Visual Studio Code vs Cursor
Which is better in 2026? Five scores, side by side.
Visual Studio Code is the better app overall, scoring 9.2 to 8.7. Visual Studio Code wins on 4 of the 5 scores, Cursor on 0, with 1 tied.
Developers of any level who want one free editor for every language
Developers who want AI help built into every part of their editor
Score by score
The details
| Feature | Visual Studio Code | Cursor |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Developer Tools | Developer Tools |
| Category rank | #1 of 8 | #5 of 8 |
| Developer | Microsoft | Anysphere |
| Pricing | Free | Free + paid plans |
| Usable for free | Yes | Yes |
| Mac | ✓ | ✓ |
| Windows | ✓ | ✓ |
| Linux | ✓ | ✓ |
| Web | ✓ | — |
Strengths and weaknesses
Visual Studio Code
- Free, with a massive extension ecosystem
- Strong debugging, Git and remote development tools
- Runs on Mac, Windows, Linux and in the browser
- Many extensions can slow startup and eat memory
- Telemetry is on by default
Visual Studio Code is the default editor for a reason. It is free, quick enough for big projects, and its extension marketplace covers almost every language, framework and tool. Git, debugging, remote development and dev containers are built in, and GitHub Copilot adds AI chat and agent mode. The trade-offs: heavy extension use slows it down, and telemetry is on by default. For most developers, start here.
Full Visual Studio Code review
Cursor
- Deep AI help built into every part of the editor
- Familiar VS Code base with easy migration
- Choice of frontier models from several labs
- Usage-based pricing can be hard to predict
- 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 extensions and settings carry over, and it adds fast tab completion, an agent that edits across many files, and cloud agents that work in the background. The catch is pricing: usage-based limits can be hard to predict, and your code is processed in the cloud, so use Privacy Mode for sensitive work.
Full Cursor review
