What Is Cursor? Is It Free, How Much Does It Cost, and How Do You Download and Use It?

Cursor's main job is working inside a software project: the agent searches and reads files, makes changes and runs commands in the terminal. You can have it explain code, write a feature from scratch, fix bugs or write tests. If you want, it first drafts a plan and waits for your approval (Plan Mode).

Who it's for: software developers, small teams, people learning to code, and designers or product owners who want to build prototypes.

Cursor is an app you install on your computer; there's no version that runs in the browser. The current version is Cursor 3.24 (October 9, 2026). System requirements: Windows 10 or later, macOS 12 (Monterey) or later (Apple Silicon and Intel), Linux. RAM, disk and graphics card requirements are not stated in the official documentation.

Updating: Command Palette (Cmd/Ctrl+Shift+P) › "Cursor: Attempt Update". There are Stable (default) and Early Access channels; you choose in settings.

Account: a Cursor account is required. Whether phone, age or ID verification is required is not stated in the official documentation (apart from the India-only plan).

1. 1Open Cursor, sign in, and choose a project folder with File › Open Folder.
2. 2Open Agent: Cmd+I on Mac, Ctrl+I on Windows and Linux.
3. 3For your first request, ask it to explain the project. Agent searches and reads the files and describes how the project is built.
4. 4Ask for a small, safe change. When it's done, review the agent's change in the diff view.
5. 5Have the agent run the checks the project already uses (tests, type checking, build).
6. 6For work that touches many files or needs research, press Shift+Tab in the Agent input to switch to Plan Mode: Cursor first researches the codebase, asks questions, drafts a detailed plan and waits for your approval.

!The agent's changes are written straight to the files in your working folder (except config files, which it asks you about first). Keep the project under version control such as Git so you can undo. Terminal commands wait for your approval by default; if you turn on auto-run for them, the risk is yours.

Cursor isn't a single AI; it's an editor where you can choose from many models. There are two kinds: Cursor's own models (Composer and Grok) and models from providers such as OpenAI, Anthropic and Google. The second kind isn't included in the plan; it's charged separately at API prices.

The "What it's for, according to Cursor" column comes from the descriptions on Cursor's model pages and help page; "Which one to pick" is compiled from those descriptions, so try a few on your own work and compare. The list also includes other Claude, GPT, Gemini and Muse models. Model versions change often; this section was checked on October 14, 2026.

Yes, there's a Free plan, but usage is limited: a limited number of Agent and Chat requests. The official documentation gives no numeric limit. Cloud agents, automations, Bugbot code review and third-party models are on paid plans.

All prices are shown excluding tax. Web payment is by credit or debit card through Stripe. Subscriptions are sold only through Cursor's own channel; accounts bought from resellers or third parties are unauthorized and may be suspended. How VAT is handled in Turkey is not stated in the official documentation.

Official pricing page last checked on October 28, 2026.

!Don't open files containing customer information, API keys or passwords to the agent. Add sensitive files to .cursorignore and turn on Privacy Mode.

Telemetry isn't described separately; Cursor's data page lists "editor actions" among the data collected when Privacy Mode is off. This isn't legal advice or a KVKK (Turkey's Personal Data Protection Law) opinion.

Under Cursor's Terms of Service, the inputs you write (Inputs) remain yours; Anysphere assigns to you its rights, if any, in the outputs (Suggestions). So you can use the generated code in your own projects.

• The same or similar output may also have been given to other customers; you get no rights over those.
• Output may be wrong; you're responsible for accuracy. If you turn on auto-run, you take on the risk of system failure, data loss and security vulnerabilities.

Source: Cursor Terms of Service (cursor.com/terms-of-service). This isn't legal advice.

New sign-ups for the old student discount closed on June 25, 2026 (Cursor says the program had become open to fraud). Those who already had the discount keep their rate until their plan ends; after that, Pro continues at the regular $20/month.

The new route: undergraduate students can get credits and discounts at campus and online events this fall. Graduate students, PhD students, academic researchers and educators can fill in the official form to request credits. Anyone can sign up for the Free plan. No separate offer is stated for students in Turkey.

1. 1Open cursor.com/dashboard/billing.
2. 2Click Manage in Stripe, choose Cancel Subscription on the page that opens and confirm.
3. 3Paid features continue until the end of the billing period; then your account returns to the Free plan. Your account and local project files aren't deleted.

!If you bought the subscription in the iPhone app, Apple handles cancellation and refunds; Cursor can't. Cancel from your iPhone's subscription settings; deleting the app doesn't end the subscription.

Cursor uses the same default keybindings as VS Code and imports its settings; they're separate apps, and you can use both on the same project. The difference is that the agent and models are built into the editor.

Claude CodeA coding tool that runs in the terminal; requires a Claude subscription or an API account.GitHub CopilotGitHub's AI coding assistant; used in editors such as VS Code.