Cursor AI: What It Is, Pricing and Is It Safe?

Cursor AI is a code editor with AI built in. You can ask it to write a feature, fix a bug or explain a file, and its agent edits your project for you. Cursor has a free plan and paid plans; see cursor.com/pricing for current prices. Is it safe? It's a mainstream tool, but you should turn on Privacy Mode, be picky about extensions after Cursor's Oct 29 notice, and review the code before you ship it.

By Gary, Greenlight My App. Checked Nov 1, 2026. How we checked this: we read Cursor's pricing page, security page, changelog and its Oct 29, 2026 security notice on Nov 1, 2026 and quote them below. We also captured the pricing and download pages on Nov 1, 2026, installed Cursor 3.27.22 (the official Linux AppImage) in a throwaway home folder, and stopped at the login screen. We didn't sign in, so we haven't tested Cursor's AI features or settings screens. Drafted with AI tools and reviewed by a person before publishing.

What is Cursor AI?

Cursor is a desktop code editor for Mac, Windows and Linux with AI features built into every part of it. If you've used VS Code, the layout will look familiar: file tree on the left, editor in the middle, terminal at the bottom. The difference is a chat and agent panel where you describe what you want in plain English.

Cursor's own copyright line reads "© 2026 Anysphere, Inc.", so Anysphere is the company that makes it.

What you can do with it:

• Autocomplete that predicts the next few lines as you type.
• Chat about your codebase: "Where do we check if a user is logged in?"
• Agents that take a task, edit several files, run commands and report back.
• Cloud agents that work on a task in Cursor's infrastructure while you do something else.
• A CLI for using Cursor's agent from the terminal.
• Code review on pull requests.

Cursor is popular with people who build apps by describing them, often called vibe coding. That's also why safety matters: the faster code appears, the easier it is to ship something you never read.

How do you download and set up Cursor?

Download Cursor from cursor.com (external) for Mac, Windows or Linux and sign in.

When we opened Cursor 3.27.22 for the first time, it showed only Log In and Sign Up buttons and the line "Cursor's AI features require you to be logged in". On a bare Linux desktop it also asked about the OS keyring.

If you're coming from VS Code, you can bring your settings and extensions across. Before you import everything, look at the list: this is a good moment to leave behind extensions you no longer use. Then open a project folder, turn on Privacy Mode in settings if you want it, and try the chat panel on a small question about your code.

What does Cursor do differently from a normal editor?

A normal editor waits for you to type. Cursor tries to do the typing. You give it a goal and it plans the steps, opens the right files and makes the change.

Three ideas sit at the center:

1. Codebase awareness. Cursor indexes your project so the AI can find related code instead of guessing.
2. Agent mode. The AI can run terminal commands (installing packages, running tests) and fix its own errors.
3. Model choice. Depending on your plan, you can pick from different AI models. See the pricing section.

What's new in Cursor?

Cursor's changelog (external) is the place to check. The most recent entry when we looked (Oct 20, 2026) announced an Agent SDK that lets you "define an agent as a folder of code, test it with evals, and deploy it to Cursor or your own infrastructure." Release notes move fast, so check the changelog yourself rather than relying on any blog, including this one.

How much does Cursor cost?

Cursor has a free plan and paid plans; see cursor.com/pricing (external) for current prices. Plans and usage allowances change often, so read the full page before you compare Cursor's price to a plain editor plugin.

Is Cursor free or paid?

Both. Cursor has a free plan with usage limits. That's enough to try it on a small project. If you use agents every day you'll likely hit the limits and need a paid plan.

Our older posts, such as Cursor vs Claude Code, were written before this pricing page changed. Use the live pricing page for current numbers.

Is Cursor safe to use?

Cursor is widely used and publishes a security page (external). It says Cursor holds "AIUC-1, ISO/IEC 27001:2022, and ISO/IEC 42001:2023 certifications, along with a SOC 2 Type II attestation." Those are claims from Cursor, and reports are available from Cursor on request.

"Safe" depends on three separate things, though:

1. Your code and data. Who sees it and whether it's used for training. See Privacy Mode below.
2. What runs on your machine. Agents can run commands and extensions can run code. This is where the October incident happened.
3. What you ship. AI-written code can contain mistakes, including keys in the wrong place.

What happened with Cursor's extension marketplace in October 2026?

On Oct 29, 2026, Cursor published a security notice (external). Here's what it says, in Cursor's words:

• Malicious versions 2.1.312 and 2.1.313 of the Anthropic.claude-code extension, for Windows and macOS, were available on Cursor's marketplace "Between about 2:27am PT and 1:35pm PT".
• Those versions were "not developed by Anthropic".
• "We followed with a full shut down of the marketplace out of an abundance of caution."
• "We rotated our keys, rebuilt the marketplace, and brought it back online."
• "Uninstalling the extension may not be sufficient".

