6 Ways to Get Cursor AI for Free (2026)

6 Ways to Get Cursor AI for Free (2026)

Cursor AI is the leading AI-powered code editor in 2026, combining VS Code's familiar interface with Claude, GPT-4o, and other frontier models for code generation, debugging, and refactoring. At $20/month for Pro and $40/month for Business, it is a significant investment.

Here are six legitimate ways to use Cursor AI without paying, ranked from easiest to most involved.

Quick Comparison

Method	Access Level	Duration	Effort	Models Available
1. Free Hobby Plan	Basic	Permanent	Low	Claude, GPT-4o (limited)
2. Pro Free Trial	Full Pro	14 days	Low	All models
3. Student/OSS Discount	Full Pro	1 year	Medium	All models
4. Bring Your Own API Key	Unlimited	Permanent	Medium	Any model
5. Local Models via Ollama	Unlimited	Permanent	Medium	Open-source models
6. Free Alternatives	Varies	Permanent	Medium	Varies

Method 1: Use the Free Hobby Plan

Cursor offers a permanently free Hobby plan that includes real AI coding features out of the box.

What You Get

Feature	Free (Hobby)	Pro ($20/mo)
Premium model requests (fast)	50/month	500/month
Slow completions	2,000/month	Unlimited
Cursor Tab (autocomplete)	Limited	Unlimited
Agent mode	Limited	Full
Claude Sonnet access	Yes (limited)	Full
GPT-4o access	Yes (limited)	Full

Setup

1. Download Cursor from cursor.com
2. Install and open the editor
3. Create a free account (email or GitHub)
4. You are automatically on the Hobby plan

Tips to Maximize Free Requests

50 fast requests per month = roughly 1-2 per day

• Use slow requests for non-urgent tasks. They use the same models but process with lower priority.
• Be specific in prompts to get correct output on the first attempt.
• Use Cursor Tab (autocomplete) for small edits. It counts separately from chat requests.
• Batch related questions into a single prompt instead of asking five separate questions.

Method 2: Activate the 14-Day Pro Trial

Every new Cursor account gets a free 14-day trial of the Pro plan.

How to Activate

1. Open Cursor and go to Settings > Subscription
2. Click Start Pro Trial
3. Enter a payment method (credit card or PayPal)
4. You get full Pro access for 14 days
5. Cancel before day 14 to avoid being charged

What You Get During the Trial

• 500 fast premium requests
• Unlimited Cursor Tab completions
• Access to all models (Claude Sonnet, GPT-4o, etc.)
• Full agent mode
• All Pro features

Cancellation Steps

1. Go to Settings > Subscription in Cursor
2. Click Manage Subscription
3. Select Cancel Plan
4. Confirm cancellation

Set a reminder for day 12 so you do not forget.

Method 3: Apply for Student or Open-Source Discount

Cursor offers discounts and free access for students and open-source contributors.

Student Plan

If you have a valid .edu email:

1. Go to cursor.com/students (or email their support)
2. Verify your student status with your school email
3. Get Pro access at a significant discount or free for qualifying students

Open-Source Maintainer Program

If you maintain an open-source project:

1. Contact Cursor support at cursor.com
2. Provide a link to your open-source project
3. Show evidence of active maintenance (commits, issues, community)
4. Qualifying maintainers can get free Pro access

GitHub Student Developer Pack

Check if Cursor is included in the GitHub Student Developer Pack:

1. Go to education.github.com/pack
2. Verify your student status
3. Check the partner offers for Cursor or similar AI coding tools

Method 4: Bring Your Own API Key

Cursor lets you use your own API keys, bypassing the monthly request limits entirely. You pay the API provider directly (often cheaper than the $20/month Pro plan).

Setup with Your Own OpenAI Key

1. Open Cursor Settings (Cmd/Ctrl + ,)
2. Go to Models section
3. Enter your OpenAI API key in the designated field
4. Select which model to use by default

Setup with Free API Keys

You can use free-tier API keys from providers like Google Gemini:

1. Get a free API key from aistudio.google.com
2. In Cursor, go to Settings > Models
3. Add a custom model with the OpenAI-compatible endpoint

Using Anthropic API Directly

1. Get an API key from console.anthropic.com
2. In Cursor Settings > Models, add your Anthropic key
3. Select Claude as your default model

Cost Comparison

Approach	Monthly Cost (Typical Usage)	Request Limit
Cursor Pro	$20/month	500 fast requests
Own OpenAI key (GPT-4o-mini)	$1-3/month	Unlimited
Own Anthropic key (Haiku)	$1-3/month	Unlimited
Google Gemini key (free tier)	$0	15 RPM
Groq key (free tier)	$0	30 RPM

For most developers, using your own API key with a cheap model costs far less than the Pro subscription.

