Originally published at https://aicoding-guide.com .

Claude Code and Cursor are both coding agents. Cursor is known as an editor, but it now ships a CLI too, so using it from a terminal looks much like using Claude Code.

What changed in 2026 is what your subscription includes . Cursor is sold as part of the X Subscription, and what comes with it is Grok and Composer. Using Claude's models costs extra. That is the single biggest factor in choosing between them.

Key point

What this article covers

The models each subscription actually includes

Similar permission syntax, but different places you can put settings

How the project rule files differ

At a glance

Verified against the official documentation as of 2026-10-28.

Claude Code Cursor

Surfaces CLI, VS Code extension, desktop app Editor, CLI, cloud agents

Models included Claude models Cursor models (Grok 4.7 / 4.6 / 4.5, Composer 2.5)

Third-party models N/A Not included; Premium and above pay API list price from prepaid credit

Usage unit Rolling…