Cursor vs Trae
Pricing
Cursor: Free tier, Pro from $20/mo (usage-based)
Trae: Free tier, Pro from $20/mo
Description
Cursor: AI code editor (VS Code fork) that lets you talk to your codebase, autocomplete across files, and refactor with a prompt
Trae: AI IDE from ByteDance with a limited free plan and paid plans from $20/mo, but read the privacy fine print
Pros
- Feels like VS Code: your extensions and shortcuts just work
- Tab completions predict multi-line changes, not just single words
- Can reference your entire codebase when answering questions
- Free plan includes 5,000 autocompletions a month and Auto mode
- SOLO mode for multi-step agent tasks, plus cloud tasks in TraeWork on paid plans
- VS Code-based so the interface is familiar
Cons
- Free tier runs out fast: expect to hit the Pro paywall within a week of real use
- Sometimes confidently suggests wrong code, especially for less popular libraries
- Each plan includes a set amount of model usage, and extra usage is billed afterwards, so costs are harder to predict
- Made by ByteDance: security researchers reported in 2025 that it kept sending telemetry after users opted out
- Chats and code snippets may be used for model training unless you turn on Privacy Mode while logged in
- The free plan is limited to Auto mode: choosing models needs Pro at $20/mo
Details
If you already use VS Code, Cursor is the shortest path to having AI actually understand your project. It does more than autocomplete: you can highlight code and ask “why is this breaking?” or tell it “add error handling to all API routes” and watch it edit multiple files.
The tab completions are the killer feature. They predict what you are about to type based on what you just did, and they are eerily good at continuing patterns. The free Hobby tier gives you a taste, but its Agent requests are limited and run out quickly. Pro at $20/month is where most solo devs land, with Pro+ and Ultra above it for heavy agent use. Every plan includes a set amount of model usage, and anything beyond it is billed afterwards, so keep an eye on your usage if you are doing heavy agent work. Anysphere, the company that makes Cursor, became part of SpaceX when SpaceX completed its acquisition on 14 August 2026.
Trae is an AI IDE from ByteDance. The editor is VS Code-based, and SOLO mode can plan and carry out multi-step coding tasks. The free plan gives you Auto mode, limited usage and 5,000 autocompletions a month. Pro costs $20 a month with $20 of model usage included and unlimited autocomplete, Pro+ costs $60, and Ultra costs $200 with early access to new models.
The elephant in the room is ByteDance. In 2025 security researchers reported that Trae kept sending usage data to ByteDance servers even after users opted out of telemetry. Trae’s documentation says your codebase files are not used for training, but your chats, related code snippets and AI output may be used for analytics and model training unless you enable Privacy Mode, which only applies while you are logged in. If you are working on anything sensitive (client projects, proprietary code, anything with user data), this is a real concern. Cursor and Devin Desktop cost the same as Trae’s Pro plan.
Verified
