AI coding assistants · Comparison
Claude Code vs Cursor vs JetBrains AI
3 products compared side by side: what you pay for with each one first, then the five access facts, entry prices, recorded plan limits and the bottom line of each review. The evidence note under the table says how each product was checked.
Side by side
| Metric | Claude Code | Cursor | JetBrains AI |
|---|---|---|---|
| What you're paying for | Saves engineering timeA coding agent for the terminal, IDEs and the web, sold with Claude chat on one seat, with no training and IP indemnity on Team. | Saves engineering timeAn editor built around coding agents, with zero data retention with model providers and privacy mode enforced for the team on Teams. | Worth the priceAI completion, chat and agents inside JetBrains IDEs, with usage at API rates and no surcharge, and free governance for organizations. |
| Overall score | 5.6 | 6.4Best | 5.3 |
| Free option | Paid only | Free plan | Free plan |
| Card to start | –Not measured | –Not measured | Card required |
| Getting access | Self-serve | Self-serve | Self-serve |
| Starter priceCheapest paid plan | $20/mo | $8/mo | $10/mo |
| Pricing model | Per seat | Seat + usage | Seat + usage |
| Pricing page | Public prices | Public prices | Public prices |
| Billing unit | Per seat per month; extra usage as usage credits at API rates | Per seat per month; third-party models from prepaid credit at API list price | AI credits ($1 of use each); individual plans per month; governance per seat |
| Free option | None with Claude Code; the Free plan excludes it | Free plan with limited Agent and Chat on Cursor models; Tab on Free not stated | AI Free with a JetBrains IDE licence; 30-day AI Pro trial, card needed |
| Reference scenario (5 developers) | $100/mo on Team Standard seats ($20 × 5, annual), computed | $150/mo on Teams Premium seats ($30 × 5, monthly), computed | Not priced: no organization plan includes usage (credits bought separately) |
| Included usage (organization plan) | 1.25x Pro per session per seat, shared with chat; no absolute size stated | Premium weekly pool per seat (4x Plus); no absolute size stated | None; pooled prepaid credits, 20 per seat with All Products Pack |
| Usage beyond the plan | Usage credits at API rates, off until turned on; spend limits | Prepaid credit at per-token rates, plus $0.25 per million tokens on Teams | Prepaid credits at API rates, no surcharge; per-user limits |
| Models | Anthropic only (Fable, Opus, Sonnet, Haiku) | Cursor (Grok, Composer), Anthropic, OpenAI and Google models | Anthropic, OpenAI and Google models; JetBrains Mellum for completion |
| Training on your code | Not on Team and Enterprise by default; Free, Pro and Max opt-out | Not without explicit agreement (terms); Privacy Mode enforced on Teams | Not without your agreement (terms), on every tier |
| Data retention | 30 days on Team; zero data retention on qualified Enterprise accounts | Zero data retention with providers in Privacy Mode, with exceptions | Not persisted unless detailed data collection is on; provider retention not stated |
| IP indemnity | Commercial plans (Team, Enterprise, API), no liability cap | In the MSA; plans covered not stated | Not offered |
| SSO / SCIM / audit log | SAML SSO on Team; SCIM and audit logs on Enterprise | SAML SSO on Teams; SCIM and audit log on Enterprise | SSO listed on Basic; SAML in IDE Services; SCIM coming soon; console audit page |
| SOC 2 / ISO 27001 | SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001 and ISO 42001 | SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001 and ISO 42001 | SOC 2 Type II covers JetBrains AI; ISO 27001 not listed |
| Editors and surfaces | Terminal, VS Code, JetBrains, desktop, web, iOS and Android, Slack, CI | Cursor app, CLI, web, iOS; JetBrains and Xcode integrations on paid plans | JetBrains IDEs, Android Studio, JetBrains Air app and web |
| Bottom line | From its public pages, Claude Code gives a team an agent for the terminal, IDE and web, plus Claude chat, on a $20 annual seat with no-training terms and uncapped IP indemnity. Usage is stated only as multiples, and models are Anthropic-only. | From its public pages, Cursor gives a team an agent-first editor with privacy mode enforced and SSO for $30 a seat. Included usage is stated only as multiples, several pages disagree, and SCIM and the audit log need Enterprise. | From its public pages, JetBrains AI suits teams in JetBrains IDEs that want unlimited completion and usage at API rates with per-user limits. There is no IP indemnity, no seat with usage included, and several governance features are still coming. |
Evidence: Claude Code: facts checked 2026-10-16 from its public sign-up and pricing pages, no completed hands-on run; Cursor: facts checked 2026-10-16 from its public sign-up and pricing pages, no completed hands-on run; JetBrains AI: facts checked 2026-10-16 from its public sign-up and pricing pages, no completed hands-on run. Prices in USD as listed, excluding tax. "–" means not recorded.
When to pick each
In the words of each review, with the date its facts were checked.
From our Claude Code review
Checked Oct 16, 2026- Pick Claude Code when
- You want the agent in your own terminal and IDE, with Claude chat on the same seat.
- Pick Cursor when
- You want an AI-first editor with Tab, several model providers and zero data retention with providers on Teams.
From our Cursor review
Checked Oct 16, 2026- Pick Cursor when
- You want Tab completions in the editor and models from several providers on one seat.
- Pick Claude Code when
- You want a terminal agent with Claude chat on the same seat at $20 on annual terms, and IP indemnity in the standard terms.
From our JetBrains AI review
Checked Oct 16, 2026- Pick JetBrains AI when
- You want to stay in JetBrains IDEs with unlimited completion and your own keys.
- Pick Cursor when
- You want an AI-first editor with privacy mode enforced for the team and a weekly usage pool per seat.
From our JetBrains AI review
Checked Oct 16, 2026- Pick JetBrains AI when
- You want models from Anthropic, OpenAI and Google in the IDE with unlimited completion.
- Pick Claude Code when
- You want a terminal agent and Claude chat on one seat with usage included and IP indemnity.
Entry price
Baseline: each product's cheapest paid plan, per month. Included usage differs, so read the line under each price.
- Claude CodePro$20/mo$17 a month billed annually ($200 up front); individuals
- Claude Code and Claude chat in one usage pool
- At least 5x Free usage per session
- Opus, Sonnet and Haiku; Fable through usage credits
- CursorLowest pricePlus$8/mo$80 a year billed annually; individuals only
- Base weekly pool for Cursor models
- Fixed settings: Fast off, medium effort
- No third-party models, cloud agents or own API keys
- JetBrains AIAI Pro$10/mo$100 a year billed yearly; 30-day trial, card needed
- 10 AI credits every 30 days
- Junie, Claude Agent, Codex and Gemini agents
- Top-up credits at API rates
Prices as listed on each pricing page, in USD per month, excluding tax. Observed: Claude Code 2026-10-16, Cursor 2026-10-16, JetBrains AI 2026-10-16.
Which one fits
- If you need to start today without a sales call
- CursorSelf-serve sign-up; the highest score of the 3 self-serve products here (6.4/10).
- Lowest starter price
- Cursor$8/mo for the Plus (individual) plan.
- Highest overall score
- Cursor6.4/10 (Good). The review shows the score breakdown and the run behind it.
Picked by fixed rules from the table above, not by hand. How we score
Full reviews
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