visual Studio Code: N/A
Cursor: Mature enterprise tier with SSO + privacy mode | Visual Studio Code: N/A
Cursor: macOS, Windows, Linux | Visual Studio Code: N/A
Cursor: Largest AI-IDE community and mindshare | Visual Studio Code: N/A
Cursor: 128,000 tokens | Visual Studio Code: N/A
Cursor: 2 (slow) | Visual Studio Code: N/A
Cursor: 0 (paid tier required) | Visual Studio Code: N/A
Cursor: Cursor only | Visual Studio Code: N/A
Cursor: Claude 3.5 Sonnet (Superior) | Visual Studio Code: N/A
Cursor: Native @-indexing across entire codebase | Visual Studio Code: N/A
Cursor: ~3000ms | Visual Studio Code: 950ms (typical)
Cursor: 10,000+ | Visual Studio Code: 50,000+
Cursor: 450-600MB | Visual Studio Code: ~150 MB
Cursor: Native Claude integration | Visual Studio Code: None (requires extensions)
Cursor: Code sent to Anthropic servers | Visual Studio Code: Local-first, no telemetry by default
Cursor: Native support | Visual Studio Code: Requires extension + config
Cursor: 50-200ms (Tab autocomplete) | Visual Studio Code: N/A
Cursor: Desktop (Mac, Windows, Linux) | Visual Studio Code: N/A
Cursor: Claude 3.5 Sonnet, GPT-4, Others | Visual Studio Code: N/A
Cursor: ~500K (estimated based on download trends) | Visual Studio Code: N/A
Cursor: Entire projects (no hard limit) | Visual Studio Code: N/A
Cursor: 1.5 years (launched Oct 2024) | Visual Studio Code: N/A
Cursor: 500K (Claude 3.5 Sonnet) | Visual Studio Code: Varies by extension (typically 4,000-8,000)
Cursor: ~50 (via Claude AI) | Visual Studio Code: N/A
Cursor: 40+ | Visual Studio Code: 40+ via built-in and extensions
Cursor: Limited (chat requires internet) | Visual Studio Code: N/A
Cursor: 500,000 | Visual Studio Code: N/A
Cursor: $20/month | Visual Studio Code: N/A
Cursor: 50 premium requests | Visual Studio Code: N/A
Cursor: 70,000+ (VS Code) | Visual Studio Code: N/A
Cursor: 4+ (Claude, GPT-4, local) | Visual Studio Code: N/A
Cursor: Electron (VS Code fork) | Visual Studio Code: N/A
Cursor: 250-400ms | Visual Studio Code: N/A
Cursor: VSCode only | Visual Studio Code: N/A
Cursor: Advanced (full workspace) | Visual Studio Code: N/A
Primary AI Model Quality (MMBENCH score)
Cursor: 88 (Claude 3.5) | Visual Studio Code: N/A
Cursor: 1-2 steps (download IDE) | Visual Studio Code: N/A
Cursor: 3 models | Visual Studio Code: N/A
Cursor: 1 (Cursor only) | Visual Studio Code: N/A
Cursor: 8000-16000 | Visual Studio Code: N/A
Cursor: 200-400 | Visual Studio Code: N/A
Cursor: No (proprietary) | Visual Studio Code: N/A
Cursor: 1 (Cursor IDE only) | Visual Studio Code: N/A
Cursor: 1000+ KB | Visual Studio Code: N/A
Cursor: Native support | Visual Studio Code: N/A
Cursor: Immediate | Visual Studio Code: N/A
Cursor: 14-day free trial | Visual Studio Code: N/A
Cursor: 200,000 tokens | Visual Studio Code: N/A
Cursor: No (via extensions only) | Visual Studio Code: N/A
Cursor: 40,000+ (VS Code marketplace) | Visual Studio Code: 50,000+
Cursor: Limited (basic) | Visual Studio Code: N/A
Cursor: Code, text, file references | Visual Studio Code: N/A
Cursor: Native VS Code-based editor | Visual Studio Code: N/A
Cursor: 1–3 seconds (avg inline suggestion) | Visual Studio Code: N/A
Cursor: Automatic full-project indexing | Visual Studio Code: N/A
Cursor: No native mobile app | Visual Studio Code: N/A
Cursor: Varies by plan (Pro tier higher) | Visual Studio Code: N/A
Cursor: 60-120 minutes | Visual Studio Code: N/A
Cursor: ~500KB+ codebase context | Visual Studio Code: N/A
Cursor: Claude 3.5 Sonnet + GPT-4 | Visual Studio Code: N/A
Cursor: Full native support | Visual Studio Code: N/A
Cursor: 5/10 (new IDE) | Visual Studio Code: N/A
Cursor: Unlimited | Visual Studio Code: N/A
Cursor: 1 (VS Code) | Visual Studio Code: N/A
