Cursor vs OpenAI Codex

Features, pricing, ratings, and pros and cons, side by side.

Cursor

AI coding agent and VS Code-based editor for multi-file edits and cloud agents

5.0(1 review)Freemium

Visit website View details

OpenAI Codex

OpenAI's coding agent that writes, reviews and runs code from terminal, IDE, desktop or cloud

Freemium

Visit website View details

Verdict

Cursor and OpenAI Codex are both Coding AI tools. Both have a free plan or trial. Only Cursor is available on iOS. Only OpenAI Codex is available on VS Code Extension and JetBrains Plugin and offers an API.

Best overall

Cursor

Software engineers
Full-stack developers
Engineering teams
Enterprises

Choose Cursor if

You want a tool built for Multi-file feature work, codebase-wide refactoring, delegating tasks to background agents, reviewing pull requests.
Familiar VS Code-based editor with extension and keybinding support.
Local and cloud agents that can run in parallel on multi-file tasks.

Choose OpenAI Codex if

You want a tool built for delegating coding tasks to an agent.
Included with ChatGPT plans, with a free tier and an $8 Go tier.
Open-source CLI under the Apache-2.0 license.

Best for beginners: Cursor
Best for business: Cursor

Features

20 features compared.

Agents
Cursor
Available
OpenAI Codex
Not available
Cloud agents
Cursor
Available
OpenAI Codex
Not available
Tab and inline edits
Cursor
Available
OpenAI Codex
Not available
Codebase indexing
Cursor
Available
OpenAI Codex
Not available
Model choice
Cursor
Available
OpenAI Codex
Not available
Bugbot code review
Cursor
Available
OpenAI Codex
Not available
CLI
Cursor
Available
OpenAI Codex
Not available
Slack app and iOS app
Cursor
Available
OpenAI Codex
Not available
Marketplace and rules
Cursor
Available
OpenAI Codex
Not available
Privacy mode
Cursor
Available
OpenAI Codex
Not available
Codex CLI
Cursor
Not available
OpenAI Codex
Available
IDE extension
Cursor
Not available
OpenAI Codex
Available
Desktop app
Cursor
Not available
OpenAI Codex
Available
Cloud tasks
Cursor
Not available
OpenAI Codex
Available
Code review
Cursor
Not available
OpenAI Codex
Available
Non-interactive mode
Cursor
Not available
OpenAI Codex
Available
MCP, skills and plugins
Cursor
Not available
OpenAI Codex
Available
Subagents and web search
Cursor
Not available
OpenAI Codex
Available
Session resume and images
Cursor
Not available
OpenAI Codex
Available
Mobile remote control
Cursor
Not available
OpenAI Codex
Available

Pricing

Plans as listed by each vendor. Check their sites for current prices.

Pricing model
Cursor
Freemium
OpenAI Codex
Freemium
Free plan
Cursor
Yes
OpenAI Codex
Yes
Starting price
Cursor
$0
OpenAI Codex
$0
Plans
Cursor
7 plans
OpenAI Codex
7 plans

Cursor plans

Free
$0
Limited usage for trying Cursor and Grok.
- Limited usage
- Limited chat requests
- Limited agent requests
Plus
$8/month
Basic usage pool, Grok models only.
- Basic shared usage pool
- Grok models only
- Cursor agent
- Grok API access
Premium
Most popular
$30/month
4x the usage of Plus, recommended for new AI users.
- 4x Plus usage
- Latest Grok models
- Cloud agents and automations
- Bugbot code reviews
- Third-party models at API list price
Super
$100/month
15x the usage of Plus, for daily agent users.
- 15x Plus usage
- Everything in Premium
- Priority model access at peak times
Ultra
$200/month
50x the usage of Plus, for power users.
- 50x Plus usage
- Everything in Super
- Earliest access to new products and models
Teams
$30/user/mo
Per-seat plans with pooled admin controls; seats are Premium $30, Super $100 or Ultra $200 per user per month.
- Premium $30
- Super $100 or Ultra $200 seats
- Weekly usage pool per seat
- Centralized billing
- Usage analytics
- Team privacy settings
- SAML/OIDC SSO
- Team marketplace
Enterprise
Custom/custom
Invoicing, pooled usage and advanced security.
- Invoice and PO billing
- SCIM
- Audit logs
- Granular spend controls
- Repository and MCP access controls
- Priority support

OpenAI Codex plans

Free
$0
Quick coding tasks
- GPT-6 Luna in the desktop app
- Subject to rollout
Go
$8/month
Lightweight coding tasks
- GPT-6 Luna in the desktop app
Plus
Most popular
$20/month
Focused coding sessions
- Web
- CLI
- IDE and iOS access
- Automatic code review and Slack
- GPT-6.1 Sol and GPT-6 Luna
- Can add credits
Pro
$100/month
Plans at $100, $200 or $500 per month
- Everything in Plus
- No five-hour limit currently
- Ultrafast mode on the $500 plan
Business
$25/user/mo
2 or more users; $20 per user per month when billed annually
- Desktop and mobile apps
- Larger cloud VMs
- Add-on credits
- SAML SSO and MFA
- No training on business data by default
Enterprise & Edu
Custom/user/mo
Contact sales
- Priority request processing
- SCIM
- EKM and RBAC
- User analytics
- Compliance API audit logs
- Retention and residency controls
API Key
Pay-as-you-go/usage
Billed at OpenAI API pricing
- Codex in the CLI
- SDK and IDE extension
- No cloud features
- Models depend on the API key

Our ratings

Scored out of 10 by the Finder Atlas editorial team. Last reviewed November 2026.

