Cursor vs Bolt.new
Side-by-side comparison of Cursor and Bolt.new.
AI-native code editor that understands your whole codebase
Type a prompt, get a full-stack app in minutes
What they are
Cursor
Cursor is a VS Code fork with AI embedded at the core, not bolted on as a plugin. It indexes your entire repository, supports multi-file edits via Composer, runs autonomous agents in the background via Cloud Agents, and gives you access to models from Anthropic, OpenAI, and Google within a single interface. Used daily by developers at Stripe, Figma, Adobe, and Salesforce, it is the dominant AI-native IDE as of mid-2026. The credit-based pricing introduced in 2025 means your effective monthly cost depends heavily on which models you choose.
Bolt.new
Bolt.new is a browser-based AI app builder by StackBlitz that generates, runs, and deploys full-stack web applications from a plain-text prompt, with no local setup required. It uses WebContainers to execute code live in the browser, supports multiple JavaScript frameworks, and integrates with Supabase, GitHub, Figma, Netlify, and Stripe. Pricing runs on a token consumption model, where larger and more complex projects burn through allocations faster than simple prototypes. The free tier is genuinely usable for experiments, but the daily token cap makes it impractical for sustained development work.
if you need ai coding. It has a usable free tier to start with.
- +Full codebase indexing gives the AI context across every file, not just the open tab
- +Composer mode edits multiple files simultaneously in a single agent pass
- +Cloud Agents run autonomously on Cursor's infrastructure, accessible from browser or phone
if you need ai coding. It has a usable free tier to start with.
- +Zero local setup: code runs live in the browser via WebContainers
- +Generates full-stack apps, not just UI snippets, from a single prompt
- +Supports multiple AI models including Claude Opus 4.6 and newer
Which to choose
Cursor and Bolt.new both cover ai coding, so this is a real either-or for some teams. The right pick depends on which one's wider feature set and pricing fit how you work.
Read the full reviews for Cursor and Bolt.new.
Pricing checked 10 Jun 2026.