Cursor Pro is no longer sold to new users. Between Cursor’s new plans and ChatGPT Plus at $20 a month, ChatGPT Plus is the better value for most people, with the Codex agent and GPT-6.1 Sol. Cursor Plus at $8 or Premium at $30 is better if you code in an editor all day.
How we compared them: This is a research comparison based on each company’s pricing pages, plan documentation and help articles, not a hands-on test, so our picks are “best fit” calls rather than benchmark results. On November 6, 2026, we checked Cursor’s pricing and legacy plans pages, and ChatGPT’s plan pages, Codex pricing documentation, Plus help article and data use article. Details of what The X Subscription includes outside Cursor come from dated independent reports, which we name. All prices are in US dollars and come from these checks unless another date is given. SmartWorkflowLab has no sponsorship or affiliate deal with Cursor, SpaceXSI or OpenAI.
The Big Change: Cursor Pro Is Now a Legacy Plan
On October 12, 2026, Cursor joined The X Subscription, a bundle of Grok, Grok Bot, Cursor and X Premium from SpaceXSI, the company formerly called SpaceXAI, according to eGamers. Since then, “new customers start on The X Subscription,” according to Cursor’s legacy plans page. The $20 Pro plan is no longer in Cursor’s lineup.
What that means for this comparison:
- If you already have Cursor Pro, your plan, price and features continue until you change or cancel. Pro keeps two usage pools, one for Cursor’s models and one for other models such as GPT and Claude, plus unlimited Tab completions, Bugbot code reviews and Cloud Agents.
- If you’re new to Cursor, you choose between Plus at $8 a month and Premium at $30. Cursor names Premium as the closest match to Pro, but says it isn’t identical.
- Cursor is no longer coding-only. Your Cursor plan is now an X Subscription plan, so it also covers Grok’s chat assistant and X Premium perks.
We cover what the change means for Cursor users in more depth in our Cursor alternatives guide.
Cursor Pro vs ChatGPT Plus at a Glance
| Feature | Cursor Plus | Cursor Premium | ChatGPT Plus |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | $8 a month ($80 a year) | $30 a month ($300 a year) | $20 a month |
| What it is | AI code editor in The X Subscription | AI code editor in The X Subscription | AI assistant with the Codex coding agent |
| Coding models in the price | Cursor models: Grok, Composer | Cursor models: Grok, Composer | GPT-6.1 Sol and GPT-6 Luna |
| GPT and Claude models | ✗ | ✓ at API list price, from prepaid credit | GPT models included; no Claude |
| Tab autocomplete in editor | ✓ | ✓ | Not listed |
| Coding agent | Agent in the editor | Agent, Auto mode and Cloud Agents | Codex on web, CLI, IDE extension and iOS |
| Non-coding tools | Grok chat, voice and images, X Premium perks | Adds Grok Bot, video generation and X Premium+ perks | ChatGPT chat, deep research, images, projects, scheduled tasks |
| Usage | Base weekly pool (1x), shared with Grok | 4x Plus | 15 to 160 GPT-6.1 Sol messages per 5 hours, estimated |
| Free plan | Cursor Free, limited usage | Cursor Free, limited usage | ChatGPT Free, with Codex for quick tasks |
Sources: Cursor’s pricing page, SmartScope’s X Subscription breakdown (updated October 28, 2026), the ChatGPT Plus plan page, Codex pricing documentation and OpenAI’s Plus help article. Cursor and OpenAI pages checked November 6, 2026.
Pricing Compared
Cursor’s plans after The X Subscription
According to Cursor’s pricing page:
| Plan | Monthly | Yearly | Included usage | What it adds in Cursor |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | $0 | Limited | Agent, Chat and Tab with Cursor models |
| Plus | $8 | $80 | Base (1x) | Cursor models at fixed settings: Fast off, medium effort, no Auto |
| Premium | $30 | $300 | 4x Plus | Auto, Cloud Agents and third-party models at API list price |
| Super | $100 | $1,000 | 15x Plus | Same features as Premium, more usage |
| Ultra | $200 | $2,000 | 50x Plus | Same features as Premium, more usage |
Cursor’s own models are Grok 4.7, Grok 4.6, Grok 4.5 and Composer 2.5, and their usage pool is shared across Cursor and Grok. Every paid individual plan includes X Premium benefits once you connect your X account, according to UsagePricing’s capture of the plans. Teams seats cost $30, $100 or $200 a month.
