GILD verdict
Choose Cursor if your team will standardize on one editor and approve each terminal command while file edits run freely.
Choose Cline if engineers keep their editors, approve every edit and command, and send model traffic to a provider you already govern. Pilot both on the same tickets and compare total spend per accepted change at the plan you would buy.
Cline wins for teams that will not switch editors, since it installs into VS Code, JetBrains IDEs and Cursor itself. With your own keys, its only cost is your provider's invoice; Cline also sells an optional US$9.99-a-month ClinePass and pay-as-you-go Cline credits. Cursor wins for teams that want one vendor bill, because it sells its editor, seats and model usage together.
Choosing between Cline and Cursor
Choose Cline if
- Engineers want to keep VS Code, a JetBrains IDE, or another VS Code-based editor.
- Model traffic must go straight to your own provider, such as Amazon Bedrock, Google Vertex AI, or a self-hosted endpoint.
- You want the agent's source open under Apache 2.0, with file edits and commands approved by default.
Choose Cursor if
- Engineers want completion and agents built into one editor from one vendor.
- You want a published Teams price with SAML or OIDC SSO and team-wide privacy mode.
- You want pull request review from the same vendor through Bugbot.
Side by side
| Dimension | Cline | Cursor |
|---|---|---|
| Where it runs | Extension for VS Code, Cursor, Windsurf, VSCodium, and JetBrains IDEs; a CLI; a desktop app; cloud agents | Its own desktop editor, built on the VS Code codebase, plus cloud agents |
| Individual priceList prices in US dollars. Cline's price excludes model usage; Cursor's plans include part of it. | Free; model usage paid to your provider, as Cline credits, or ClinePass at US$9.99 per month | Premium: US$30 per month in the X Subscription Cursor announced Oct 12, 2026, with a weekly pool for Cursor's own models; Pro at US$20 is a legacy plan closed to new customers |
| Team price | Enterprise only, custom pricing through sales | Teams seats at US$30 (Premium), US$100 (Super), or US$200 (Ultra) per user per month in the X Subscription Cursor announced Oct 12, 2026; Standard US$40 and Premium US$120 seats apply only to teams created before it; Enterprise is custom |
| Your own API key | The default path: requests go from your environment to the provider | Chat models from OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, Azure, or Bedrock; Tab completion stays on Cursor models, and Teams and Enterprise add US$0.25 per million tokens on eligible third-party models |
| Approvals | Every file edit and terminal command needs approval by default; Auto Approve opens categories one at a time | Terminal commands and MCP tool calls need approval by default; workspace file edits do not |
| Planning | Plan mode reads and discusses without changing files; Act mode can use a different model | Plan Mode researches the codebase and writes an editable plan before code |
| Project rules | .clinerules/ or AGENTS.md, and it also reads .cursorrules | .cursor/rules (.mdc files) or AGENTS.md |
What practitioners report, side by side
Each product's figures come from its own practitioners, for the group you pick.
Overall signal
All practitioners rate Cline +39, 33 points above Cursor at +6. Most of the gap is in complaints, with 41 of Cursor's 117 sources negative against 13 of Cline's 73.
The score counts the authors from all practitioners that take a side, one vote each with their latest view, and is how far positive votes lead negative ones, per 100 votes, so Cline's +39 rests on votes split 40 positive, 17 mixed and 13 negative and Cursor's +6 on 48, 27 and 41.
A lead of a fifth of the votes reads positive and a lead of half strong positive, with the same lines below zero. The dots show each source, positive, mixed, negative. Use a task pilot to measure accepted work and review time.
