Continue Dev vs Cursor vs Claude Code

Detailed comparison across 10 dimensions

Winner: Cursor

Cursor clearly comes out ahead of Continue on Staquest's weighted six-dimension score. Cursor has a free tier; Continue does not. Paid plans start at $20/mo for Continue and $20/mo for Cursor.

Quick Overview

Overview	ContinueOpen-source AI code assistant for any IDE and LLM.	CursorAI-first code editor	Claude CodeAnthropic's terminal AI coding agent for full projects.
Type	ai tool	ai tool	ai tool
Company	Continue	-	Anthropic
Free Tier
Has API
Open Source
Learning Curve	-	easy	-
Integration	-	low	-
Trending	Stable	Hot	Stable
GitHub Stars	-	-	-
Industries	DevelopmentAI & Machine Learning	Development	DevelopmentAI & Machine Learning
Categories	ai-codingdeveloper-tools	developer-tools	ai-codingai-agents
Website	Visit	Visit	Visit

Dimension Scores

Winners by Dimension

Overall Winner

Cursor

Continue Dev: 4.8Cursor: 6.3Claude Code: 5.5(+8.8 pts)

Pricing Value

Tie15% weight

Continue Dev

9.0

Cursor

9.0

Claude Code

9.0

Features

Tie15% weight

Continue Dev

3.0

Cursor

3.0

Claude Code

3.0

Free Tier

Cursor10% weight

Continue Dev

2.0

Cursor

7.5

Claude Code

2.0

Ease of Use

Cursor10% weight

Continue Dev

5.0

Cursor

10.0

Claude Code

5.0

Scalability

Tie10% weight

Continue Dev

9.4

Cursor

10.0

Claude Code

10.0

Integrations

Claude Code10% weight

Continue Dev

4.0

Cursor

6.0

Claude Code

8.0

API Quality

Claude Code10% weight

Continue Dev

2.0

Cursor

2.0

Claude Code

6.0

Momentum

Cursor10% weight

Continue Dev

3.0

Cursor

7.0

Claude Code

3.0

Community

Cursor5% weight

Continue Dev

3.0

Cursor

3.8

Claude Code

3.1

Open Source

Continue Dev5% weight

Continue Dev

7.0

Cursor

2.0

Claude Code

2.0

Pricing Comparison

Continue

Starter

View pricing

usage based

Try agents and get started
$3 / million tokens (Input and output, pay as you go)
Create and run AI agents
Connect integrations like Slack, Sentry, and Snyk
Buy credits for frontier models

Team

~$20/mo

View pricing

per seat

Includes $10 in credits per seat
Everything in Starter
Manage and share private agents across your team
Control which agents your team can use
Gmail/GitHub SSO login

Company

Contact sales

View pricing

custom

Everything in Starter & Team
Custom SSO with SAML or OIDC
Bring your own API keys (BYOK)
Commitment, invoicing, and SLA

Cursor

Ultra

~$200/mo

View pricing

flat

20x usage on all OpenAI, Claude, Gemini models
Priority access to new features

Teams

~$40/mo

View pricing

per user

Shared chats, commands, and rules
Centralized team billing
Usage analytics and reporting
Org-wide privacy mode controls
Role-based access control
SAML/OIDC SSO

Hobby

Free

View pricing

freemium

No credit card required
Limited Agent requests
Limited Tab completions

Pro

~$20/mo

View pricing

flat

Extended limits on Agent
Access to frontier models
MCPs, skills, and hooks
Cloud agents

Pro+

~$60/mo

View pricing

flat

3x usage on all OpenAI, Claude, Gemini models

Enterprise

Contact sales

View pricing

custom

Pooled usage
Invoice/PO billing
SCIM seat management
AI code tracking API and audit logs
Granular admin and model controls
Priority support and account management

Claude Code

Claude Max (20x)

~$200/mo

flat

Claude web interface access
Claude Desktop access
Claude Code access
20x usage capacity of Pro plan

Claude Pro

~$20/mo

flat

Claude web interface access
Claude Desktop access
Claude Code access
5x capacity of free tier

Claude Max (5x)

~$100/mo

flat

Claude web interface access
Claude Desktop access
Claude Code access
5x usage capacity of Pro plan

Team Plan (Standard Seat)

~$25/mo

per seat

Claude web interface access
Claude Desktop access

Team Plan (Premium Seat)

~$100/mo

per seat

Claude web interface access
Claude Desktop access
Claude Code access

Enterprise

Contact sales

custom

Higher usage limits
Advanced security
Administrative controls

Pay-As-You-Go (API)–

usage based

Claude Code access via API key

Feature Comparison

Feature	continue-dev	cursor	claude-code
$3 / Million Tokens (Input And Output, Pay As You Go)
20X Usage On All Openai, Claude, Gemini Models
20X Usage Capacity Of Pro Plan
Bring Your Own Api Keys (Byok)
3X Usage On All Openai, Claude, Gemini Models
5X Capacity Of Free Tier
Buy Credits For Frontier Models
Access To Frontier Models
5X Usage Capacity Of Pro Plan
Commitment, Invoicing, And Sla
Ai Code Tracking Api And Audit Logs
Administrative Controls
Connect Integrations Like Slack, Sentry, And Snyk
Centralized Team Billing
Advanced Security
Control Which Agents Your Team Can Use
Cloud Agents
Claude Code Access
Create And Run Ai Agents
Extended Limits On Agent
Claude Code Access Via Api Key
Custom Sso With Saml Or Oidc
Granular Admin And Model Controls
Claude Desktop Access
Everything In Starter
Invoice/Po Billing
Claude Web Interface Access
Everything In Starter & Team
Limited Agent Requests
Higher Usage Limits

Showing 30 of 30 features

Dashes mean the feature isn't listed in our data. The tool may still support it.

Frequently asked questions

Is Continue or Cursor better?

On Staquest's weighted six-dimension scoring, Cursor comes out ahead overall, though Continue can be the better fit depending on your priorities — see the dimension-by-dimension breakdown above.

Which is cheaper, Continue or Cursor?

Continue's paid plans start at $20/mo and Cursor's start at $20/mo, so Continue is the lower entry price. Check the pricing comparison for higher tiers and per-seat costs.

Does Continue or Cursor have a free tier?

Cursor offers a free tier; Continue does not currently list one.

What are the main differences between Continue and Cursor?

Continue is open source. The feature comparison and dimension scores above cover the full breakdown.

View Continue Dev View Cursor View Claude Code