Check the price at checkout. Some new customers have been offered a promotional first-month discount that renews at the regular price, according to SmartScope, and the official pages don’t list promotion terms. The prices above are the regular list prices.
Existing subscribers on the legacy plans keep paying their old prices: Pro at $20, Pro+ at $60 and Ultra at $200 a month.
ChatGPT’s plans with Codex
ChatGPT Plus costs $20 a month, according to OpenAI’s help center. Every ChatGPT plan includes Codex, according to OpenAI’s Codex pricing page, and OpenAI’s Codex documentation lists these plans:
| Plan | Price | Codex use |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | Quick coding tasks |
| Go | $8 a month | Lightweight coding tasks with GPT-6 Luna |
| Plus | $20 a month | “A few focused coding sessions each week” |
| Pro | $100, $200 or $500 a month | Maximum Codex tasks, no five-hour limit |
| Business | $20 per user a month yearly, $25 monthly | Plus-level use per seat, for 2 or more users |
On Plus, OpenAI estimates 15 to 160 local GPT-6.1 Sol messages or 350 to 3,000 GPT-6 Luna messages every five hours. It calls these estimates, not fixed limits, and says cloud tasks use more of the allowance and weekly limits may also apply. You can buy credits for more usage.
The Real Cost for Common Setups
| Your setup | Monthly cost |
|---|---|
| Cursor Plus only, with Grok chat and X Premium perks | $8 |
| ChatGPT Plus only, with Codex and everyday ChatGPT | $20 |
| Cursor Plus and ChatGPT Plus together | $28 |
| Cursor Premium with no third-party model use | $30 |
| Cursor Premium with $20 of GPT or Claude use at API prices | $50 |
| Legacy Cursor Pro, if you already have it | $20 |
The combination of Cursor Plus and ChatGPT Plus is the interesting one. At $28 a month, it costs less than Cursor Premium before any API charges, and gives you Cursor’s editor and Tab autocomplete with Grok for everyday editing, plus Codex with GPT-6.1 Sol for bigger tasks. The trade-off is working in two tools: Cursor in your editor and Codex in its own app, the terminal or the web.
How They Work Differently
Cursor is an editor, now bundled with Grok. Cursor is an AI code editor built on VS Code, so you write code in it, and the AI works inside your files. Its Tab autocomplete suggests the next edit as you type, and its agent can change several files from a chat panel. Since The X Subscription, the same plan also gives you Grok’s chat, voice and image tools and X Premium perks, and Plus includes the Grok Build command-line tool, according to SmartScope.
ChatGPT Plus is an assistant with a coding agent. ChatGPT’s Codex agent works on tasks you hand it, in a desktop app, the command line, an editor extension, the web or on iOS, and its cloud tasks can run while you do something else. Plus also includes ChatGPT itself: chat, deep research, image creation, projects, scheduled tasks and custom GPTs.
Both tools support the Model Context Protocol (MCP), so you can connect them to the same outside tools and data sources.
In practice:
- “I code all day and want suggestions as I type.” Cursor. Tab autocomplete is the feature ChatGPT Plus doesn’t list.
- “I want to hand over a task, like fixing a bug, and review the result.” ChatGPT Plus with Codex, or Cursor Premium’s Cloud Agents.
- “I code a few hours a week and want a general assistant too.” Both now cover this. ChatGPT Plus gives you OpenAI’s models with deep research and projects for $20, while Cursor Plus gives you Grok chat, voice and images for $8.
