Free alternatives to Cursor
Tools in our comparison, other than Cursor, that you can start without a paid subscription: a stated free plan, or free software where you pay your model provider. Facts come from official pages, checked 2026-10-19. We do not rank them; free limits differ in kind, so read the exact terms and sources below. Cursor's own entry is shown first for reference.
Last checked 2026-10-19.
For reference
| Tool | Free tier (as listed) | Lowest paid price | Local vs cloud | Source | Compare |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cursor | Yes. Free $0: Agent and Chat with limited usage; no third-party models. | X Subscription Plus $8/mo (Grok models only) | Both: local desktop app and terminal agent; cloud agents and automations on Premium and above. | cursor.com/docs/models-and-pricing | - |
Free alternatives to Cursor
| Tool | Free tier (as listed) | Lowest paid price | Local vs cloud | Source | Compare |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aider | The tool is free; model costs depend on your provider. Local models also supported. | No paid plan: free, open-source tool (you pay your model provider) | Local terminal tool; cloud or local models. | aider.chat | - |
| Grok Build (official Grok CLI) | Yes. The product page says "Available to try for Free" and the Free plan lists Grok Build as Limited; exact limits are not published. | X Subscription Plus $8/mo | Local terminal agent; models run in xAI's cloud. | x.ai/build | - |
| OpenAI Codex CLI | Yes. Free plan: GPT-6 Luna at Standard speed in the desktop app, subject to rollout. Plus lists Codex in the CLI; the CLI is also usable with an API key. A fixed Free-plan message limit is not published. | ChatGPT Go $8/mo | Both: local CLI/IDE/desktop chats plus Codex cloud tasks (cloud features not available with API-key auth). | learn.chatgpt.com/docs/pricing | - |
| Cline | The extension and CLI are free with BYOK or pay-as-you-go inference; no required subscription (ClinePass is optional). Cline Cloud offers free models. | ClinePass $9.99/mo (optional; the tool itself is free) | Both: client-side agent in your editor, terminal or desktop app; Cline Cloud runs agents in cloud sandboxes from the browser. Models from… | cline.bot/cline-pass | Cline vs Cursor |
| GitHub Copilot (agent mode / cloud agent) | Yes: limited chat and agent usage; FAQ states 2,000 completions and 50 chat requests. Free supports CLI and agent mode. | Copilot Pro $10/mo | Both: agent mode in editors and Copilot CLI locally; cloud agent on GitHub that can open pull requests. | github.com/features/copilot/plans | Cursor vs GitHub Copilot (agent mode / cloud agent) |
| Windsurf (now Devin Desktop) | Yes: light quota to code with agents, limited model availability, unlimited inline edits and Tab completions. Quotas refresh daily and weekly. | Pro $20/mo | Both: Devin Desktop locally; Devin Cloud agents on Pro and up. | devin.ai/pricing | Cursor vs Windsurf (now Devin Desktop) |
| Bolt.new | Yes. Free $0/mo, no credit card: 1M tokens/month with a 300K daily token limit, public and private projects, website hosting (Bolt branding on sites), no custom domains. | Pro $25/mo billed monthly ($18/mo billed annually) | Cloud: runs in your browser on StackBlitz WebContainers, with nothing to install locally; Bolt Cloud provides hosting, domains and… | bolt.new/pricing | - |
Not listed (no free plan, or not verified): Claude Code, GnamiSI, Gemini CLI.
More comparisons
- Claude Code vs OpenAI Codex CLI
- Claude Code vs Cursor
- Cursor vs GitHub Copilot (agent mode / cloud agent)
- Cursor vs Windsurf (now Devin Desktop)
- OpenAI Codex CLI vs Gemini CLI
- Claude Code vs Gemini CLI
- Aider vs Cline
- Cline vs Cursor
- GitHub Copilot (agent mode / cloud agent) vs Claude Code
- Grok Build (official Grok CLI) vs Claude Code
- GnamiSI vs Cursor
- Windsurf (now Devin Desktop) vs Claude Code
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