Originally published on rikuq.com. Republished here for Dev.to's readers.

This is a Cursor review from someone who tried Cursor, didn't keep it, and doesn't think that's a complaint.

I'm Ravi. I've shipped three production AI SaaS solo — Prism, Citare, and BatchWise — using plain VSCode and Claude Code as my primary stack. I tried Cursor seriously. It didn't fit my workflow. That's not Cursor's fault — and the explanation of why is the actually-useful part of this review.

Most Cursor reviews are by people who love it and bought it, or people who reviewed it as a chore. This is the rarer one: someone who tested it fairly, didn't stick, and can explain who should stick.

TL;DR

Why I didn't stick — the personality angle

Honest reason first, technical reason second.

I keep clean machines. I don't install apps I don't actively need. One app per purpose. If I switch to a new tool that replaces an old one, I uninstall the old one the same day. Apps that sit on my system "just in case" trigger a kind of OCD itch I'd rather not live with. Native OS apps I can't uninstall already bother me; I'm not voluntarily adding to the pile.

So my bar for keeping any tool is: does this give me something I don't already have?

Cursor is built on VSCode. The editor behavior is identical. The differentiators live entirely in the AI layer — tab completion, chat sidebar, Composer mode, .cursorrules conventions. For someone whose dominant workflow is hand-coding with AI assist, these are real differentiators that justify keeping the app installed.

For me, they aren't. My dominant workflow is directing Claude to ship features end-to-end via the Desktop App + MCP. I'm not in the editor typing-and-completing for hours; I'm telling Claude what to build, watching it build, reviewing, and shipping. The hours I'd spend in Cursor's AI sweet spot just aren't hours I have.

So Cursor would have sat on my machine doing essentially nothing different from what plain VSCode does for me. Uninstall.

That's not a Cursor problem. It's a workflow mismatch. If you're the developer who lives in tab completion and prefers AI as a fast hand-extension, Cursor was built for you. I'm just not that developer.

What Cursor is, properly

For readers who want the actual review:

Cursor is a fork of VSCode with AI features integrated at the IDE level, not as plugins. The team's bet is that the AI experience is materially better when it has first-class access to the editor's internal state — selection, file tree, cursor position, recent edits — than when it's bolted on as an extension.

In practice, they've been right. Cursor's AI experience is meaningfully smoother than VSCode-plus-Copilot-plugin, in measurable ways:

1. Tab completion — best-in-class. Suggestions feel faster, more context-aware, more often right than competitors.
2. Chat sidebar — knows what file you're in, what's selected, what's nearby. The "ask about this code" loop is genuinely tight.
3. Composer mode — multi-file changes from a single prompt. Stumbles on large refactors but handles small-to-medium ones well.
4. .cursorrules — a per-repo file where you declare conventions the AI should respect. Underrated and material to output quality.

If your daily work is in the editor with frequent AI nudges, Cursor's AI layer pays for itself fast. If your daily work is not in the editor — if you're directing an external AI to do most of the heavy lifting — those features are irrelevant.

Cursor pricing in 2026

Cursor restructured pricing in 2025. May 2026 reality:

The Pro plan being credit-pool based (since June 2025) is the part most reviews skip. Frontier-model usage burns through the $20 of credits faster than you'd expect — many heavy users end up on Pro+ at $60/month, which puts it roughly on par with Claude Code Max ($100/month for the 5× plan).

If you're going to bet on Cursor seriously, plan for Pro+ ($60/mo) once you ramp up, not Pro ($20/mo). The Pro plan is best understood as "the on-ramp," not the destination.

Who should buy Cursor

Yes, buy Cursor if:

• Your dominant workflow is hand-coding with AI assist (most developers, including most senior engineers)
• You think in tab completions — autocomplete is part of how you compose code, not just save keystrokes
• You're new to AI coding tools and want the safest, most-polished, most-popular pick
• You're switching from VSCode and want a minimal-friction upgrade with real AI gains
• You work in teams and benefit from .cursorrules standardization across the org

Maybe skip Cursor if:

• You direct AI to ship features rather than typing code alongside it (Claude Code is your tool)
• You're an Antigravity / Windsurf user happy with that stack
• You're locked into JetBrains or Visual Studio (Copilot is still the best in those)
• You keep minimal apps installed and Cursor doesn't replace something else

What I'd buy today if I were starting fresh

If I were rebuilding my stack tomorrow and had to choose one daily editing setup:

• If I were typing in the editor most of the day: Cursor Pro at $20/month, expect to upgrade to Pro+ at $60/month. Then add Claude Code Max ($100/month) for the agentic/complex work. Total: $120-160/month.
• If I were directing AI most of the day (my reality): plain VSCode (free) + Claude Code Max ($100/month → $200/month at full intensity). Total: $100-200/month.

Both are defensible. Pick based on which sentence describes you better.

vs Claude Code — the comparison that actually matters

The right framing isn't "Cursor vs Claude Code" — they're not substitutes. The right framing is "do you prefer AI as fast hand-extension, or AI as autonomous feature-shipper?"

• AI as fast hand-extension = Cursor. You're driving; the AI helps you go faster. Tab completion is the primary unit of value.
• AI as autonomous feature-shipper = Claude Code. You're directing; the AI ships. End-to-end task completion is the primary unit of value.

Many serious solo founders run both — Cursor for the editor-heavy parts, Claude Code for the agentic parts. That's a legitimate stack. I run only Claude Code because my editor-heavy hours just aren't there.

Detailed comparison: Cursor vs Claude Code — which to buy first (coming soon)

The verdict

Cursor is genuinely good. The most polished AI-first IDE today, fairly priced for what it does, with a community and ecosystem (.cursorrules, extensions, rules-sharing) that makes it a safe long-term bet.

Cursor isn't for me. I direct AI more than I hand-code, and the value-add over plain VSCode + Claude Code wasn't enough to keep an app on my machine.

For most developers most of the time, Cursor is probably for you. That's the right and useful conclusion, even from someone who didn't keep it.

If you're a founder still figuring out your workflow, my recommendation order: try Cursor Pro for a month. If you find yourself in the editor a lot and the AI feels essential, stay. If you find yourself directing more than typing, switch to plain VSCode + Claude Code.

Related reading

• Best AI Coding Tools 2026 — Honest Picks From Shipping 3 SaaS Solo — full landscape, Cursor ranked in context.
• Claude Code Review 2026 — From Zero Code to 3 Live SaaS — my actual primary tool, for contrast.
• Antigravity Review (May 2026) — From Daily Driver to Dropped — the other VSCode-based AI IDE, and what happened to it.
• Cursor vs Claude Code: which to buy first (coming soon) — the head-to-head.

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Last updated 2026-05-21. Cursor moves quickly — I'll refresh this whenever pricing or features change materially. If you're a happy Cursor user and have a perspective I'm missing, tell me on Twitter/X.