How to Get Cursor AI Free for Students Worldwide (2026)

Cursor is one of the most popular AI-powered code editors, but the Pro plan costs $20/month. If you are a student, you can get Cursor Pro for free through their education program. This guide walks you through the process, regardless of which country you are in.

What You Get with Cursor Pro (Student)

Feature	Cursor Free	Cursor Pro (Student)
Price	$0	$0 (normally $20/month)
Fast requests (GPT-4o, Claude)	50/month	500/month
Slow requests	200/month	Unlimited
Tab completions	Limited	Unlimited
Claude Sonnet access	Limited	Full
GPT-4o access	Limited	Full
o1/o3 models	No	Limited
Composer (multi-file edit)	Limited	Full
Duration	Indefinite	1 year (renewable)

Eligibility Requirements

Cursor's student program is available worldwide. You qualify if you are:

University/college student (undergraduate or graduate)
High school student (16+ years old in most countries)
Bootcamp student (recognized coding bootcamps)
Teaching assistant or graduate researcher

What you need

A valid school email address (e.g., name@university.edu)
Student ID or enrollment verification (if school email is not recognized)
A Cursor account (free to create)

Step-by-Step Application Process

Step 1: Create a Cursor account

1. Download Cursor from cursor.com
2. Install and open it
3. Click "Sign In" or "Create Account"
4. Use your personal email or school email

Step 2: Apply for the student plan

1. Go to cursor.com/settings (or Settings in the app)
2. Navigate to "Subscription" or "Billing"
3. Look for "Student/Education" option
4. Click "Apply for Student Plan"

Step 3: Verify your student status

Cursor uses multiple verification methods:

Method A: School email verification (fastest)

1. Enter your school email (e.g., name@stanford.edu)
2. Click "Verify"
3. Check your school inbox for confirmation email
4. Click the verification link
5. Student plan activates immediately

Method B: GitHub Student Developer Pack

1. If you have the GitHub Student Developer Pack, link your GitHub account
2. Cursor will auto-verify your student status
3. This works even if your school email is not in Cursor's database

Method C: Manual verification (for unrecognized schools)

1. Upload a photo of your student ID
2. Provide your school's name and website
3. Add your expected graduation date
4. Wait 3-7 business days for manual review

Step 4: Activate your plan

Once verified, your account automatically upgrades to Cursor Pro. You will see the change reflected in Settings > Subscription.

GitHub Student Developer Pack (Recommended Path)

The GitHub Student Developer Pack is the most reliable way to verify student status globally. It works for students in every country and also gives you free access to dozens of other developer tools.

How to get it

1. Go to education.github.com/pack
2. Click "Get your Pack"
3. Sign in with GitHub
4. Select "Student"
5. Upload proof of enrollment:
   - School email, OR
   - Student ID photo, OR
   - Enrollment letter, OR
   - Official transcript
6. Wait 1-7 days for approval

What's included (besides Cursor)

Tool	Free Benefit	Normal Price
GitHub Pro	Unlimited private repos	$4/month
Copilot	Free access	$10/month
JetBrains IDEs	All IDEs free	$25/month
DigitalOcean	$200 credits	-
Azure	$100 credits	-
Namecheap	Free .me domain	$10/year
Canva Pro	Free access	$13/month
Notion	Plus plan free	$10/month

Country-Specific Tips

United States / Canada

.edu emails are auto-verified
GitHub Student Pack is widely supported
Application is usually instant

Europe (UK, Germany, France, etc.)

.ac.uk, .uni-*.de, and similar domains are recognized
ISIC card can sometimes be used as backup verification
EU students may need manual review for smaller institutions

India

.ac.in emails are recognized
IIT, NIT, IIIT emails auto-verify
For other institutions, use GitHub Student Pack route

Latin America

.edu.mx, .edu.br, .edu.ar are often recognized
Manual verification may be needed for smaller universities
GitHub Student Pack is the most reliable path

Africa

.ac.za, .edu.ng, and major university domains are supported
Smaller institutions may require manual verification
Upload student ID as backup

Southeast Asia

.edu.sg, .ac.th, .edu.my are recognized
For other countries, GitHub Student Pack is recommended
Manual verification typically approved within 5 days

Middle East

.ac.il, .edu.sa, .edu.ae are recognized
Some universities may require manual verification
Government-issued student ID is accepted

If Your School Email Is Not Recognized

Do not worry -- there are several fallback options:

Option 1: Apply via GitHub Education

This is the most reliable workaround. GitHub verifies students from thousands of institutions worldwide.

Option 2: Contact Cursor support

Email: support@cursor.com
Subject: Student Verification - [Your University Name]

Include:
- Your Cursor account email
- Your school name and country
- A photo of your student ID
- A screenshot of your enrollment portal/status
- Your expected graduation date

Option 3: Use an enrollment verification service

Some services can verify your enrollment officially:

National Student Clearinghouse (US)
ISIC Card (International)
UNiDAYS (Global)

Renewing Your Student Plan

Cursor student plans typically last one year. To renew:

1. Go to Settings > Subscription before expiration
2. Click "Renew Student Plan"
3. Re-verify your student status
4. If you've graduated, you'll need to switch to a paid plan

Tip: Set a calendar reminder 2 weeks before your student plan expires.

Maximizing Your Free Cursor Pro

Now that you have Pro access, make the most of it:

1. Learn the keyboard shortcuts

Shortcut	Action
Cmd+K (Ctrl+K)	Inline AI edit
Cmd+L (Ctrl+L)	Open AI chat
Cmd+I (Ctrl+I)	Open Composer
Tab	Accept AI suggestion
Esc	Reject AI suggestion
Cmd+Shift+J	Open settings

2. Use Composer for multi-file edits

Instead of editing files one by one, use Composer (Cmd+I) to describe changes across multiple files. This is the most powerful feature of Cursor Pro.

3. Create custom rules

Add a .cursorrules file to your project:

# Cursor Rules for This Project

## Stack
- Next.js 15, TypeScript, Tailwind CSS

## Style
- Use functional components
- Prefer server components
- Use Zod for validation
- Write tests with Vitest

## Naming
- Components: PascalCase
- Files: kebab-case
- Functions: camelCase

4. Use @ mentions for context

In Cursor chat, reference specific files:
@src/components/Header.tsx add a search bar
@package.json what testing frameworks are installed?
@docs/api.md update the authentication section

Alternatives If You Cannot Get Student Access

Tool	Free For Students	AI Quality	Editor
VS Code + GitHub Copilot	Yes (via Student Pack)	Very Good	VS Code
JetBrains + AI Assistant	Yes (via Student Pack)	Good	IntelliJ, PyCharm, etc.
Windsurf (Codeium)	Free for everyone	Good	VS Code fork
Zed	Free for everyone	Good (BYO key)	Native editor
Continue.dev	Free for everyone	Any (BYO key)	VS Code/JetBrains extension

Beyond Code: AI for Student Projects

As a student, you might also need AI for generating images, creating videos for presentations, or building AI-powered projects. Hypereal AI provides API access to image generation, video creation, voice synthesis, and more. It is a great platform for student projects that need multimodal AI capabilities, and you get free starter credits to experiment.

Conclusion

Getting Cursor AI free as a student is straightforward:

Fastest path: Verify with your school email directly in Cursor settings
Most reliable path: Get the GitHub Student Developer Pack first, then link it to Cursor
Fallback: Contact Cursor support with your student ID

The process works worldwide. Students from every country are eligible as long as they can verify enrollment at a recognized institution. Apply today and get 500 fast AI requests per month for free.