Cursor: 7-10 minutes | Visual Studio Code: N/A
Cursor: 4+ (GPT-4o, Claude, Gemini, local) | Visual Studio Code: N/A
Cursor: 0 (paid from start) | Visual Studio Code: N/A
Cursor: Yes, full project indexing | Visual Studio Code: N/A
Cursor: 50 requests/month | Visual Studio Code: N/A
Cursor: 50+ | Visual Studio Code: 80+ built-in
Cursor: 2 (VSCode + standalone) | Visual Studio Code: N/A
Cursor: ~400-600ms | Visual Studio Code: N/A
Cursor: ~500K (2025) | Visual Studio Code: N/A
Cursor: $240/year | Visual Studio Code: N/A
Cursor: Standalone only | Visual Studio Code: N/A
Cursor: Native (full project) | Visual Studio Code: N/A
Cursor: 20 per month | Visual Studio Code: N/A
Cursor: 1+ million | Visual Studio Code: N/A
Cursor: 2 years | Visual Studio Code: N/A
Cursor: Advanced (cmd+k, Composer, auto-fix) | Visual Studio Code: N/A
Cursor: Claude 3.5 Sonnet (Anthropic) | Visual Studio Code: N/A
Cursor: 3-5 days (new IDE to learn) | Visual Studio Code: N/A
Cursor: Download .dmg/.exe (1-click installer) | Visual Studio Code: N/A
Cursor: Proprietary (not public) | Visual Studio Code: 165,000+
Cursor: 100,000 tokens/month (Claude only) | Visual Studio Code: N/A
Cursor: VS Code only (or Cursor standalone IDE) | Visual Studio Code: N/A
Cursor: Liveshare integration included | Visual Studio Code: N/A
Cursor: ~800ms | Visual Studio Code: N/A
Cursor: ~600MB | Visual Studio Code: 320MB
Cursor: Via extension | Visual Studio Code: N/A
Cursor: 3 (GPT-4, Claude 3.5, o1-preview) | Visual Studio Code: N/A
Cursor: $20/month unlimited | Visual Studio Code: N/A
Cursor: 4GB (practical minimum) | Visual Studio Code: N/A
Cursor: 30+ via extensions | Visual Studio Code: N/A
Cursor: 82% (AI-assisted, broader context) | Visual Studio Code: N/A
Cursor: Basic rename, extract, inline via extensions | Visual Studio Code: N/A
Cursor: 2-3 seconds | Visual Studio Code: N/A
Cursor: Community-based, limited official support | Visual Studio Code: N/A
Cursor: Yes (cached models) | Visual Studio Code: N/A
Cursor: Yes (native support) | Visual Studio Code: N/A
Cursor: Local machine only | Visual Studio Code: N/A
Cursor: 1 (Proprietary VS Code fork) | Visual Studio Code: N/A
Cursor: Claude 3.5 Sonnet (default) + GPT-4o (configurable) | Visual Studio Code: N/A
Cursor: Advanced multi-tab with @files, @docs, @web references | Visual Studio Code: N/A
Cursor: 50,000 | Visual Studio Code: N/A
Cursor: Built-in with error explanation | Visual Studio Code: N/A
Cursor: Full codebase refactoring across files | Visual Studio Code: N/A
Cursor: No (cloud-only with Claude) | Visual Studio Code: N/A
Time to Productive Setup (Python Development)
Cursor: N/A | Visual Studio Code: 3-4 hours (Pylance, Pytest, Linter config)
Cursor: N/A | Visual Studio Code: 92% (with Pylance extension)
Cursor: N/A | Visual Studio Code: 74% of professional developers
Cursor: N/A | Visual Studio Code: N/A (manual)
Cursor: N/A | Visual Studio Code: 50,000+ extensions
Cursor: N/A | Visual Studio Code: N/A (baseline)
Cursor: N/A | Visual Studio Code: Yes, fully featured
Cursor: N/A | Visual Studio Code: 50,000+
Native Language Support (Without Extensions)
Cursor: N/A | Visual Studio Code: 8 languages (JS, TS, Python basics, JSON, HTML, CSS, Markdown, XML)
Development Team Size for Optimal Experience
Cursor: N/A | Visual Studio Code: 1-50 (lightweight, customizable)
Issues Detected Pre-Runtime (Java Code Analysis)
Cursor: N/A | Visual Studio Code: ~65% (with extensions)
Initial Learning Time (Keyboard Shortcuts)
Cursor: N/A | Visual Studio Code: 2-4 hours
Supported Languages (Built-in Syntax Highlighting)
Cursor: N/A | Visual Studio Code: Yes (20+ languages)
Cursor: N/A | Visual Studio Code: 150-250 MB
Cursor: N/A | Visual Studio Code: Extension-limited; manual file selection required
