I think it’s fundamentally about context management and business model. Claude Code is expensive because it will happily put very large volumes into context because Anthropic are paid by the token. Cursor makes the bet that it can pay less per token whilst giving you enough value to still make margins on your $20 per month (assuming you’re using their default models).
This all becomes very clear when you do something that feels like magic in Claude Code and then run /cost and see you’ve blown through $10 in a single hour long session. Which is honestly worth it for me.
This all becomes very clear when you do something that feels like magic in Claude Code and then run /cost and see you’ve blown through $10 in a single hour long session. Which is honestly worth it for me.