- “I want Claude models.” Neither is ideal. Cursor Premium charges for Claude at API prices, and ChatGPT doesn’t offer Claude. A Claude Pro plan with Claude Code at $20 a month is the direct route; see our ChatGPT vs Claude comparison.
Models: Grok in Cursor, GPT in ChatGPT
This is the biggest practical difference after The X Subscription.
- Cursor Plus and Free run only Cursor’s own models: Grok 4.7, Grok 4.6, Grok 4.5 and Composer 2.5.
- Cursor Premium and above add third-party models, such as OpenAI’s GPT and Anthropic’s Claude, with “third-party models at API list price paid from prepaid credit,” according to Cursor’s pricing page. A heavy week with GPT models in Cursor can cost more than the plan itself.
- ChatGPT Plus includes OpenAI’s GPT-6.1 Sol and GPT-6 Luna for Codex within its usage estimates, with no per-call bill until you buy extra credits.
Which models code better? Neither company publishes a head-to-head comparison, and public coding benchmarks change every few weeks as new model versions ship. The reliable test is your own code: both Cursor and ChatGPT have free plans, so run the same small task, such as fixing a failing test, in each before you pay.
So if you specifically want OpenAI’s latest models for coding, ChatGPT Plus is the cheaper way to get them. If you’re happy with Grok and Composer, Cursor Plus at $8 is one of the cheapest paid AI editors.
Limits and Extra Usage
| Question | Cursor | ChatGPT Plus |
|---|---|---|
| How usage resets | One weekly pool, shared with Grok | Every five hours, and weekly limits may apply |
| What happens when you run out | Wait for the weekly reset, or move to a bigger plan | Wait for the reset, or buy ChatGPT credits |
| Third-party models | Premium and up, billed at API list price | Not offered; OpenAI models only |
| Exact numbers published | Multiples of Plus usage, not message counts | Estimated message ranges, not fixed limits |
Neither company publishes a fixed number of requests. Cursor describes plans as multiples of Plus usage, and OpenAI gives estimated ranges that vary with task size, so heavy users of either should expect to hit limits and plan for a top-up or an upgrade.
Teams: Cursor Teams vs ChatGPT Business
| Plan | Price per user | Minimum | Coding tools |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cursor Teams | $30, $100 or $200 a month, by usage tier | Not stated | Cursor at the matching Premium, Super or Ultra level |
| ChatGPT Business | $20 a month billed yearly, $25 billed monthly | 2 users | Codex at about Plus-level use per seat |
For a small team that mainly wants an AI assistant with a coding agent, ChatGPT Business is cheaper per seat. For a team that codes in an editor all day, Cursor Teams is built for that work, from $30 a seat.
Privacy: Who Trains on Your Code
- Cursor: Privacy Mode stops your data being used for training. With it off, Cursor may use prompts and code to train its models, according to its data use page, checked November 3, 2026.
- ChatGPT Plus: OpenAI may use content from its individual services, including ChatGPT, to train its models unless you opt out, according to OpenAI’s data use article. You can opt out in ChatGPT’s data controls or through OpenAI’s privacy portal.
- ChatGPT Business: OpenAI doesn’t train on content from its business offerings by default, according to the same article.
Before you paste client code into any AI tool, read our guide on whether it’s safe to put client information into ChatGPT.
If You Already Have Cursor Pro
- Check which plan you’re on in your Cursor account. If it says Pro, Pro+ or Ultra and you subscribed before October 12, 2026, you’re on a legacy plan.
- Keep it if you use GPT or Claude models. Legacy Pro includes a monthly pool for other models in its price, while every new plan bills those models at API prices.
- Know that switching is permanent. Moving to The X Subscription can’t be undone, usage moves to one weekly pool shared with Grok, and billing moves to grok.com, according to Cursor’s legacy plans page.
- Compare like for like. Cursor maps Pro to Premium at $30, Pro+ to Super at $100 and its old Ultra to the new Ultra at $200.
Which Should You Choose?
