Cursor
by Anysphere
A fork of VS Code rebuilt around AI. Best agent mode in the category. Uses Claude, GPT, and Cursor's own small model. Free tier generous.
Free / $20+
IDE pair programmer vs full-stack web builder.
Cursor vs Bolt
Our pick
It depends on the job
Both are free to start, so pick by what you need most:
- Cursor: Best-in-class agent mode · Tab completion
- Bolt: Full-stack generation · In-browser Node.js runtime
VS
Bolt
by StackBlitz
Bolt.new by StackBlitz generates complete web apps (React, Next.js, Vue, Astro) with working code, in-browser runtime, and one-click Netlify deploy. The fastest path from idea to deployed app.
Free / $20+
Head-to-head
| Feature | Cursor | Bolt |
|---|---|---|
| Vendor | Anysphere | StackBlitz |
| Category | Coding Assistants | Coding Assistants |
| Free tier | Yes | Yes |
| Starting price | Free / $20/mo | Free / $20/mo |
| Strengths | best-in-class agent mode, tab completion, codebase awareness | full-stack generation, in-browser Node.js runtime, one-click deploy |
| Weaknesses | expensive for heavy users, separate from your main editor | token limits on free tier, larger apps hit context limits |