Footprint on the Agentic Software Development stack
They differ on three of 12 layers. Cline owns one that Cursor does not, and Cursor owns one that Cline does not. Coverage is each product's placement on this stack, as its product page shows it. Core is a job the product owns; Supports and Touches are jobs it helps with. Coverage says nothing about how well a product does them.
| Layer | Cline | Cursor |
|---|---|---|
| Build | ||
| Codebase context | Supports | Core |
| Tool execution | Core | Supports |
| Validate | ||
| Code review | Touches | Supports |
The 9 layers where they match
| Layer | Cline | Cursor |
|---|---|---|
| Plan | ||
| Work planning | Supports | Supports |
| Build | ||
| Coding | Core | Core |
| Agent runtime | Core | Core |
| Validate | ||
| Debugging | Supports | Supports |
| Testing | Supports | Supports |
| Application security | Touches | Touches |
| Ship | ||
| Source control | Touches | Touches |
| CI/CD | Touches | Touches |
| Operate | ||
| Observability | Touches | Touches |
What practitioners praise
Among all practitioners, Cursor alone has seven praise themes that reach 5 sources from 3 authors. Model Choice and Tab Completion lead, at 20 of 25 and 10 of 13. Cline alone has four praise themes that reach 5 sources from 3 authors. Model and Provider Choice and Multi-Step Execution lead, at 20 of 20 and 15 of 15.
| Praised for | Cline | Cursor |
|---|---|---|
| Model and Provider Choice | 20 of 20 | Not a theme in its sources |
| Multi-Step Execution | 15 of 15 | Not a theme in its sources |
| Visibility and Control | 10 of 10 | Not a theme in its sources |
| Plan and Act | 9 of 10 | Not a theme in its sources |
| Model Choice | Not a theme in its sources | 20 of 25 |
| Tab Completion | Not a theme in its sources | 10 of 13 |
| Agent Execution | Not a theme in its sources | 9 of 12 |
| Codebase Understanding | Not a theme in its sources | 9 of 15 |
| Cloud Agents | Not a theme in its sources | 8 of 9 |
| Speed | Not a theme in its sources | 8 of 10 |
| Value for Money | Not a theme in its sources | 7 of 13 |
Each count is the sources that praise a theme, or raise it as a concern, out of those that discuss it. A row pairs the two products when both carry a theme under the same or an equivalent name.
A count ending in "so far" has under 5 sources from 3 authors among all practitioners. "Not a theme in its sources" means GILD found no theme of that name in that product's sources.
What practitioners raise as concerns
Among all practitioners, Cursor alone has six concern themes that reach 5 sources from 3 authors. Usage / Cost and Inconsistent Quality lead, at 25 of 35 and 14 of 15. Cline alone has five concern themes that reach 5 sources from 3 authors. Token Spend on Your Own Key and Reliability and Update Regressions lead, at 17 of 29 and 12 of 15.
| Raised as a concern | Cline | Cursor |
|---|---|---|
| Token Spend on Your Own Key | 17 of 29 | Not a theme in its sources |
| Reliability and Update Regressions | 12 of 15 | Not a theme in its sources |
| Results Depend on the Model | 10 of 10 | Not a theme in its sources |
| Approvals and Safety | 9 of 9 | Not a theme in its sources |
| Context Management | 6 of 8 | Not a theme in its sources |
| Usage / Cost | Not a theme in its sources | 25 of 35 |
| Inconsistent Quality | Not a theme in its sources | 14 of 15 |
| Requires Strong Review | Not a theme in its sources | 14 of 19 |
| Reliability & Performance | Not a theme in its sources | 12 of 12 |
| Needs Close Steering | Not a theme in its sources | 10 of 12 |
| Editor Lock-in | Not a theme in its sources | 7 of 11 |
19 sources
- Cline pricing
- Cline docs: Installing Cline
- Cline docs: Authorization and bring your own key
- ClinePass
- Cline docs: Auto Approve & YOLO mode
- Cline docs: Plan & Act mode
- Cline docs: Rules
- Cline Enterprise
- Cline license (Apache 2.0)
- Cursor pricing
- Cursor forum: Introducing The X Subscription, staff announcement (Oct 12, 2026)
- Cursor docs: Models & pricing
- Cursor docs: Teams pricing
- Cursor docs: Agent security
- Cursor docs: Rules
- Cursor docs: Privacy & data governance
- Cursor docs: VS Code migration
- Cursor docs: Plan Mode
- Cursor help: API keys