Cursor: N/A | Visual Studio Code: Free basic + $10 Copilot Pro
Cursor: N/A | Visual Studio Code: 160,000+
Cursor: N/A | Visual Studio Code: 20 million
Cursor: N/A | Visual Studio Code: 300-500 MB
Cursor: N/A | Visual Studio Code: Generic (extension-based)
Cursor: N/A | Visual Studio Code: Free (open-source)
Cursor: N/A | Visual Studio Code: No (Electron-based)
Cursor: N/A | Visual Studio Code: 9 years (stable)
Cursor: N/A | Visual Studio Code: Via Live Share extension
Cursor: N/A | Visual Studio Code: 5-15 (extension dependent)
Cursor: N/A | Visual Studio Code: 70-80%
Cursor: N/A | Visual Studio Code: Varies by extension (typically 4K-8K)
Cursor: N/A | Visual Studio Code: Baseline (100%)
Cursor: N/A | Visual Studio Code: 160K stars
Cursor: N/A | Visual Studio Code: ~150MB
Cursor: N/A | Visual Studio Code: 2-3 seconds
Cursor: N/A | Visual Studio Code: 1 (JS/TS only)
Cursor: N/A | Visual Studio Code: Basic (extension-dependent)
Code Intelligence (IntelliSense Accuracy)
Cursor: N/A | Visual Studio Code: 82% (with Pylance)
Cursor: N/A | Visual Studio Code: Good (requires setup per language)
How to choose between Cursor and Visual Studio Code
Cursor vs VS Code — Structured Comparison Data
Machine-readable comparison dataset for Cursor vs VS Code. Contains 239 attribute comparisons, 5 FAQ pairs.
Cursor vs VS Code — Attribute Category Vocabulary
Taxonomy of attribute categories used to classify comparison data for Cursor vs VS Code.
Cursor offers a free tier with limited AI requests (~50 per day for autocomplete). The $20/month Pro tier provides unlimited AI features and deeper codebase indexing. Most users find the free tier insufficient for daily development work.
No. Cursor sends code to Anthropic's servers for AI processing. Anthropic claims they don't train on user code and delete it after processing, but sensitive proprietary code should not be used with Cursor. VS Code keeps all code local unless you install AI extensions.
Can VS Code do everything Cursor does for AI coding?
Functionally yes, but with more setup. VS Code requires installing extensions like GitHub Copilot ($20/month), Codeium ($12/month), or CodeGPT. The total cost and configuration overhead exceeds Cursor's integrated approach, though you gain flexibility in choosing AI providers.
VS Code starts ~28% faster (1.8s vs 2.5s) and uses ~22% less memory idle. However, Cursor's indexed codebase makes AI-assisted coding faster in practice because context loading is instant. For non-AI work, VS Code maintains a speed advantage.
Which has better support for my programming language?
VS Code supports 30+ languages natively with 55K+ language-specific extensions. Cursor supports the same languages through VS Code's foundation but has fewer specialized extensions. For niche languages, VS Code's larger ecosystem provides more options.
How to Choose Between Cursor and Visual Studio Code
AI Code Assistance: Cursor has Built-in Claude AI (native integration), while Visual Studio Code has Requires third-party extensions.
Base Price: Cursor has $20/month (Pro tier), while Visual Studio Code has Free.
Codebase Analysis Depth: Cursor has Indexed full project context (50K+ tokens), while Visual Studio Code has Limited by extension capability.
Startup Time: Cursor has ~2.5 seconds, while Visual Studio Code has ~1.8 seconds.
Community Extensions: Cursor has ~15,000 (via VS Code marketplace), while Visual Studio Code has ~55,000+.
Tab Multi-line Edit: Cursor has Native Tab key support, while Visual Studio Code has Requires keybinding configuration.
Privacy Model: Cursor has Code sent to Anthropic servers for AI, while Visual Studio Code has All processing local by default.