OX Security (external) wrote that, 'According to Cursor, at most 5,000 users were potentially affected.' That figure comes from OX's reporting, not from Cursor's notice. Microsoft said in an Oct 30 post (external) that the Visual Studio Marketplace and npm were not affected.

The marketplace was shut down temporarily and is back online, per Cursor. If you had the Claude Code extension installed in Cursor on Oct 29, read Cursor's notice in full and follow its steps, since it says uninstalling alone may not be enough. Our AI coding assistant browser vulnerability post covers an earlier, separate Cursor issue.

How do you use extensions more safely?

• Install only what you use. Every extension is code running on your machine.
• Check the publisher and the version history before installing. A new version with a sudden jump in permissions is a warning sign. We checked two popular extensions on Open VSX without installing anything; each listing showed the publisher, download count and when it was published.

• Turn off auto-update for extensions you rely on if your team prefers to review updates first.
• Remove unused extensions every month or so.

Does Cursor send my code to the cloud?

Answering only from Cursor's own pages: the security page says "Our app makes requests to Cursor backend domains to deliver API, update, and marketplace functionality." The AI features rely on models that run on servers, so the code you ask about is sent for processing.

On training, Cursor's pricing FAQ says: "Privacy mode can be enabled in settings or by a team admin. When it is enabled, we guarantee that code data is not used for training by us or our model providers." That's Cursor's promise, not ours. The security page adds that Privacy Mode "is available to anyone (free or Pro)".

What that means for you:

1. Turn on Privacy Mode in Cursor's settings if you don't want your code used for training.
2. Don't open folders containing secrets you don't want sent anywhere. Keep production keys in your host's secret settings, not in the repo.
3. For company code, ask your admin which settings the team enforces.

How do you set up Cursor safely?

A short setup list. Our Cursor security checklist goes deeper.

1. Turn on Privacy Mode in settings.
2. Keep secrets out of the project. Use a .env file listed in .gitignore for development keys only, with spending limits.
3. Ignore sensitive files. A .cursorignore file lists files you don't want the AI to read, and a rules file tells the agent how to treat secrets. Here's the setup from our demo project (we couldn't confirm the effect inside the editor, since that needs a login):

.cursorignore:

.env
.env.*
!.env.example

.cursor/rules/no-secrets.mdc:

- Never print, echo, log or paste secrets or the contents of .env files.
- Refer to environment variables by name only (e.g. OPENAI_API_KEY).
- Use XXXX placeholders in examples.

4. Keep agent command approvals on. Let the agent ask before it runs terminal commands, at least until you trust a project's setup. 5. Review every diff. Look for any line containing key, secret or token, especially in frontend files. 6. Check what's public. Before you share the app, make sure your bundle doesn't contain something like sk-XXXX.

A pattern we see in AI-built apps: the agent "fixes" an error by moving an API call into the browser and pasting the key alongside it. The app works, and the key is now readable by every visitor.

Is Cursor better than GitHub Copilot?

It depends on how you work. Copilot is an extension that adds AI to editors you already use. Cursor is a whole editor built around AI. People who want agents that edit many files at once often prefer Cursor; people who want to stay in their current editor often prefer an extension.

We haven't run a fair side-by-side test, so we won't name a winner. Try both on the same small task, on their free tiers, and compare.

What are the Cursor alternatives?

Cursor is an editor. Claude Code and Codex are terminal agents, though both have editor integrations too. If you like a visual editor, start with Cursor. If you live in the terminal, look at Cursor vs Claude Code, our Claude Code install guide and Codex vs Claude Code.

Can AI code an app?

Yes, AI tools like Cursor can write a working app from a description, and many people ship that way. What AI doesn't reliably do is decide what's safe to make public. It will happily put a database key in the browser if that makes the demo work. You still need to check:

• Are API keys only on the server?
• Does the database have access rules, like Postgres row level security?
• Are security headers set?

FAQ

Who invented Cursor? Cursor is made by Anysphere, Inc., per the copyright line on cursor.com.

Can AI code an app? Yes, tools like Cursor can write working apps. You still need to check keys, database rules and headers before launch.

What's new in Cursor? Cursor's changelog listed an Agent SDK on Oct 20, 2026. Check cursor.com/changelog for the latest.

What does Cursor do? It's a code editor with AI chat, autocomplete and agents that edit files and run commands in your project.

Is Cursor better than Copilot? It depends on how you work. Cursor is a full AI editor; Copilot adds AI to editors you already use. Try both on the same task.

Is Cursor free or paid? Both. Cursor has a free plan and paid plans; see cursor.com/pricing for current prices.

Is Cursor safe to use? It's a mainstream tool with published certifications. Turn on Privacy Mode, vet extensions and review code before you deploy.

Does Cursor send my code to the cloud? Cursor's security page says the app makes requests to Cursor backend domains. With Privacy Mode on, Cursor says code data isn't used for training.

Cursor wrote your app? Check what's public before you share it: run a free scan with Greenlight My App to check your live site's public code for exposed API keys and missing security headers.