Claude Code vs Cursor: how they differ and when to use each

What is the difference between Claude Code and Cursor?

Claude Code is an AI agent you talk to; Cursor is a code editor with AI built in. You start Claude Code in your project with the claude command, describe a task, and it reads files, edits code and runs commands until the task is done. Cursor looks and works like VS Code, and adds autocomplete, inline edits and an agent panel next to your code.

So the real question is how you like to work. If you want to delegate whole tasks and review the result, Claude Code fits. If you want AI help while you write code line by line in an editor, Cursor fits. Many developers use both, and the two now share more configuration than you might expect.

How Claude Code works

Claude Code is "an agentic coding tool that reads your codebase, edits files, runs commands, and integrates with your development tools." It started as a terminal program and that is still its full-featured home, but the same engine now runs in a VS Code extension, a JetBrains plugin, a desktop app and in the browser at claude.ai/code.

A typical session looks like this:

1. Open a terminal in your project and run claude.
2. Describe the task in plain language, such as "add rate limiting to the login route and write tests for it."
3. Claude Code explores the code and proposes edits. Depending on your permission mode, it asks before it changes files or runs commands, or, in auto mode (the starting mode for interactive sessions since v2.1.283), a classifier reviews those actions.
4. You review the diff, ask for changes, and commit.

Because it is a command line tool, it also scripts well. claude -p "query" runs one task and exits, so you can pipe logs into it or run it in CI.

# one-off question, no interactive session
claude -p "explain what src/auth/session.ts does"

# pipe output into it
git diff main --name-only | claude -p "review these changed files for security issues"

Claude Code uses Anthropic's Claude models. It needs a paid Claude plan (Pro, Max, Team or Enterprise), a Claude Console account, or access through a cloud provider such as Amazon Bedrock. See the Claude Code setup guide for install steps.

How Cursor works

Cursor is an AI code editor. If you have used VS Code, it will feel familiar, and it can import your VS Code extensions, themes, settings and keybindings. On top of the editor it adds:

• Tab, which Cursor describes as its "AI-powered autocomplete." It predicts your next edit from recent changes, surrounding code and linter errors.
• Agent, a side panel that can "complete complex coding tasks independently, run terminal commands, and edit code." It also saves checkpoints so you can roll back what it changed.
• Model choice. Cursor offers its own models and, on Premium and higher plans, models from other providers, including Anthropic, OpenAI and Google.

Cursor also has a terminal tool. The Cursor CLI installs a command called agent that runs Cursor's agent outside the editor, with a -p print mode for scripts and CI.

Side by side

Rules, skills and context

This is where the two tools overlap the most, and where a little setup pays off.

Project instructions. Claude Code reads a CLAUDE.md file at the start of every session. Run /init and it writes a first draft for you (see the CLAUDE.md guide). Cursor uses project rules: .mdc files in .cursor/rules/ with frontmatter that decides when each rule applies. The Cursor rules guide covers the format.

The shared file: AGENTS.md. Both tools read AGENTS.md, the open format many coding agents support. Cursor reads it at the project root and in subdirectories. Claude Code reads AGENTS.md as your project instructions when you have no CLAUDE.md in the working directory or above it. If you do keep a CLAUDE.md, put @AGENTS.md at the top so Claude Code pulls in the shared file:

@AGENTS.md

## Claude Code only
- Run the test suite with npm test before saying a task is done.

Skills. Both tools support Agent Skills: folders with a SKILL.md file that the agent loads when a task matches the description. Cursor's skills docs say it "also loads skills from Claude and Codex directories," including .claude/skills/. So a skill you write for Claude Code in .claude/skills/ is picked up by Cursor too.

When should you use each one?

Claude Code tends to fit when:

• You want to hand off a full task, like a refactor across many files, and check in on the result.
• You live in the terminal or work over SSH.
• You want to script the agent in CI or chain it with other command line tools.
• You want a tool that runs the same way in your terminal, your IDE and the browser.

Cursor tends to fit when:

• You write most of the code yourself and want strong autocomplete and quick inline edits.
• You like reviewing changes visually in an editor as they happen.
• You want to switch between models from different providers.
• Your team already standardizes on a VS Code style editor.

Neither list is a verdict. Both tools are agents now, and both keep adding features from the other side, so try your own real tasks in each.

Can you use Claude Code and Cursor together?

Yes. You don't have to choose. A common setup:

1. Use Cursor as your editor and run claude in its built-in terminal, or install the Claude Code extension, which Anthropic lists for both VS Code and Cursor.
2. Keep shared project instructions in AGENTS.md. Cursor reads it directly. Claude Code reads it when there is no CLAUDE.md, or through an @AGENTS.md import when there is.
3. Keep reusable workflows as skills in .claude/skills/. Claude Code uses them, and Cursor loads them from the same folder.
4. Keep Cursor-only behavior, like rules that attach to certain file patterns, in .cursor/rules/.

That leaves one place for each kind of instruction and no copy-pasting between tools.

Keep your prompts and skills portable

The instructions you build up, review checklists, commit message styles, house conventions, are worth more than any one tool. Keep them somewhere you own. Kipt stores your prompts and skills as Markdown in your own private GitHub repo, and every skill installs into Claude Code or Codex with npx skills add. If you have a prompt you keep pasting into either tool, the free SKILL.md generator turns it into a skill folder you can drop into .claude/skills/.