Choose ChatGPT Plus ($20) if:
- You want OpenAI’s GPT-6.1 Sol for coding without API bills.
- You prefer handing tasks to an agent over getting suggestions as you type.
- You want deep research, projects and scheduled tasks alongside coding.
Choose Cursor Plus ($8) if:
- You want an AI editor with Tab autocomplete at a low price.
- Grok and Composer models are good enough for your work, and Grok chat and X Premium perks are a bonus.
Choose Cursor Premium ($30) if:
- You want Cursor’s Auto mode and Cloud Agents.
- You need GPT or Claude models inside your editor and accept API charges for them.
Keep legacy Cursor Pro ($20) if:
- You already have it. Its included pool for other models makes it better value than Premium for GPT or Claude users, and switching can’t be undone.
Choose both, Cursor Plus and ChatGPT Plus ($28), if:
- You want an AI editor for daily coding and a strong agent for bigger tasks, for less than Cursor Premium.
If neither fits, our Cursor alternatives guide compares eight other coding tools, including GitHub Copilot at $10 a month and Devin Desktop, the editor formerly called Windsurf. Our Cursor vs GitHub Copilot comparison goes deeper on that pair.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Cursor Pro or ChatGPT Plus better for coding?
New users can’t buy Cursor Pro, so the choice is Cursor Plus at $8, Cursor Premium at $30 or ChatGPT Plus at $20. Cursor is better for writing code in an editor all day, with Tab autocomplete. ChatGPT Plus is better value for most people, with the Codex agent, OpenAI’s GPT-6.1 Sol model and ChatGPT’s research tools.
Can I still buy Cursor Pro?
No, not as a new customer. Since Cursor joined The X Subscription on October 12, 2026, new customers start on its new plans, Plus at $8, Premium at $30, Super at $100 and Ultra at $200 a month. Cursor Pro at $20 is now a legacy plan that keeps working for existing subscribers until they change or cancel it.
Does ChatGPT Plus include Codex?
Yes. ChatGPT Plus at $20 a month includes Codex on the web, in the command line, in the IDE extension and on iOS, plus automatic code review and Slack integration. OpenAI estimates Plus covers 15 to 160 local GPT-6.1 Sol messages or 350 to 3,000 GPT-6 Luna messages every five hours, and weekly limits may also apply.
Can I use GPT models in Cursor?
Only on Cursor Premium at $30 a month and above. Third-party models, including OpenAI’s GPT models and Anthropic’s Claude, are billed at API list price from prepaid credit on top of the plan. The Free and Plus plans use only Cursor’s own models, Grok and Composer.
Does Cursor Plus include Grok and X Premium?
Yes. Every paid X Subscription plan, including Cursor Plus at $8 a month, shares one weekly usage pool between Cursor and Grok and includes X Premium benefits once you connect your X account. Plus covers Grok chat, voice and image creation, while video generation and Grok Bot start on Premium at $30.
Is it worth paying for both Cursor and ChatGPT Plus?
For many developers, yes. Cursor Plus at $8 plus ChatGPT Plus at $20 costs $28 a month, which is less than Cursor Premium’s $30 before any API charges. You get Cursor’s editor and Tab autocomplete with Grok models, and Codex with GPT-6.1 Sol for bigger tasks.
What replaced Cursor Pro?
Cursor names Premium at $30 a month as the closest match to the legacy $20 Pro plan, but they aren’t identical. Premium has one weekly usage pool shared with Grok and charges for third-party models such as GPT and Claude at API prices, while legacy Pro included a monthly pool for other models in its price.
Sources
- Cursor: pricing page and legacy plans page, checked November 6, 2026; data use page, checked November 3, 2026; The X Subscription announcement, October 12, 2026
- The X Subscription: SmartScope, updated October 28, 2026; UsagePricing, captured October 24, 2026; eGamers, October 14, 2026 (independent sources)
- OpenAI: ChatGPT Plus help article, ChatGPT Plus plan page, Codex pricing page, Codex pricing documentation and data use article, checked November 6, 2026
