# Free alternatives to Cursor

> Cursor (Premium) costs $360 a year. Free alternatives: Cline and Zed. Data checked 2026-10-17.

- Page: https://stoprenting.dev/apps/cursor/
- Category: AI (https://stoprenting.dev/categories/ai/)
- Vendor: Anysphere (now bundled with xAI/X)
- Plan: Premium
- Price: $30/month, $360/year
- Billing: monthly
- Price quote from the vendor's page: "Premium Most popular $30 /month"
- Price source: https://cursor.com/pricing (checked 2026-10-17)

## Alternatives

### Cline

- Website: https://cline.bot
- Repository: https://github.com/cline/cline (70,464 stars, last push 2026-10-17)
- License: Apache-2.0
- Open source: yes, OSI-approved license
- Type: desktop app
- Linux: unverified
- Self-hostable: no
- Note: An agent inside VS Code with no tab autocomplete, and you pay per use for an API key or run weaker local models.
- More: https://stoprenting.dev/alternatives/cline/
- Checked: 2026-10-17

### Zed

- Website: https://zed.dev
- Repository: https://github.com/zed-industries/zed (91,828 stars, last push 2026-10-17)
- License: GPL-3.0 (+Apache-2.0 parts)
- Open source: yes, OSI-approved license
- Type: desktop app
- Linux: Arch extra: zed; Flathub: dev.zed.Zed
- Self-hostable: no
- Install: `sudo pacman -S zed`, `flatpak install flathub dev.zed.Zed`
- Note: A different editor, so VS Code extensions don't carry over, and AI needs your own API keys or local models unless you pay.
- More: https://stoprenting.dev/alternatives/zed/
- Checked: 2026-10-17

## FAQ

### Is there a free alternative to Cursor?

Yes. The 2 free alternatives are Cline (open source, Apache-2.0) and Zed (open source, GPL-3.0).

### How much does Cursor cost?

Cursor's Premium plan costs $30 a month, which is $360 a year (monthly). Source: the official pricing page at cursor.com, checked Oct 17, 2026.

### Which Cursor alternatives run on Linux?

Zed (Arch extra: zed; Flathub: dev.zed.Zed).

### Can you self-host a Cursor alternative?

Cline and Zed are desktop apps that run on your own machine, so there's nothing to host.

### Are these Cursor alternatives open source?

Yes. All 2 use OSI-approved open-source licenses: Cline (Apache-2.0) and Zed (GPL-3.0).

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Source: Stop Renting (https://stoprenting.dev). Methodology: https://stoprenting.dev/methodology/