Method 5: Connect Local Models via Ollama

Run AI models entirely on your machine for unlimited, free, offline usage.

Step 1: Install Ollama

# macOS or Linux
curl -fsSL https://ollama.ai/install.sh | sh

# Verify installation
ollama --version

Step 2: Pull a Coding Model

# Best coding models for local use
ollama pull qwen2.5-coder:14b      # 14B params, good quality
ollama pull deepseek-coder-v2:16b  # Strong for code
ollama pull codellama:13b           # Meta's coding model
ollama pull llama3.3:8b             # General purpose, fast

Step 3: Configure Cursor

1. Make sure Ollama is running (ollama serve)
2. In Cursor, go to Settings > Models
3. Add a custom OpenAI-compatible model:
   • API Base: http://localhost:11434/v1
   • Model name: qwen2.5-coder:14b
   • API Key: ollama (any value works)

Hardware Requirements

Model	VRAM Required	RAM Required	Quality
7B params	4-6 GB	8 GB	Basic
13-14B params	8-10 GB	16 GB	Good
33-34B params	20+ GB	32 GB	Very Good
70B params	40+ GB	64 GB	Excellent

For a good experience, use a 13-14B model with at least 16GB of RAM or an 8GB+ GPU.

Method 6: Use Free Cursor Alternatives

If the free tier is not enough, several fully free editors offer similar AI coding features.

Continue.dev (Best Free Alternative)

An open-source AI code assistant that runs inside VS Code:

# Install from VS Code marketplace
code --install-extension continue.continue

Configure with a free API:

// ~/.continue/config.json
{
  "models": [
    {
      "title": "Gemini 2.0 Flash",
      "provider": "google",
      "model": "gemini-2.0-flash",
      "apiKey": "your-free-google-ai-key"
    }
  ],
  "tabAutocompleteModel": {
    "title": "Codestral",
    "provider": "mistral",
    "model": "codestral-latest",
    "apiKey": "your-free-mistral-key"
  }
}

Cline (Agentic Coding)

A VS Code extension that provides agentic AI coding with any model:

code --install-extension saoudrizwan.claude-dev

Cline supports autonomous multi-file editing, terminal commands, and browser interaction. Use it with free API keys from Google or Groq.

Windsurf (Codeium)

A standalone AI editor (like Cursor) with a generous free plan:

• Free tier includes AI autocomplete and chat
• Available at windsurf.com
• Supports macOS, Windows, and Linux

Comparison of Free Alternatives

Feature	Continue.dev	Cline	Windsurf	Aider
Type	VS Code extension	VS Code extension	Standalone editor	CLI tool
Model flexibility	Any	Any	Built-in + custom	Any
Agentic coding	Limited	Full	Yes	Yes
Autocomplete	Yes	No	Yes	No
Multi-file editing	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Offline support	Via Ollama	Via Ollama	No	Via Ollama
Open source	Yes	Yes	No	Yes

Decision Flowchart

Want Cursor specifically?

• Start with Method 1 (Free Hobby Plan)
• If you need more, try Method 4 (BYOK with free API key)
• Students: use Method 3

Want the best free AI coding experience?

• Method 6: Continue.dev + free Gemini API key
• Method 5: Ollama for offline use

Need to try Pro features?

• Method 2: 14-day trial, cancel before it ends

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Cursor free forever? Yes, the Hobby plan is permanently free with 50 fast requests and 2,000 slow completions per month.

Can I use Cursor free for commercial work? Yes. The free tier has no restrictions on commercial use.

Does BYOK mode count against my free requests? No. When you use your own API key, requests go directly to the provider and do not count against Cursor's limits.

Can I combine multiple methods? Yes. You can use the free Hobby plan for light work and switch to BYOK mode when you need more. You can also have Ollama running as a fallback.

Wrapping Up

The most practical approach for most developers is the free Hobby plan combined with a free Google Gemini API key (Method 1 + Method 4). This gives you unlimited AI coding assistance at zero cost.

If you are building applications that need AI-generated media like images, video, and avatars, try Hypereal AI free -- 35 credits, no credit card required. It pairs well with any code editor for building AI-powered applications.