Is Cursor free? A Free plan exists, but usage is limited

Is Cursor free? Partly. As of October 27, 2026, Cursor's pricing page lists a Free plan at $0 a month that includes Agent, Chat and Tab completions with Cursor's own models, but only "limited" usage, and no third-party models such as Claude or GPT. Paid plans start at $8 a month.

Cursor does not publish a number for the free allowance. Its docs say only that Free usage is limited, so you find the ceiling by hitting it.

What the Free plan gets you

According to Cursor's help center, the Free plan gives access to core features with limited usage. That means Agent, Chat and Tab completions running on Cursor's models, which the docs name as Grok and Composer. Free is part of The X Subscription, the plan family Cursor moved to, so it also covers standard X features.

What Free does not include, as of October 27, 2026:

• Third-party models. The pricing docs list third-party models as not available on Free.
• Cloud Agents, Bugbot and Origin. These are listed as excluded on the legacy Hobby plan, which Cursor says works the same way for Cursor features.
• A stated free trial. Neither the pricing page nor the docs mention one.

What Cursor costs on each plan

Prices below are from cursor.com/pricing and the pricing docs, checked on October 27, 2026. They exclude tax.

Third-party models on Premium and above are billed at API list price from prepaid credit, outside the plan's pool. Our breakdown of the weekly pool covers how that changed from the old monthly plans.

How the usage limit works

Cursor's docs describe a weekly pool of usage for Cursor models, shared across the editor Agent, the CLI, Cloud Agents and the Grok apps. The pool covers Grok 4.7, Grok 4.6, Grok 4.5 and Composer 2.5, and different models draw from it at different rates. It refreshes weekly, and unused usage does not roll over.

The usage limits page writes the pool details for paid plans and does not spell out the Free allowance. When you reach your limit, you get a notice in the editor and three options: wait for the weekly reset, keep working from prepaid credit, or upgrade. Cursor says requests are never downgraded in quality or speed.

To see how much is left, check editor settings, or the Usage page at grok.com/dashboard. Our guide to checking Cursor token usage walks through it.

Is there a student discount or free trial?

Not for new sign-ups, as of October 27, 2026. Cursor's student discount page says new sign-ups for the legacy student discount stopped on June 25, 2026. People who already redeemed it keep their rate until the plan expires, then move to the regular price, which is $20 a month on legacy Pro.

Cursor says undergraduates can get credits and discounts at on-campus and online events starting this fall. Master's students, PhD candidates, researchers and educators can request credits through a form on that page. The page lists no amounts.

What about Hobby, Pro and Pro+?

These are the legacy plans. Hobby is free, Pro is $20 a month and Pro+ is $60 a month, per the legacy plans docs. Those docs say existing customers keep them as they are and "new customers start on The X Subscription". They do not say whether the legacy plans can still be bought, so check your account before counting on one.

What to check before you rely on it

Free is enough to try Cursor's editor and its own models. If your work depends on Claude or GPT inside Cursor, the cheapest route is Premium at $30 a month plus prepaid credit for those models. Cursor can change limits and prices at any time, so confirm on the pricing page before you decide.