Open-source alternatives to Cursor

Zed is a high-performance editor combining native editing, Git, debugging, language-server support, collaboration, remote development, and multiple AI providers.

Pricing: Open-source editor; hosted AI usage may be paid and provider costs may apply.

• Complete editor replacement
• Native performance and collaboration
• Multiple AI providers
• Smaller extension ecosystem than VS Code
• Different workflow from VS Code-based Cursor

Neovim is an Apache-2.0 terminal editor with built-in LSP support, Tree-sitter, and a broad plugin ecosystem for AI assistants, completion, agents, and local models.

Pricing: Free and open source; AI providers and plugins may have separate costs or terms.

• Fast and highly customizable
• Built-in LSP and Tree-sitter
• Works with many AI tools and local models
• AI requires plugins and configuration
• Steep learning curve
• No integrated visual AI workflow by default

Cline is an Apache-2.0 coding agent that can inspect codebases, edit files, execute commands, interact with browsers, use MCP tools, and connect to many providers.

Pricing: Open source; bring your own provider key and pay provider costs directly.

• Works inside VS Code
• Multiple providers and local models
• MCP, browser, terminal, and approval controls
• Not a standalone editor
• Large tasks can consume significant context

Aider is an Apache-2.0 terminal coding assistant that understands repositories, edits multiple files, runs tests, and tracks changes through Git while supporting many models.

Pricing: Open source; model-provider costs may apply.

• Lightweight and Git-aware
• Many model providers
• Works with existing editors and test workflows
• Not a complete editor replacement
• Less visual than Cursor
• More pair-programming oriented

Kilo is an MIT-licensed agentic engineering platform for VS Code, JetBrains, CLI, and automated workflows, with many model providers and specialized coding modes.

Pricing: Open source; hosted services and model-provider costs may be paid.

• MIT licensed
• IDE and CLI interfaces
• Multiple models, MCP, browser, and terminal control
• Not a standalone editor
• Large feature set can feel complex

Tabby is a self-hosted AI coding assistant with code completion, repository context, integrations, and support for running models on infrastructure you control. Enterprise functionality is separately licensed.

Pricing: Open-source core is self-hostable; Enterprise functionality may use separate licensing.

• Self-hosted and privacy-focused
• Repository context and IDE integrations
• No mandatory cloud provider
• Open core rather than fully open source
• Requires infrastructure and model hosting
• Less Cursor-like than a full editor

Paseo is an AGPL-3.0 self-hosted orchestrator for running and controlling agents such as Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, OpenCode, and Pi from desktop, mobile, web, or CLI.

Pricing: Open source and self-hostable; external agent and model subscriptions may still cost money.

• Multi-agent support
• Remote desktop, mobile, and web control
• Git workflows and automation
• Not an editor or coding model
• Depends on external agents
• More useful for orchestration than autocomplete

CodeEdit is an MIT-licensed native macOS editor written in Swift, designed as a lightweight and fast development environment. Its built-in AI stack is less mature than Cursor's.

Pricing: Free and open source under MIT.

• Native macOS application
• Lightweight and fast
• Familiar editor foundation
• macOS only
• AI functionality is less mature
• Smaller extension ecosystem

Forgecode is an Apache-2.0 terminal coding agent that uses specialized agents for research, planning, execution, and context management across large codebases.

Pricing: Open source; model-provider costs may apply.

• Terminal-first workflow
• Multi-agent architecture
• Large-codebase context handling and local models
• No graphical editor
• Requires comfort with terminal workflows

Jean is an Apache-2.0 development environment for running multiple AI coding agents in parallel, each isolated in its own Git worktree, with repository and remote workflow integrations.

Pricing: Free and open source; external agents and model providers may have separate costs.

• Parallel agent workflows
• Isolated Git worktrees
• Cross-repository and GitHub integrations
• Not a coding model or standalone editor
• More orchestration-focused than Cursor
• Overkill for simple autocomplete