Cursor AI Pricing: Is It Worth $20/Month for Developers?
Cursor’s Pro plan costs $20/month. For developers, this is one of the easiest ROI calculations in software. Here’s why — and when the free plan is sufficient.
Cursor Plans Compared
| Feature | Hobby (Free) | Pro ($20/mo) | Business ($40/user) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fast requests | 2,000/mo | 500/day | 500/day |
| Claude 3.5 Sonnet | Limited | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| GPT-4o access | Limited | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Slow requests | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Context window | Standard | 200K (Claude) | 200K (Claude) |
| Privacy mode | ❌ | ✅ | ✅ Required |
| Team features | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ |
| BYOK (API key) | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
What “500 Fast Requests/Day” Actually Means
Fast requests include:
- Tab completion suggestions
- Cmd+K inline edits
- Chat completions in the sidebar
- Composer (multi-file editing)
For an active developer: 500 fast requests/day is plenty. I average 150-250/day even with heavy use.
The ROI Calculation for Developers
Let’s be conservative:
- Cursor saves 1 hour/day for a developer at $100/hour billing rate
- That’s $100/day × 22 working days = $2,200/month saved
- Cursor Pro costs $20/month
- ROI: 110x
Even at 15 minutes saved per day:
- $25/day × 22 days = $550/month saved
- ROI: 27x at $20/month
Who Should Pay for Cursor Pro
Definitely pay if you:
- Code professionally and bill $50+/hour
- Hit the free tier limits (2,000 fast requests runs out quickly for active devs)
- Need access to Claude 3.5 Sonnet’s full capabilities for complex coding
- Value privacy mode (code not used for training)
- Work on large codebases that benefit from 200K context window
Free is sufficient if you:
- Code as a hobbyist or student
- Use Cursor for lightweight tasks (< 1 hour/day)
- Have budget constraints (GitHub Copilot at $10/mo is a cheaper alternative)
Cursor vs GitHub Copilot vs Claude: The Developer’s Dilemma
| Tool | Price | Best For | Weakness |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cursor Pro | $20/mo | Full codebase understanding, multi-file edits | Monthly cost, learning curve |
| GitHub Copilot | $10/mo | IDE-agnostic, inline completion | No full codebase context |
| Claude Pro | $20/mo | Complex coding explanations, code review | Not in your IDE |
Best combo for professional developers: Cursor Pro ($20) + Claude Pro ($20) = $40/month for an elite AI coding stack.
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