Claude Code vs Cursor: price, plans and background runs
| Tool | What it is | Pricing (official) | Subscriptions or keys it can use | Runs in background |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Claude Code | Anthropic's coding agent for the terminal, IDE, desktop and web | Pro $20 a month ($17 billed annually); Max $100; Ultra $200 | Claude Pro, Max or Ultra sign-in, or an Anthropic API key | Yes: cloud sessions keep running after you close your laptop (paid plans, claude.ai sign-in) |
| Cursor | AI code editor with Cloud Agents and a CLI | Free; Plus $8 (Grok models only); Premium $30; Super $100; Ultra $200 a month | A Cursor or X Subscription plan; your own OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, Azure or Bedrock key for chat models | Yes: Cloud Agents, on Premium and higher |
| Codex | OpenAI's coding agent: CLI, IDE extension, desktop and web app, Codex cloud | Limited in ChatGPT Free and Go ($8); Plus $20; Pro $100, $200 or $500 a month | ChatGPT plan sign-in, or an OpenAI API key (no cloud features) | Yes: Codex cloud, on Plus and higher plans |
| GitHub Copilot | GitHub's coding assistant: IDE, Copilot CLI, Copilot app and cloud agent | Free; Pro $10; $39 plan; Max $100 a month; Business $19 per seat | A Copilot plan, billed in AI credits; Copilot CLI also takes your own provider keys | Yes: cloud agent; sessions on GitHub Actions run at most 59 minutes |
| Reason | Always-on teammate and coding agent: its own cloud computer per Session, memory, Loops and Slack | Pro $50 and Max $200 a month; no free plan | ChatGPT, Claude, SuperGrok or X Premium+ and GitHub Copilot sign-ins, or your own API keys | Yes: Sessions run on Reason's cloud computers with your laptop closed |
Prices and plans from each vendor's official pricing page or docs, checked Nov 5, 2026; US list prices. Sources are listed at the end of the page.
Compare Claude Code and Cursor on one task
Run the same task in both
Give Claude Code and Cursor's agent the same task you already know the answer to, and compare the diff, the time and what each used of your plan.
Open Reason on the web or the Mac app
Sign in at reasonmachines.com, or download the Reason app for macOS from reasonmachines.com/download. Both open the same Sessions. Sending work to Reason needs a Pro or Max plan.
Carry on in Reason when one runs out
Push the branch, then tell Reason in the composer what is done and what is next. Reason runs on the model accounts you connect in Settings › Models, such as your Claude plan, so a task keeps moving while a limit resets.
Claude Code and Cursor side by side
| Claude Code | Cursor | |
|---|---|---|
| Made by | Anthropic | Anysphere |
| What it is | A coding agent | An AI code editor with an agent |
| Surfaces | Terminal, VS Code, JetBrains, desktop app, web | Desktop editor, web, iOS |
| Models | Claude models | Grok models included from Premium; third-party models at API list price |
| Cloud work | Cloud sessions keep running after you close your laptop | Cloud Agents in isolated cloud VMs, on Premium and higher |
| Slack | @Claude starts a cloud session | @cursor starts a Cloud Agent |
| Pull request review | GitHub Actions: mention @claude in a pull request | Bugbot, billed by usage |
| Plans | Pro $20, Max $100, Ultra $200 a month | Free; Plus $8; Premium $30; Super $100; Ultra $200 a month |
| Limits | Five-hour and weekly limits shared with claude.ai | Plan usage at the selected model's rate |
From each vendor's own pages, checked Nov 2, 2026. Artificial Analysis's Coding Agent Index v2.0 lists Claude Code on Opus 5.5 at 62; we found no Cursor entry on it.
Honest tradeoffs
Claude Code is the stronger agent on public benchmarks and works wherever you have a terminal; Cursor is the better editor if you want to read and steer each change inline. Many people use both: Claude Code in Cursor's terminal for larger changes, and Cursor's tab completion and agent for the rest.
What people on Reddit say
A Reddit thread on the same question, read in full:
In a small r/GithubCopilot thread from June 2026 (18 replies) asking which assistant developers actually use, the top reply likes both Claude Code and Codex, several say they moved to Codex for its limits, a few call Cursor the default answer, and several use Copilot because it's the tool their employer approves. Others mention opencode with DeepSeek and Antigravity for lower cost.
Reason: all your AI subscriptions in one coding agent
Use the subscriptions you already pay for (ChatGPT, Claude, SuperGrok/X Premium+, Copilot) or your own API keys in one coding agent. Hit your limit and Reason keeps going on your other connected accounts or Reason credits.
Reason is an always-on teammate that is also a coding agent: its own cloud computer per Session, memory across Sessions, Loops and Slack, with the model picked per task. Work that runs on your own subscription or API key is billed by that provider and keeps its limits; Reason's plans are Pro at $50 and Max at $200 a month, with no free plan, and it isn't open source.
Sources (checked Nov 2, 2026; table and FAQs checked Nov 5, 2026)
- Claude Code docs: overview
- Claude Code docs: Claude Code on the web
- Claude Code docs: Claude Code in Slack
- Claude Code docs: GitHub Actions
- Anthropic: Claude plans and pricing
- Anthropic: How do usage and length limits work?
- Cursor: pricing
- Cursor docs: Cloud Agents
- Cursor docs: Bugbot
- Artificial Analysis: Coding Agent Index
- Anthropic: what is the Ultra plan?
- Cursor docs: API keys
- OpenAI: Codex pricing
- GitHub Docs: Copilot plans
- GitHub Docs: about Copilot cloud agent
- Reason docs: plans
- r/GithubCopilot: Which AI coding assistant are developers actually using in 2026? (Jun 2026)
Questions
Is Claude Code better than Cursor?
For an agent that makes the whole change, Claude Code scores higher on public benchmarks: Claude Code on Opus 5.5 is 62 on Artificial Analysis's Coding Agent Index v2.0, where we found no Cursor entry. Cursor is the better editor.
Can I use Claude Code inside Cursor?
Yes. Claude Code runs in any terminal, including the one built into Cursor.
Which is cheaper?
Cursor starts lower: a free plan and Plus at $8 a month, limited to Grok models. Claude Code starts with Claude Pro at $20 a month.
Should I use both?
Many do. When one runs out of usage, push the branch and carry the task on in Reason, on another connected account.
What happens when an agent hits its usage limit?
Claude Code, Codex and Cursor stop or offer paid usage at their plan's limits. Hit your limit? Reason keeps going on your other connected accounts or Reason credits.
Is Reason affiliated with these vendors?
No. Reason is built by Reason Machines and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Anthropic, OpenAI, Anysphere, Cognition, GitHub, Google or xAI. Facts about their products come from their own pages, linked under Sources.
What's the difference between Claude Code and Cursor?
Claude Code is Anthropic's coding agent, used in the terminal, IDE extensions, a desktop app and the web; Cursor is an AI code editor with its own agent, Cloud Agents and a CLI, now sold within The X Subscription.
Can I use Claude models in Cursor?
On Premium ($30 a month) and above, billed separately at API list price, or with your own Anthropic key for chat models. Cursor Plus has Grok models only.
How do their usage limits compare?
Claude's paid plans have five-hour and weekly limits shared across Claude surfaces; Cursor's included usage refreshes weekly, with third-party models billed on top.