Cursor: 8.7overall
OpenAI Codex: 8.5overall

Inline Code Completion
Cursor
9.2
OpenAI Codex
Not rated
Codebase Indexing & Context
Cursor
9.0
OpenAI Codex
Not rated
Multi-file Agentic Edits
Cursor
9.3
OpenAI Codex
Not rated
IDE & Extension Compatibility
Cursor
9.0
OpenAI Codex
Not rated
Pricing Clarity
Cursor
6.8
OpenAI Codex
Not rated
Code Generation
Cursor
Not rated
OpenAI Codex
9.0
Agentic Autonomy
Cursor
Not rated
OpenAI Codex
8.8
Ease of Use
Cursor
Not rated
OpenAI Codex
8.3
Value for Money
Cursor
Not rated
OpenAI Codex
8.0
Ecosystem & Integrations
Cursor
Not rated
OpenAI Codex
8.5

Scores weigh documented features, plan value, platform coverage, integrations and user feedback. A missing score means we have not rated that area yet.

Pros and cons

Cursor

Pros

Familiar VS Code-based editor with extension and keybinding support
Local and cloud agents that can run in parallel on multi-file tasks
Choice of models from several providers, including Cursor's own
Covers editor, CLI, web, Slack, iOS and PR review in one product
Privacy mode and SOC 2 and ISO certifications for team use

Cons

Third-party model usage is billed separately from the plan at API list price
Pricing is bundled with Grok and uses weekly usage pools, which makes costs harder to predict
No Android app, and the iOS app only controls local agents
Indexing can be heavy on very large repositories

OpenAI Codex

Pros

Included with ChatGPT plans, with a free tier and an $8 Go tier
Open-source CLI under the Apache-2.0 license
Available in the terminal, VS Code-based editors, the ChatGPT desktop app and the cloud
Supports MCP, skills, plugins and subagents
API-key option lets teams pay at API rates instead of a subscription

Cons

Plus has message limits per five hours that vary widely by model
Cloud features are not available on the API Key plan
Higher usage needs Pro, which starts at $100 per month
Free and Go plans offer only GPT-6 Luna in the desktop app

Platforms

Web
Cursor
Supported
OpenAI Codex
Supported
Windows
Cursor
Supported
OpenAI Codex
Supported
macOS
Cursor
Supported
OpenAI Codex
Supported
iOS
Cursor
Supported
OpenAI Codex
Not supported
Android
Cursor
Not supported
OpenAI Codex
Not supported
API
Cursor
Not supported
OpenAI Codex
Supported
Browser Extension
Cursor
Not supported
OpenAI Codex
Not supported
Linux
Cursor
Supported
OpenAI Codex
Supported
CLI
Cursor
Supported
OpenAI Codex
Supported
VS Code Extension
Cursor
Not supported
OpenAI Codex
Supported
JetBrains Plugin
Cursor
Not supported
OpenAI Codex
Supported

Integrations

Cursor

4 integrations

GitHub
Slack
VS Code extensions
MCP servers

OpenAI Codex

8 integrations

GitHub
Slack
Visual Studio Code
Cursor
Windsurf
Xcode
JetBrains IDEs
MCP

Company

Company
Cursor
Anysphere
OpenAI Codex
Not listed
Headquarters
Cursor
San Francisco, CA
OpenAI Codex
Not listed
Monthly users
Cursor
Not listed
OpenAI Codex
4M+ weekly users
Listing
Cursor
Claimed
OpenAI Codex
Not claimed

Featured Coding AI

Picked by our editors. Not paid placement.

Frequently asked questions

Is Cursor better than OpenAI Codex?

It depends on your workflow. Cursor is built for Multi-file feature work, codebase-wide refactoring, delegating tasks to background agents, reviewing pull requests. OpenAI Codex is built for delegating coding tasks to an agent.

What are the key feature differences between Cursor and OpenAI Codex?

Cursor: AI coding agent and VS Code-based editor for multi-file edits and cloud agents. OpenAI Codex: OpenAI's coding agent that writes, reviews and runs code from terminal, IDE, desktop or cloud. Cursor is rated 5.0/5 from 1 user review.

Does Cursor or OpenAI Codex have a free plan?

Yes, both do. Cursor is freemium and OpenAI Codex is freemium, and each has a free plan or trial.

Which is cheaper, Cursor or OpenAI Codex?

Both can be used for free. Paid plans differ in limits and features, so compare the tiers in the pricing table above.

Verdict

Best overall

Choose Cursor if

Choose OpenAI Codex if

Features

Pricing

Cursor plans

Free

Plus

Premium

Super

Ultra

Teams

Enterprise

OpenAI Codex plans

Free

Go

Plus

Pro

Business

Enterprise & Edu

API Key

Our ratings

Inline Code Completion

Codebase Indexing & Context

Multi-file Agentic Edits

IDE & Extension Compatibility

Pricing Clarity

Code Generation

Agentic Autonomy

Ease of Use

Value for Money

Ecosystem & Integrations

Pros and cons

Cursor

Pros

Cons

OpenAI Codex

Pros

Cons

Platforms

Integrations

Cursor

OpenAI Codex

Company

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