OpenAI Codex vs Cursor
Which is better in 2026? Five scores, side by side.
It's close: OpenAI Codex edges it 8.7 to 8.6, so the right pick depends on what you need. OpenAI Codex wins on 2 of the 5 scores, Cursor on 3.
ChatGPT subscribers who want a capable coding agent at no extra cost
Developers who want AI help built into every part of their editor
Score by score
The details
| Feature | OpenAI Codex | Cursor |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Developer Tools | Developer Tools |
| Category rank | #8 of 13 | #10 of 13 |
| Developer | OpenAI | Anysphere (SpaceX) |
| Pricing | Free + paid plans | Free + paid plans |
| Usable for free | Yes | Yes |
| iPhone & iPad | ✓ | ✓ |
| Android | ✓ | — |
| Mac | ✓ | ✓ |
| Windows | ✓ | ✓ |
| Linux | ✓ | ✓ |
| Web | ✓ | — |
Common questions
Is OpenAI Codex better than Cursor?
It's close: OpenAI Codex edges it 8.7 to 8.6, so the right pick depends on what you need. OpenAI Codex wins on 2 of the 5 scores, Cursor on 3.
Which is cheaper, OpenAI Codex or Cursor?
OpenAI Codex: Included in every ChatGPT plan, even Free; Plus is $20 a month and Pro from $100. Cursor: Free tier; Plus $8/month (Grok models only), Premium $30/month adds cloud agents. On value for money, OpenAI Codex scores higher.
Do OpenAI Codex and Cursor work on the same devices?
Only OpenAI Codex runs on Web, Android.
Which is more private, OpenAI Codex or Cursor?
Cursor scores higher on privacy (7.2/10). Privacy Mode guarantees your code is not used for training by Cursor or its model providers. The iPhone app label links location, contact info and usage data to you, partly for marketing.
Strengths and weaknesses
OpenAI Codex
- Included even with a free ChatGPT account
- Open-source CLI under the Apache 2.0 licence
- Runs on Mac, Windows and Linux
- Free and Go plans are meant for light tasks only
- Merged ChatGPT desktop app drew complaints of confusion
- Personal-plan tasks can train models unless you opt out
Codex is OpenAI's coding agent, and it now comes with every ChatGPT plan. Use it in the ChatGPT desktop app, the open-source Codex CLI, your IDE or in the cloud, where it can work on several tasks at once and review pull requests on GitHub. You can keep an eye on sessions from the ChatGPT phone app too. July's merge of the Codex app into ChatGPT confused plenty of people, and personal-plan tasks can train models unless you opt out.
Full OpenAI Codex review
Cursor
- Deep AI help built into every part of the editor
- Familiar VS Code base with easy migration
- Cloud agents keep working while you are away
- Third-party models cost extra on top of your plan
- Plans bundle Grok and X features you may not want
- Code is processed by cloud AI models
Cursor is the AI code editor many developers switch to first. It is built on VS Code, so your setup carries over, and it adds fast completions, agents that edit across many files, and cloud agents that run whole projects in the background. Since SpaceX bought it, plans center on Grok models, and Claude or GPT usage is billed separately. Turn on Privacy Mode for sensitive work.
Full Cursor review
