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Alex Spinov
Alex Spinov

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Cursor AI Has a Free AI Code Editor — Here's Why Developers Are Leaving VS Code

#ai #editor #productivity #webdev

VS Code with Copilot is good. Cursor is VS Code rebuilt from the ground up for AI-first development.

What is Cursor?

Cursor is a fork of VS Code with AI deeply integrated into every workflow. It understands your entire codebase, not just the current file.

Key Features

1. Cmd+K — Edit with AI

Select code, press Cmd+K, describe what you want:

"Add error handling and retry logic"
"Convert this to async/await"
"Make this function generic"
"Add TypeScript types"
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Cursor rewrites the selected code inline.

2. Cmd+L — Chat with Codebase Context

Unlike Copilot Chat, Cursor's chat knows your entire project:

"How does authentication work in this project?"
"What database queries touch the users table?"
"Find all places where we handle payment errors"
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3. Tab — Predictive Edits

Cursor predicts your NEXT edit based on what you just did. Changed a function signature? Tab applies the same change to all call sites.

4. @ References

In chat, reference specific context:

  • @file — reference a specific file
  • @folder — reference entire directory
  • @codebase — search across the project
  • @web — search the internet
  • @docs — reference documentation

5. Multi-File Editing

Ask Cursor to make changes across multiple files at once:

"Rename the User interface to Account across the entire project"
"Add logging to all API route handlers"
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Free Tier

  • 2,000 completions/month
  • 50 slow premium requests/month
  • All VS Code extensions work
  • All VS Code settings/keybindings work

Cursor vs VS Code + Copilot

Feature Cursor VS Code + Copilot
Inline Edit Cmd+K (multi-line) Limited
Codebase Awareness Full project Current file
Multi-file Edit Yes No
Predictive Edits Yes (Tab) Line completions
@ References Files, folders, web Limited
Extensions All VS Code All VS Code
Settings Import from VS Code Native

Migrating from VS Code

  1. Download Cursor
  2. It imports all your VS Code settings, extensions, and keybindings automatically
  3. Start coding — everything works the same, plus AI features

Need AI-powered data extraction? Check out my Apify actors — intelligent web scraping that adapts to site changes. For custom solutions, email spinov001@gmail.com.

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