ChatGPT vs Cursor
A side-by-side look at pricing, free plans, platforms and features, for tools that both cover coding.
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| Feature |  ChatGPT |  Cursor |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Freemium | Free plan · from $8/month |
| Free to start | Yes | Yes |
| Best for | Chatbots, Writing, Coding | Coding |
| Who uses it | Consultants, Marketers, Developers, Students, Small business owners | Developers, Startups |
| Works on | Web | Web, API, Slack, Windows, macOS |
| About | ChatGPT is OpenAI’s conversational assistant for writing, research, coding, analysis and brainstorming. It can search the web, read files and images, create pictures and hold a voice conversation, with a free tier and paid plans for heavier use and teams. | Cursor is a code editor built around AI: it predicts your next edit, answers questions about the whole codebase and runs agents that make multi-file changes you review. It is based on VS Code, so extensions and settings carry over. |
ChatGPT vs Cursor: privacy and safety
From each vendor’s public policies, as scored by SafeScore.
| ChatGPT | Cursor | |
|---|---|---|
| SafeScore | 98 | 84 |
| Trains on your data | No (by default) | No (by default) |
| GDPR / DPA | Yes | Yes |
| SOC 2 / ISO 27001 | Yes | Yes |
| HIPAA BAA | Not found | Not found |
| Data deletion | Yes | Yes |
| SSO & admin controls | Yes | Yes |
| Full report | Is ChatGPT safe? | Is Cursor safe? |
Which one should you pick?
Cursor also runs on API, Slack, Windows. Both are described from their official websites; try each with a real task from your own work before you commit, since quality depends heavily on the job.
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