Cursor or Claude Code?

I really like using cursor, it solves most of the repetitive and simple problems

I am using Claude Code terminal for coding. Usually run even up to 6-9 terminal windows across 2-3 different projects + github integration where it does final Code Reviews. It is a powerhouse!

I added cursor plan on top recently as I really lake the browser feature where I can pinpoint exact UI issues I am having (found this harder to do in Claude) and tell it how to fix it. Definitely worth the $20 plan for that alone.

But for work Opus 4.5 on MAX plan. Not even testing other things as I have fineduned my workflows and rules/skills around it so much it just works insanely well.

Different tools for different vibes honestly. Claude Code when I want to explore a quick idea or refactor something small. Cursor when I need full project context - it handles multi-file changes way better.

Biggest pain with both: they'll happily add dependencies without checking if they're maintained or have known CVEs.

neither for me — VS Code with Claude (through GitHub Copilot) + Codex. never touched Cursor. shipped 4 SaaS products in 25 days with zero coding background — was literally pouring concrete before this. the IDE matters way less than people think. what actually matters is knowing what you want to build and being clear when you talk to the AI. actually launching one of those products on PH today — VibeShips, a toolkit for vibe coders to ship and validate faster. would love thoughts from this crew

IMO the whole debate is wrong. the answer isn't Cursor OR Claude Code - it's that the IDE doesn't matter, the model and how you talk to it does.

i run Claude Code through OpenClaw (an open-source AI agent framework) and it controls my entire workflow over WhatsApp. no IDE at all. it reads files, writes code, runs tests, manages git, browses the web - all through shell commands. FWIW the output quality is identical whether Claude runs in Cursor or a terminal because the model is the same. the difference people are noticing is that Claude Code's system prompt and tool-use patterns are better than what Cursor wraps around the same model.

the "I need to see diffs in a UI" crowd is telling on themselves tbh. if you understand the codebase well enough, you don't need a visual diff to know whether the change is right. and if you DON'T understand it well enough - the diff view isn't saving you anyway, it's just making you feel safer while you approve changes you can't actually evaluate

I use Claude Code daily as a non-engineer. The biggest difference is autonomy. Cursor helps you write code inside an IDE. Claude Code runs as an independent agent that reads your project, makes decisions, and executes multi-file changes without hand-holding. For someone who cant code, Claude Code is the only option that actually works. Built 440+ tools and shipped a game with it. The tradeoff is cost ($200/mo) and the learning curve of trusting an agent to work autonomously.

I've been using Claude Code for the last few months on a Next.js + Supabase project and switched from Cursor about halfway through. The difference for me came down to how they handle large codebases. Cursor is great when you're working in a single file or a small scope. Claude Code is better when the task touches 10+ files and you need the agent to understand how things connect across the project.

The trade-off is that Claude Code is terminal-based, so you lose the visual IDE experience. If you rely heavily on visual diffing, inline suggestions, or hover documentation, Cursor is more comfortable. Claude Code makes up for it by being better at multi-step tasks where you describe what you want and let it figure out the implementation across files.

I'd say Cursor for editing speed, Claude Code for architectural changes. I haven't found a reason to go back for the kind of work I do, but I can see why people who prefer a visual workflow would stick with Cursor.

I use both, and honestly the answer depends on what you're building.

For my native macOS app (Swift/SwiftUI), Claude Code has been a game-changer. The terminal-based workflow fits perfectly when I'm already jumping between Xcode and the command line. It understands project structure really well — I can describe a feature and it'll navigate the codebase, find the right files, and make coherent changes across multiple files without me pointing it to each one.

Cursor is great when I'm doing web stuff or want more visual control over edits. The inline diff view is genuinely helpful when you want to cherry-pick specific changes.

My honest take after using both for months: Claude Code for deep, multi-file tasks where you trust it to explore and act autonomously. Cursor for smaller, more surgical edits where you want to stay in the driver's seat. I ended up keeping both — different tools for different moods, honestly.

Claude Code is usually better when I want a stronger first draft or I am doing a bigger refactor from the terminal. Cursor is still better for staying oriented inside a repo, reviewing diffs, and making lots of smaller edits without feeling blind.

The real gotcha is cost visibility. Claude Code feels amazing right up until you stop knowing what a long session is actually costing you. Same with Cursor once you stack retries, bigger context windows, and background experimentation.

That problem got annoying enough that I built TokenBar for myself. It is a tiny macOS menu bar app that shows live AI token usage and spend while you work, so you can actually see when a session is getting expensive instead of finding out later.

My honest take:

- Cursor if you want IDE-native flow and tighter control

- Claude Code if you want stronger one-shot output and do not mind terminal-heavy workflows

- Some kind of live usage tracking if you use either one seriously, because invisible AI costs mess with your judgment fast

If anyone else here is using Claude Code heavily, I am curious what surprised you more: the quality jump or the bill.

I keep bouncing between both.

Cursor feels better when I want IDE-native flow, easy diff review, and less context switching. Claude Code feels better when I want a stronger agent that can chew through a task in one shot.

The part that surprised me was not quality, it was cost visibility. Once you start using both heavily, it gets weirdly hard to tell which workflow is actually cheaper because the usage is split across apps, terminals, and tabs.

I ended up building a tiny macOS menu bar app called TokenBar because I wanted a live token counter while coding. Not an end of month invoice surprise, just a constant read on what I am burning in real time.

My current take:

- Cursor for iterative IDE work

- Claude Code for bigger agent-style jumps

- Some kind of live usage visibility if you care about margins at all

Curious if anyone else here is actively tracking token usage while comparing them, or just going by feel.