05/06/2025

Cursor IDE: A Developer's Double-Edged Sword

Alright, let’s talk about Cursor IDE. If you’re a developer, you’ve probably heard of it. My journey with it? Well, it’s been a bit of a rollercoaster, a classic love-hate story.

The Early Days: VS Code & Copilot

I started my AI-assisted coding journey with Visual Studio Code and GitHub Copilot. My school hooked me up with a free license through their GitHub Pro program, which was sweet. Copilot was neat, definitely a step up from just having ChatGPT open in another window, but let’s be honest, it still felt a bit… basic. It was helpful, but not a game-changer.

Then I heard about Cursor. My first thought? “This sounds like malware.” Seriously, it seemed too good to be true. So, like any cautious (or paranoid) dev, I downloaded it and immediately threw it at VirusTotal. And what do you know? It flagged it. Alarm bells ringing, I scrubbed it from my PC.

Let’s Try Again

Despite the initial scare, the idea of Cursor stuck with me. When a few colleagues started raving about it, I figured, “What the hell, let’s give it another shot.” Downloaded it again, ran it through VirusTotal this time, all clear. Weird, right?

I jumped in, started tinkering, and within twenty minutes, I was hooked. The difference was night and day. I ditched VS Code for Cursor faster than you can say “syntax error.” It just clicked.

The Inevitable Twist: The Paywall

A few blissful weeks of hyper-productivity went by, and then BAM! I hit the paywall. Suddenly, this amazing tool that had supercharged my workflow was holding its best features hostage. I was stuck: cough up around 20 bucks a month or go back to feeling like I was coding with one hand tied behind my back. That’s a 60% efficiency hit, by my rough estimate.

So, Here We Are…

Fast forward to today. It’s my second month as a paying Cursor user. New AI-powered IDEs are popping up like mushrooms after a rainstorm. Windsurf, Aider, whatever else but I’m still with Cursor. Even over the familiar VS Code + Copilot combo.

Why? Honestly, I couldn’t give you a single, crystal-clear reason. It’s complicated.

The Elephant in the Room: The Cursor People

Here’s the kicker: I don’t particularly like the folks behind Cursor. Call me cynical, but they give off major “Mr. Krabs scrounging for pennies” vibes. It feels like they’re trying to squeeze every last cent out of their users. My experiences?

Blocking competing extensions: They block other AI assistants like GitHub Copilot. I mean, come on, Cursor is essentially a VS Code wrapper! Let us use our tools.
Restricting custom models: Want to use your own models? Good luck. I pulled Gemma3 from Ollama, and getting it to play nice with Cursor was a mission involving at least four workarounds. Why make it so difficult?
Questionable paywalls: They’ve got these tiered features that feel like a blatant cash grab. Take their Claude models: Claude 3.7-Sonnet and Claude 3.7-Sonnet Max. What they dont tell you? they’re identical, except one lets you send a larger context (200k params) but charges you $0.05 per request AND per tool call. Imagine you’re debugging a complex project or scaffolding a new one. Cursor makes 20 file edits (totally realistic). Whoops, there goes a dollar. Good luck debugging your code if every “what’s wrong?” costs you a buck.

The Silver Lining: Gemini Pro

Despite all that, there’s one thing that keeps me tethered: gemini-2.5-pro-exp-03-25. This model just works. It thinks, it’s fast, and it consistently surprises me with insights and approaches I wouldn’t have considered. It’s a genuine productivity multiplier.

The Verdict? It’s Complicated.

So, yeah. I like Cursor, the tool. I’m not a fan of the company’s practices. It’s a constant internal debate. I’ve got my eye on alternatives like VOID IDE, but for now, Cursor, with all its flaws, is where I’m at. I can understand why the devs are doing what they are doing. They are trying to make a living.

Don't hate the player, hate the game.

I’m not sure if I’ll stay with Cursor in the long run. I’m still exploring other options. But for now, it’s a good fit. Oh, and Trae? Looks cool, but the TikTok data collection concerns and its limitations are a little bit too much for me right now.

At the end of the day, if it works for you, it works. And for now, Cursor (mostly) works for me.