Cursor vs Claude Code

Plans, prices and usage rules for Cursor and Claude Code, copied from each vendor's pricing page on 2026-10-14. Where a vendor doesn't publish a number, we say unknown.

At a glance

	Cursor	Claude Code
Vendor	Anysphere	Anthropic
Runs in	Cursor (VS Code fork)	Terminal / any editor
Cheapest paid plan	Plus $8/mo	Pro $20/mo
How limits work	Shared AI usage pool across Cursor and Grok; allowance refreshes weekly; third-party models billed separately at API list price; top-offs available.	Rolling 5-hour session window plus weekly limits on paid plans; Claude Code shares the pool with Claude chat; no fixed message count published; optional usage credits at API rates.
Official pricing	cursor.com/pricing	claude.com/pricing

Entry price difference

Cursor$8/mo

Claude Code$20/mo

Cheapest paid plans differ by $12/mo (2.5x). Entry prices only; usage allowances differ, see the tables.

Cursor: Conflict on 2026-10-14: cursor.com/pricing lists Free/Plus $8/Premium $30/Super $100/Ultra $200 (bundled with X/Grok), while cursor.com/docs/models-and-pricing still lists Pro $20/Pro Plus $60/Ultra $200. We show the pricing page and flag the docs figures.

Every plan

Tool	Plan	Price	Usage / limits	Source
Cursor	Free	$0	Limited agent and chat requests	source 2026-10-14
Cursor	Plus	$8/mo	Basic shared pool; Grok models only	source 2026-10-14
Cursor	Premium	$30/mo	4x Plus; third-party models at API list price; cloud agents 4× Plus	source 2026-10-14
Cursor	Super	$100/mo	15x Plus; priority access at peak 15× Plus	source 2026-10-14
Cursor	Ultra	$200/mo	50x Plus 50× Plus	source 2026-10-14
Cursor	Pro (per docs page) conflict	$20/mo	Two pools: Cursor models + third-party at API price. Docs: daily agent users typically $60-100/mo total	source 2026-10-14
Claude Code	Free	$0	No Claude Code	source 2026-10-14
Claude Code	Pro	$20/mo $17/mo annual	At least 5x Free per 5-hour session; exact tokens unknown 5× Free	source 2026-10-14
Claude Code	Max 5x	$100/mo	5x Pro per 5-hour session; $100/mo API credits 5× Pro	source 2026-10-14
Claude Code	Max 20x	price unknown	20x Pro per 5-hour session; $200/mo API credits. Price not shown on card ('From $100'); third-party sources say $200 - unverified 20× Pro	source 2026-10-14

Quick read

Cursor: runs in Cursor (VS Code fork); paid plans from $8/mo. Cursor plans
Claude Code: runs in Terminal / any editor; paid plans from $20/mo. Claude Code plans

Not sure? Answer 4 questions in the plan finder or see the full comparison of all tools.

FAQ

Which is cheaper, Cursor or Claude Code?

Cursor's cheapest paid plan is Plus at $8/mo (Basic shared pool; Grok models only); Claude Code's cheapest paid plan is Pro at $20/mo (At least 5x Free per 5-hour session; exact tokens unknown). Source: official vendor pricing pages, verified 2026-10-14.

How do the usage limits differ?

Cursor: Shared AI usage pool across Cursor and Grok; allowance refreshes weekly; third-party models billed separately at API list price; top-offs available. Claude Code: Rolling 5-hour session window plus weekly limits on paid plans; Claude Code shares the pool with Claude chat; no fixed message count published; optional usage credits at API rates.

Where does each tool run?

Cursor runs in Cursor (VS Code fork); Claude Code runs in Terminal / any editor.

What does each plan cost?

Cursor: Free $0, Plus $8/mo, Premium $30/mo, Super $100/mo, Ultra $200/mo; Claude Code: Free $0, Pro $20/mo, Max 5x $100/mo, Max 20x price unknown.

Head-to-head comparisons

{" vs ".join(SHORT[i] for i in ids)}paid from $8 / $20 {" vs ".join(SHORT[i] for i in ids)}paid from $20 / $8 {" vs ".join(SHORT[i] for i in ids)}paid from $8 / $10 {" vs ".join(SHORT[i] for i in ids)}paid from $8 / $20 / $8 {" vs ".join(SHORT[i] for i in ids)}paid from $10 / $8 {" vs ".join(SHORT[i] for i in ids)}paid from $20 / $8

Markdown version · Raw data (JSON)