Cursor

An AI-native code editor and one of the first widely adopted coding agents. Built as a fork of VS Code with deep AI integration throughout — inline completions, chat, agent mode. Matthew Berman’s personal favorite coding tool as of early 2026.

What It Is

Cursor wraps frontier LLM capabilities (Claude, GPT-4, and others) inside a full IDE. Unlike Claude Code (which runs in the terminal and works across any files), Cursor is an editor-first experience where AI is woven into every interaction: autocomplete, in-editor chat, multi-file edits, and agent mode that can plan and execute tasks across the codebase.

Compared to Claude Code

• Cursor: Editor-first, visual, familiar VS Code feel, best for developers who want AI built into their IDE
• Claude Code: Terminal-first, agentic, better for autonomous multi-step tasks, supports multiple model backends

Both are described as “coding agents” — Cursor pioneered the category; Claude Code extended it toward autonomous agent workflows.

See Also

• Claude Code — Anthropic’s terminal-based coding agent
• Codex — OpenAI’s coding agent alternative
• Devin — autonomous software engineering agent
• Superpowers — Claude Code plugin for TDD-structured workflow
• Matthew Berman — source
• Source: Every AI Model Explained